[AG-TECH] Multi-head AGP video cards, anyone?

Jay Beavers jbeavers at microsoft.com
Tue Mar 18 09:16:40 CST 2003


In brief testing of the Matrox Parhelia, we found that it didn't support
overlay rendering on the secondary screens just on one primary screen
though we didn't investigate to find out if the problem was a driver
limitation or hardware based.

Your mileage may vary, as I'm pretty sure that neither vic nor ddvic nor
mash use overlay rendering, so it may work fine for your scenarios.  But
be aware that video applications that take advantage of overlay
rendering, such as Windows Media Player or ConferenceXP, will not work
properly on the secondary screens unless you disable overlay rendering
therefore increasing the CPU utilization for these applications.

Because of this, we're sticking with the NVIDIA and ATI chipsets in our
testing and development.

 - jcb

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Riddle [mailto:bdr at internet2.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 5:00 AM
To: Osland, CD (Chris) 
Cc: ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov

The Parhelia works well for me, instead of using the 4th display for the

operator console, I use the 3 projected displays as my "console" as well

as my "video space", since part of what I hope to show is how "easy" it 
is to use the AG.

just my $.02 worth

Osland, CD (Chris) wrote:

>I looked everywhere for a 4-head AGP card at a recent trade show;
>as you say, all of them seem to be PCI.  The only chink in the
>armour is the Matrox Parhelia, with three outputs, on AGP.
>
>Cheers
>
>Chris
>
>____________________________________________________________________
>Chris Osland                         Office tel: +44 (0) 1235 446565
>Digital Media and Access Grid      Medialab tel: +44 (0) 1235 446459
>BIT Department             Access Grid room tel: +44 (0) 1235 445666
>e-mail:   C.D.Osland at rl.ac.uk               Fax: +44 (0) 1235 445597
>
>CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Bldg. R18)
>Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxon OX11 0QX, UK
>
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>-----Original Message-----
>From: Randy Groves [mailto:randy.groves at boeing.com]
>Sent: 17 March 2003 20:37
>To: ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov
>Subject: [AG-TECH] Multi-head AGP video cards, anyone?
>
>
>If there's a knowledgeable AG source on the net, please point me in
that 
>direction!
>
>It's been a while since I've seen recommendations for multi-head cards
on 
>this list, and I'm in the market for a quad AGP card that will allow me
to 
>do separate resolution and true multi-monitor.  I've been trolling
through 
>the Matrox, Nvidia, ATI and others, but nothing's struck my eye at this

>point - perhaps I've missed it.
>
>Does such an animal exist?  I've got a Nvidia 400 NVS, and a Matrox
G200 
>MMS, both of which are PCI.  But these seem to be harder to come by as
time 
>goes on.
>
>Thanks!!
>
>-randy
>
>
>  
>

-- 
Bob Riddle (bdr at internet2.edu)    Technologist,Internet2
3025 Boardwalk, Suite 100         Ann Arbor, Michigan  48108
Business Phone: 734.913.4257      Fax Number:  734.913.4255

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls
and looks like work" Thomas Edison







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