Eyefinity - thoughts

[DanielGrout]

I have a 3x1 setup in landscape. So that is 3x24 inch monitors side by side. The left and right monitors are angled slightly inwards.

Soooo my thoughts...Not as impressed as I thought I would be.

The problem is mainly one of support I think, mainly around field of view. I find that the way apps handle the FOV varies greatly.

The FOV thing is the big issue for me. I understand the side monitors are just peripheral vision but sometimes the image is just too distorted.

My middle monitor is not big enough to take all my central vision, therefore my periphal vision seems to start at about 1/3 of they way through the side monitors and at this point the image is badly stretched, as a result of the rendering of the FOV. Hope that makes sense.

I'll break it down a bit.

Battlefield 3
I still haven't settled on a decent vertical FOV. I find too high looks distored and too low looks like playing through a letter box.

Gameplay with it is interesting. It doesn't really offer any advantage but when flying it does feel more imersive.

Performance is hard to pin down at a good level with decent quality.

Setup can be a faf but I've documented it in another thread. I've got most of the issues sorted, so I'm not so worried by that.

Some weapons don't fully extend into the right screen so end up with gaps that look off putting

Modern Warfare 3
Oh dear.

Out of the box it doesn't support Eyefinity. You have to get a utility (from Widescreen Gaming Forum) to hack it. The FOV is fixed in game, but can be altered by the util. The UI elements don't scale right so end up stretched.

I found that it didn't "feel" right, the peripheral view was distracting rather than imersive.

Apart from the fact that the game is just terrible - quick review: OK game but 5 years out of date.

Dirt 3
Works fine. FOV seems well balanced, although not adjustable.

The side monitors work great as a periphal view and I'd recomend using the internal car view for the most imersive experience.

Arma2:OA
Mixed bag.

Easy to setup but not as obvious as you'd think. No adjustable FOV. You have to set the aspect ratio to Eyefinity.

The UI can be a challenge as it ended up straddling the bezels (for me) so I had to guess at what some bits were.

As a soldier it is a bit wierd, I think this is FOV stuff again.

Planes/Choppers look amazing. I'd recomend turning graphical quality down a touch and up the view distance to max.

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Hope this helps. Happy to answer any questions.

 

[dvs20]

I'm in a similar situation to yourself and can only echo your thoughts, the worst for me is performance in games like BF3 (I now only use middle monitor as it's the only way I can get decent FPS), also random issues cropping up when using eyefinity, I found in battlefield the squad / enemy icons above the player model's heads were not appearing. My TK count went through the roof.

 

[evilmatt]

I only have 22" monitors but I'm sat close enough that the distortion doesn't bother me too much. I tend to find 3 screens really help the immersion in games that handle the wide aspect ratio correctly. Particularly driving games, and some third-person games also look impressive - I've played through the Dead Space games and Batman AA this year and they were very cool in eyefinity. I don't play that many FPS though to be honest, they seem the most affected by the distortion on the outer screens to me.

 

[DanielGrout]

I forgot to mention Civ5.

That is distorted at the edges so makes it pretty pointless for eyefinity - given the type of game. Also the UI elements end up at the far edges so it is a nightmare to play like that.

 

[BaDBoY_uK]

All COD games have been s*** for eyefinity mate. BF3 rocks!

 

[doggles]

I found in battlefield the squad / enemy icons above the player model's heads were not appearing. My TK count went through the roof.

there is a fix for this but not sure I can post the link to a diff forum on here.

 

[doggles]

Posted on http://widescreengamingforum.com by PapaRoach

Friend or foe name tags

Open “AMD VISION Engine Control Center”
Assuming that you have “Presets” already set for your existing “Extended Displays” and “Eyefinity Displays” so you can revert back to for your existing setups, games etc…

If you aready have your monitors set to a “Eyefinity Display Group” then you will want to disable them.
Click on “Desktop Management” tab
Click on “Creating and Arranging Desktops” tab
Click on the black triangle, then “Display Group” and click on disable, you will get a warning that this action cannot be reverted. Click “Yes”.
You should have 3 identical monitors, showing the same thing.
At the bottom of the screen you should see small displays, each with a black triangle on the top right.
Click on each black triangle and click “Extend”, you will see “Your displays have been reconfigured. Do you want to keep these changes?” click on “Yes”
Now while still in “Creating and Arranging Desktops”
Click on the black triangle on any (display box) and click on “Identify All”
Note which numbers come up on each of your displays.
Now on the screen, click and drag the (display boxes) to be in the order of (1,2,3).
Click on “Identify All” again to verifiy which order your actual displays are in.
If for example your actual displays are showing in the order of (2,1,3) then just click on (display box 1)’s black triangle and click “Swap” then click on (display box 2).
Click on “Identify All” to verify your actual displays are in the order of (1,2,3)
Now click on (display box 2)’s black triangle and click on “Make Primary”, now your center display is set as primary and has a asterisk (*) on it.

If you have not made a preset for your standard “Extended Displays” with center display set as primary, then now is a good time to do so.
Click on “Presets” then “Add Preset” Then you can name it for example “Extended Displays Centered”, select a location such as Start Menu or System Tray, you can also set a hot key for it.

Now click on (display box 2)’s black triangle and click “Create Group”, you will get a pop-up
“The only displays available aready belong to extended desktops. To create a group, the desktops must first be disabled. Do you want to disable the desktops?
Click “Yes”

Now you have a “Select Layout” page stating “Eyefinity allows you to make a single desktop span a group of displays. Please select a layout for the display group.
Choose the layout you want, most likely “3 displays (3×1), then click on “Accept” tab at bottom right.
You will now get a question asking “Is the display arrangement correct? Click “Yes” if your screens are positioned correctly, if not click “No”
If “No” you will get a screen stating “In the group below, click the position corresponding to the display lit in blue (click on which box is blue to match your screen), after that again for another display.
Now all displays should be in proper position. Click “Done”
Now you will get a screen asking “Do you want to compensate for the bezels around the edges of your displays? Click “Yes” and adjust for your bezels.
Confirm your screens by clicking “Identify” all screens should be shown as “2″

Now you will must make another preset which you can name for example “BF3″ or whatever name you like. You might also want to add the bf3.exe to it.
Now to be sure that your “BF3″ eyefinity setup will work in game, make sure to invoke your preset before starting your game. Might be safe to even invoke before starting “Origin”.
Now when you’re done playing just invoke your other presets and everything is back to normal.

This steps has to be done over when the resolution has been changed.

Now to center the HUD do the second part of the fix.

Go to \My Documents\Battlefield 3\Settings
Copy and save the file “PROF_SAVE_profile” somewhere else in case you need to redo your settings
Then open the file
“PROF_SAVE_profile” with word pad or whatever editor you like
Locate the line that reads
GstRender.ScreenSafeAreaWidth and set it to a setting that is good for you mine is set at
GstRender.ScreenSafeAreaWidth 0.300000
I see that Hafen Toni is at 0.600000
default is 0.950000
Which ever you like to get the hud to display more to the center for you
Then Save the file.