Matrox TripleHead2Go test

Hooking it up

In the packaging of the TripleHead2Go we find the little box itself, a power cable, a D-Sub to D-Sub (VGA) cable, and a D-Sub to DVI cable. What is immediately apparent on the unit itself is that all connections are of the D-Sub type. The provided D-Sub to DVI cable is therefore only meant to be used to connect the TripleHead2Go to the DVI-I port of modern videocards without the use of an adaptor: only the analog information from the DVI port is used. This seems strange, but Matrox has a logical explanation for this procedure: when the output is set to 3840x1024 pixels with a refresh rate of 60Hz, a regular single-link digital DVI connector does not have the required bandwidth to pass on the signal. Although more and more videocards are appearing with one or more dual-link DVI connections that posses double the bandwidth, Matrox chose an analog system, seeing as the analog signal of all current videocards can handle the necessary bandwidth.

1280x1024 + 1280x1024 + 1280x1024 = 3840x1024

When we look at the specifications, it becomes clear that the TripleHead2Go is really designed for LCD monitors, and not for conventional CRTs: the highest refresh rate in most resolutions is just 60Hz. With LCD monitors, where no scanning is required, this is not a problem, but 60Hz causes CRT monitors to visibly refresh, which is very annoying and tiring when three monitors are used. Here we are dealing with an apparent contradiction: although the TripleHead is developed for use with digital LCD monitors, the connection can only be made using analog systems.

With most TripleHead resolutions 60Hz is the maximum refresh rate.

Picture quality

Cause for concern with analog connections with such high bandwidth is naturally the picture quality: the higher the bandwidth with an analog signal, the higher chance of undesirable symptoms like a shaky screen or blurred text. Thankfully we can state that we have encountered none of these problems during our test. The DVI to VGA cable that Matrox includes is high quality, and after automatic installation, the three connected monitors displayed the Windows desktop beautifully at 3840x1024 @ 60 Hz. This indicates that the TripleHead2Go uses remarkably precise signal processing, as there is no evidence of loss of quality.

Compatibility

As mentioned, the TripleHead2Go cooperates with every regular videocard, and can be hooked up to the D-Sub as well as DVI ports. There is one small hidden issue: ATI videocards cannot render 3D images that are wider than 2400 pixels. In practice this means that ATI users are limited to 2400x800, three times 800x600. In our opinion, this low resolution is enough to warrant using an NVIDIA card with the TripleHead2Go. A complete breakdown of compatible chips can be found here.