DisplayPort to DVI MST Hub with PLP support

[Final8ty]

Over the recent years we have seen multi-screen video technologies really improve to achieve some great things such as AMD's Eyefinity and Nvidia's Surround, we even have the Matrox TH2G and Mview products.

Unfortunately, there is still a lack of any DisplayPort to DVI Multi-Stream Transport (MST) hubs on the market and there is even less support for Portrait-Landscape-Portrait (PLP). The only way of achieving PLP for gaming is via the SoftTH software, which from experience is less than user friendly, and also limited to DirectX9.

Here at WSGF, we strive to push technology to its limits and bring to our community the very best in multi-monitor products, knowledgeable support and game fixes. With this in mind, we are interested in bringing to market a device that would allows users to have great flexibility in the way they wish to setup their displays and overcome most of the problems that plague many of our readers.

Recently I got in touch with a device manufacturer about tweaking one of their existing products to cater to our community's needs. The device in mind would be an external unit that sits between the computer and the monitors, much like the Matrox TH2G device; however the device we would like to offer to the community would contain the following specs...

Input: 1x DisplayPort v1.2 full size connector
Output: 3x or 4x Dual-Link DVI
If you would be interested in this device, please join the site (if you haven't already) and share your thoughts with us.

Support for each monitor output to have its own configuration:

Bezel Correction - Allows for each monitor to have independent bezel correction.
Projector Edge Blending - Blend the edge of projectors to get that perfect alignment.
Rotation - Independently support different rotations per monitor, great for PLP setups!
Cropping - Create elaborate non-rectangular monitor configurations.
Image UP/Down Scaling - Take a portion of your input signal and scale it to fit your monitors as needed.
Refresh Rate Conversion - Each monitor can be provided with a refresh rate that is optimum for it, example (60/75/60)
DirectX Independent - Totally independent of DirectX version giving both forward and backwards compatibility!
Different Resolutions - Run different resolutions on each monitor for those whom have a mis-matched set of screens.
Easily Configurable - Simple editing of custom input and output configurations via a USB connection to a PC.
Genlock - Auto-sense input and output frame rates, automatically genlocking when possible.
Low Latency - A delay of just 1 single video frame.


This would essentially be the first Displayport to DVI MST hub on the market, and if that was not good enough it is able to support PLP (Portrait, Landscape, Portrait) monitor configurations while supporting DirectX11! You could also use it with four projectors to create a 4k display for your home theatre.

The device will present itself to the operating system as a single large surface (aka 1 giant monitor), thus this will work on the windows desktop and in games without the need for any hacks such as SoftTH. It would also be GPU independent, and work with both AMD and NVIDIA cards.

What I would like to know is how much interest there is out there for this device, we really wish to make this happen but can only do so if we have enough interest so that we may get these devices produced for us. At present we expect the cost of such a device to be around £500-£600, however with enough interest we can bring this down.

If you would be interested in this device, please join the site (if you haven't already) and share your thoughts with us. I would like to start an active discussion on what you the community would really like to see from such a device, and how much you would be willing to spend. So, please help us help you!

http://www.wsgf.org/article/displayport-dvi-mst-hub-plp-support#comment-246243

 

[ViRGE]

To be technically accurate, that's not a MST hub. A MST hub is exactly what the name says: a communications hub for multiple devices. The OS still sees multiple monitors with the hub spitting off the multiple streams DP1.2 can carry. This proposed device really is a modern TH2G device. It's a device requesting a single stream and is presenting itself as 1 very large monitor.

Anyhow, I have to admit I don't "get" PLP. I can see why you'd want portrait, and I can see why you'd want landscape. But why would you want both at the same time?

 

[Final8ty]

Article updated.

The video scaling is done using bicubic image sampling which produces a very good quality image.

With the input as DP v1.2 that would give us 17.28Gbit/s of bandwidth which will allow us most ultra wide and high res, but sadly not in 3D.
To give an idea..

4960x1600@60hz = 11.42Gbit/s
5040x1050@60hz = 7.62Gbit/s
5760x1080@60hz = 8.96Gbit/s
6000x2000@60hz = 17.28Gbit/s

4960x1600@120hz = 22.86Gbit/s
5040x1050@120hz = 15.24Gbit/s
5760x1080@120hz = 17.92Gbit/s

You can use our fov & bandwidth calc to play around with different resolutions and refresh rates to see what may and may not work for you.

Using dual DP1.2 inputs might potentially work but it may make things a hell of a lot more complicated and pricey.

Now with pics

 

[Final8ty]

To be technically accurate, that's not a MST hub. A MST hub is exactly what the name says: a communications hub for multiple devices. The OS still sees multiple monitors with the hub spitting off the multiple streams DP1.2 can carry. This proposed device really is a modern TH2G device. It's a device requesting a single stream and is presenting itself as 1 very large monitor.

Anyhow, I have to admit I don't "get" PLP. I can see why you'd want portrait, and I can see why you'd want landscape. But why would you want both at the same time?

Because it can give you a bigger landscape without being overboard like it can be with 3 monitors in landscape.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgFQmsxSJVU&feature=related

 

[3DVagabond]

I'll sign up just to offer them moral support. I think it's something worthwhile to throw support behind.

 

[3DVagabond]

Anyhow, I have to admit I don't "get" PLP. I can see why you'd want portrait, and I can see why you'd want landscape. But why would you want both at the same time?

Besides the obvious, taking up less desktop real estate, I like the perspective of moving the bezels further out to the sides. Would be good for multitasking where you don't need widescreen for stuff like the internet and emails. Or, in my case, it would be good for running UU3D (a UV mapping program) alongside my main modeling app or Photoshop to show changes/edits in real time. A 12*16 would be big enough to do that. Right now I have to alt/tab back and forth to see the edits.

 

[Final8ty]

Indeed the bezels further out is a bonus and much more productive when not gaming or doing both at the same time.

 

[ViRGE]

Indeed the bezels further out is a bonus and much more productive when not gaming or doing both at the same time.

3 monitors but only 1 copy of EVE? You're doing it wrong.

 

[Final8ty]

3 monitors but only 1 copy of EVE? You're doing it wrong.

LOL i have 2 accounts dualing when needed