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The Matrox Parhelia has several interesting features for multi-monitor users: a high-quality dualhead mode (DualHead-HF), support for a 3rd monitor (TripleHead) and surround gaming. The following review takes a closer look at these features.
Review updated on March 9, 2003, using the 1.03.00.043 drivers.
Test system
Dell Precision 650 with dual Xeon 2.4 GHz and 1 GB RAM, Windows XP Pro SP1. AGP Matrox Parhelia 128 MB (retail version), 1.03.00.043 drivers. PCI Gainward GeForce4 MX 420 with Nvidia 41.09 drivers, used for 3rd monitor when not using TripleHead mode. 3 monitors: Dell 17" CRT (primary, center), 2x V7 15" LCD (to the left and right of the primary, native resolution 1024x768, analog connector).
The card
The card has 2 DVI connectors, and includes all necessary cables and adapters.
Using 2 displays: digital displays are connected directly to the DVI connectors on the card. Analog displays are connected using the DVI-to-VGA adapter for the first monitor, the DVI-to-2xVGA cable for the second display.
Using 3 displays: the first display can be digital or analog, the two other displays need to be analog and are connected using the DVI-to-2xVGA cable.
TV-out: the TV-out cable supports both composite and S-Video, and needs to be connected to the first VGA connector of the DVI-to-2xVGA cable.
Important: Windows 98/Me are not supported, drivers are available for Windows NT4, 2000, XP and Linux.
DualHead-HF
HF stands for High Fidelity, according to Matrox, DualHead-HF is "Fully-symmetric, no-compromise multi-display computing".
A unique feature is support for video overlays on both displays, most other dualhead cards only have overlays on one display. This means that you can play DVDs on both displays, and performance and image quality will be good even in fullscreen mode. Clone mode supports mirroring videos, and in stretched mode you can stretch a video across all displays.
2D quality seems to be excellent, my impression was that the image was a bit sharper than with my GeForce3 card. Maximum resolution per display according to Matrox is 2048x1536x32 for analog displays, and 1920x1200x32 for digital displays. Important limitation: when using 2 digital displays, both displays need to use the same resolution, colordepth and refresh rate, according to Matrox documentation this is a limitation of the hardware (you can still use independent mode, and Windows will recognize both displays individually).
OpenGL hardware acceleration is only available on the primary display when using independent displays mode, with stretched mode (2 or 3 displays) hardware acceleration is available on all displays.
Direct3D works fine on both monitors, but with the usual limitations (only specially programmed applications will be fully hardware-accelerated on each monitor). See the FAQ for more on this issue. When using stretched mode with 2 or 3 monitors, any Direct3D application is fully hardware-accelerated on each monitor, and can also be stretched across both monitors without performance loss.
One issue I encountered was that the Moire screen saver didn't work on display 2 (only displayed the frame rate counter), even though it is designed for multi-monitor systems.
TripleHead
The implementation of triplehead is rather disappointing, the 3rd display can only be used in stretched desktop mode, meaning that Windows will see a single large display instead of 3 independent displays.
TripleHead might be useful for 3D applications, due to the fact that you get seamless 3D acceleration across all 3 displays. You would be able to stretch the application across the desktop, and place 3D views on any monitor, with full hardware acceleration.
Disadvantages of the triplehead implementation:
- the taskbar is stretched across the whole desktop, with the Start menu on one end and the system tray on the other. very inconvenient
- some windows get stretched across the whole desktop instead of a single monitor
- all 3 displays need to use the same resolution, colordepth and refresh rate, in my case this meant using 75 Hz both for the CRT and LCDs, usually I use 100 Hz for the CRT. You'll have to adjust the refresh rate using Matrox PowerDesk, Windows might offer only very low refresh rates
- maximum resolution per display is 1280x1024
- you can't change the position of monitors, display 1 is always at the center, display 2 on the right and display 3 on the left
- applications with multi-monitor support such as UltraMon, PowerStrip or PowerPoint don't work as expected because the application only recognizes a single monitor
- when playing a game at a standard single-monitor resolution like 1024x768, secondary displays get disabled automatically
Surround gaming
Surround gaming means playing games in TripleHead mode. Because the game sees only a single large monitor, and all 3 displays have hardware 3D acceleration (both OpenGL and Direct3D), any game that supports widescreen resolutions or has a windowed mode can be played in surround mode.
Matrox has a website listing compatible games and configuration instructions: Matrox Surround Gaming.
The first game I tested was Quake 3, at 3072x768 resolution, with the field of view (fov) set to 143 as recommended here.
Quake 3 worked fine in surround mode, no performance problems. But I didn't find surround mode particularly useful for this game: as you can see on the screenshot, there is practically no useful visual information on the left and right sides of the field of view, usually all you see is walls, and I found myself looking at the center monitor all the time. Enlarging the field of view to 180 didn't improve the experience.
The second game I tested was Combat Flight Simulator 2. Matrox has configuration information for Microsoft flight sims here.
Fullscreen mode
Fullscreen mode is very cool, you really feel like sitting in a cockpit, and you can look to the left and right simply by looking at the corresponding monitor. The only problem is that the resolution is limited to 1920x480, making the field of view a bit limited. Higher resolutions are available but don't work, according to Matrox due to a limitation of DirectX.
Windowed mode
Windowed mode also works very well, being able to have additional views without much performance loss is very useful.
Matrox PowerDesk
PowerDesk, the configuration and multi-monitor utility, has undergone a major transformation. It's much easier to use than earlier versions I had used with the Matrox G450, but also seems to miss some of the features previously available.
PowerDesk main dialog
| 2 displays - Independent mode | standard mode, Windows sees both displays, you can use different resolutions and choose the monitor position |
| 2 displays - Clone mode | display 1 is cloned (mirrored) on display 2. Both displays need to be at the same resolution, but can use different refresh rates |
| 2 displays - Stretched mode | Windows sees a single display, taskbar stretched across the desktop, both displays need to be at the same resolution but can use different refresh rates |
| 2 displays + 1 feature display | 2 displays are used for the Windows desktop (either in independent or stretched mode), a 3rd display (can be a TV) is used for PureVideo/DVDMax and Multi-Display Zoom (more on these features below) |
| 3 displays - Stretched mode | same as 2-display stretched mode, but with 3 displays. Note that all monitors need to use the same refresh rate. This mode is used for TripleHead and surround gaming |
Switching to or from independent mode requires a reboot, switching between any other modes doesn't.
These are the main multi-monitor features of PowerDesk. Automatically save/restore window positions saves/restores window positions when changing display mode, not when applications open/close.
I didn't notice any problems, except for some minor issues: open program windows and maximize across all displays don't work for maximized windows, and maximize across all displays doesn't take the taskbar and other desktop toolbars into account.
MultiDesk is a virtual desktop manager.
Other features of PowerDesk:
- PureVideo/DVDMax: when enabled, any video playing on display 1 is also shown fullscreen on display 2 or the feature display. The video window doesn't have to be visible, but it can't be minimized
- Multi-Display Zoom: a region from display 1 can be shown zoomed (fullscreen) on display 2 or the feature display. It is not possible to zoom from any other displays
- PixelTOUCH: zooms display 1 on display 1, can't be used on any other display. Similar to the Magnifier tool included with Windows, but fullscreen
eDualHead, the browser enhancement for Internet Explorer, is still available, but isn't part of PowerDesk. It can be installed from the driver CD. PowerDesk is a part of the display driver, so when you download a new driver, you'll also get the latest version of PowerDesk.
Conclusion
An excellent dualhead card, but the triplehead feature is only useful for special purposes, such as 3D design and gaming. For general use I would recommend a PCI video card for the 3rd monitor.
More information
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