A triple screen setup has always appealed to me. Yes, I know VR is there and I’m testing that out but triple screen has benefits e.g. you can do other things while flying.
Now we all know that triple screen has the issue of stretching, as it’s a single camera view being stretched across three screens. For those that use triple screens day to day, do you actually notice it? Do you have the screens wrapping around you? Does it have an impact on your regular flying? If the distortion is noticeable, would you say that the benefits of the triple offset the distortion?
I know the devs are working on triple support but I wondered if the effect really impacts actual flying.
technically, if your GPU can handle the load, you can have a three monitor setup.. just configure (w/ the appropriate nvidia or amd control panel option) the three monitors as a virtual single screen and run msfs in windowed mode… the problem is that the fov setting in MSFS is unsuitable, too much stretching.. it’s barely acceptable for a 2 screen setup.. separate views are non supported yet
Yes, you will notice the stretching. I use 3x 24’’ Displays. Wrapping around. Houses and kther objecta at the end of the Display look different in shape and not really sharp (very stretched). But nevertheless I prefer the 3 Monitor settup (and a 4th below for I struments, an also track ir :-))
But be aware, the runway perspective on the last leg befor turning in direction to the runway is horrible. I switch the view so the runway is in the middle of the screen otherwise I don’t now when to turn in direction to the runway on time.
That’s exactly the scenario I was considering. As I’m flying downwind ready to do my base turn, I turn and look at the runway but it’s likely going to look a lot closer than when I turn to the final approach. I think that might be a real issue for me.
I use surround on three 24 inch monitors. With the occasional iPad as a fourth for instruments. It’s OK but not ideal.
The edge distortion does cause its problems and can fool you on approach as was mentioned. However, it’s the only option available that gives some sort of immersion in my pit until multi views are sorted out. I am going to give VR a try soon with a borrowed headset but I do suffer from sight issues so I am not confident it will work for me.
I can get about 30fps using Surround with high and some ultra settings, 20-25 at Heathrow with the fbw Airbus compared to 45-50 with a single monitor, so it’s not without its performance hit. That is with a Ryzen 7 and 2060 Super running 457.30. It is reasonably smooth and I would be happy if that performance is maintained if multiple views are implemented.
One issue I do have is that not all NVidia drivers are stable with Surround. With the latest 466.11 NVidia control panel will crash when I try to activate Surround. It’s the same with most versions however 457.30, along with couple of others, work faultlessly so I can always revert back to that. I don’t know if that is an issue others face or if it is unique to my system but it is a constant that some drivers consistently will work with Surround but others won’t.
Edit. After a night flight this evening I was reminded that what I find more objectionable than the distortion is the way lighting blooms into large blobs on ultra wide displays!
It does not negatively affect my flying with Tubeliners but if i do VFR or just fun flights it disturbs. The only games i can use it normally is Racing Sim’s since they have triple support. In which i can adjusted the FOV and Camera 1:1 to real life.
Still going to use it ( gonna upgrade to 3x50’s in the future) since i am using both brand & custom created peripherals. I cannot use VR since it lowers the immersion for me. So i can only hope Asobo & MS going to implement it.
Firstly the much debated distortion can certainly be minimized by using a “realistic” zoom that puts your head/eyes where they would be in real life which is quite close to the instrument panel. I use 60% zoom.
I know that many people like to zoom out and get a wide view if the cockpit, but for me that is unrealistic and to use a strong word, arcade like.
Secondly, as I have been using Trackir for more than 10 years, and to look round having 3 screens around you you barely notice any distortion.
A year ago I switched to a 4k, 49 inch monitor, still with my trusted trakir and that is not bad at all.
ok.. Im running 40" 1080p monitors. I setup nvidia surround and match the sim resolution for that. The center screen is perfect but the side screens are major distorted and holding the angle of the sim display to the angle of the monitors. I can change the zoom to make it a appear a little better but no cigar.
I cannot fly without TrackIR. Been using that since its invention. Had to try it with 3D tvs back in the day, resolution was too bad. VR hmd sitting right next to me. VR has come a long way and is actually enjoyable lately. But I have a complete dash that I also cant fly without. So triples with TrackIR running Xplane is the ultimate for cockpit builders today. I really hope Asobo will fix this soon.
Does anyone know of a 3rd party addon that will let us configure the sim FOV with the monitor positions like the race sims do??
Have you looked in the flightsim.cfg (not usercfg.opt) in appdata/roaming/m*fightsim folder, there are a bunch of thing you can change in there I do not know if fov is one of them. But it might be worth a look to see.
I am using three 24" monitors. I have the monitors set with minimum curve. The straighter the better, mine are at about 10 to 15 degrees. I have the sim using about 2/3 of the side monitors. This greatly minimizes the stretching and gives me a place to put my maps and ATC so they are not on the sim view. I mainly just fly one seater planes specifically the warbirds Spitfire, Corsair and P-38. I also fly the XCub a lot. This minimizes the cockpit distortion considerably.
This awful pincushion distortion makes it completely impossible to fky vfr traffic pattern on a 32:9 screen. Distances at the side are twice aor triple as long as on the center of the screen. Even worse if you’re using an curved screen.
There’s a thred within the bugs section. I recommend you to vote for it.
