6 plasma screens on 1 catalyst?

[Woodj32177]

I have an upcoming project in which I may need to have 6 independent outputs from a single catalyst.
all 1,366 x 768 pixels.
I would not be playing them all at the same time, but up to 2 or 3 might be playing at once.
I probably would build a new server for this project, so I could have any hardware required.
I assume quad core, 2 gigs of ram, and at least 1 solid state drive, perhaps 2 in raid 0 if necessary.
Is it possible to do this on 1 server? with 2 triple head to go's?
Any help would be appreciated
Joshua Wood

[NevBull]

Hi Joshua

the discussion of multiple tripleheads has been discussed on here before, with mixed opinions.

How about using a single triplehead with a matrix on the output that you can control using Catalyst (ie a Kramer) so you can send any or multiple of the outputs to any of the screens.

regards

Nev.

[samsc]

I have an upcoming project in which I may need to have 6 independent outputs from a single catalyst.
all 1,366 x 768 pixels.
I would not be playing them all at the same time, but up to 2 or 3 might be playing at once.
I probably would build a new server for this project, so I could have any hardware required.
I assume quad core, 2 gigs of ram, and at least 1 solid state drive, perhaps 2 in raid 0 if necessary.
Is it possible to do this on 1 server? with 2 triple head to go's?
Any help would be appreciated
Joshua Wood

you can do 6 outputs with 2 triple heads at 800x600 - that the maximum that triple heads like at 6 outputs.

you need to check the real resolution of the plasma screens - they might be nothing like 1366x768

there is a show in london using 4/5 servers in this configuration this week.

[Woodj32177]

The matrix is a possiblity,
as is the lower resolution,
although since they are widescreen, this still may be a problem,
I will take a look at my budget, and see what it will bear, building 2 servers might be the right idea...
Thanks for the help.
Joshua Wood

[samsc]

The matrix is a possiblity,
as is the lower resolution,
although since they are widescreen, this still may be a problem,
I will take a look at my budget, and see what it will bear, building 2 servers might be the right idea...
Thanks for the help.
Joshua Wood

'widescreen' is all in the mind, or whatever scaling the screen applies to an input image and how it applies it.

vis a vis square vs non-square pixels and other things.

rarely a real issue unless viewer is actually 2 feet away and is looking at pixels and not the imagery - and if the audience is looking so closely then you have failed in the content to engage the audience...

[Woodj32177]

Ok Richard,
I will keep that in mind,
Thanks!
Josh

[samsc]

Ok Richard,
I will keep that in mind,
Thanks!
Josh

resolution is rarely an issue-

you could have 320x240 images and almost noone would notice. ( this is close to the real resolution of composite video systems like vhs etc )

once you get more than a few feet away- visual acuity- the ability to resolve pixels means that higher resolutions are imperceivable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_acuity

[SourceChild]

I've run six plasmas before at 1280x720 on a single Catalyst using two TH2G boxes. I was also using The nVidia Quatro FX 5600 Video card. The application was an interactive kiosk which ran cues triggered from iCal. The whole thing was tested and rehearsed before ever going online. I ran seven layers with an Mtron SSD. The system was stable enough for the application but nothing I would rely on in a show environment.

If you want to run six screens at a resolution higher than 1280 rez, then I suggest three Catalyst machines using dual outputs only. In worse case scenario, run two boxes with a DH2G on one output and direct on the second.

Ultimately though Richard has the best point. If you use DV codecs and standard DV size and no one would notice unless they are right in front of the screen.