What monitor for 1 screen setup for cockpit

[razorseal]

Well I got the OK from wife after selling some stuff I no longer use to get a race cockpit. I'm going to get an Obutto Ozone (thought about revolution, but I will take the savings). I will order it tomorrow...

I would like to attach 1 larger monitor for now. I would prefer a triple monitor setup (maybe triple 23 or 27) but I think that will be too much cash, and might require me to get another GFX card (currently using a GTX 970 OC). What size monitors are people running? I thought maybe 1 32" monitor would be nice. in the future maybe I can get 2 more, and that would be an awesome setup lol.

anyone?
I race in AC, Pcars and maybe get back into racing after this new setup.

 

[Gringo]

Hi,

I made the same decisions a few months ago. Triple or Single screen.

I ended up with a single 34" 21:9 monitor and I use a custom resolution of 3440 x 1080 (3.7MP) to give me an effective cockpit screen ratio of about 28.5:9. It is great to drive from the cockpit view point and very immersive. One downside is the somewhat small vertical height of the monitor. I compensate by keeping the monitor distance to my eyes quite short at about 45cm. The face of the monitor is about 5cm behind the rim of my wheel.

For my choice in racesim (rF2, GSCE, rF, GTR2, GPL) a single GPU system is (imo) the best choice. With a single GPU in mind and looking for no compromise graphics then triple screen becomes very difficult (expensive) and in some cases its not (properly) supported.

When I compare my 28.5:9 (3.7MP) monitor to (48:9 and 6.2MP) triple screen I can find most of the same advantages, without the bezel issue. And imo triple screen provide a lot of excess peripheral view that I don't think I need. I would rather have the graphics performance used drawing frames and not pushing excess pixels.

 

[razorseal]

How much was that monitor?

Need to see if there are some YouTube videos. I guess the triple screen immersifies because you literally have to look right to see what's on your right. I think oculus/vr goggles will replace these setups within the next couple years

 

[Mark Ratzenbacher]

Totally agree with what Gringo wrote. I changed from a triple-setup to a single 34" 21:9 monitor and have no regrets. Make sure you move the monitor as close as possible to yourself to cover as much fov as possible.
Until VR-technology is available and mature i´m happy with what i got.

 

[razorseal]

Which monitor you guys get? Any pics videos of the setup?

 

[Dietmar]

Hi,

I made the same decisions a few months ago. Triple or Single screen.

I ended up with a single 34" 21:9 monitor and I use a custom resolution of 3440 x 1080 (3.7MP) to give me an effective cockpit screen ratio of about 28.5:9. It is great to drive from the cockpit view point and very immersive. One downside is the somewhat small vertical height of the monitor. I compensate by keeping the monitor distance to my eyes quite short at about 45cm. The face of the monitor is about 5cm behind the rim of my wheel.

For my choice in racesim (rF2, GSCE, rF, GTR2, GPL) a single GPU system is (imo) the best choice. With a single GPU in mind and looking for no compromise graphics then triple screen becomes very difficult (expensive) and in some cases its not (properly) supported.

When I compare my 28.5:9 (3.7MP) monitor to (48:9 and 6.2MP) triple screen I can find most of the same advantages, without the bezel issue. And imo triple screen provide a lot of excess peripheral view that I don't think I need. I would rather have the graphics performance used drawing frames and not pushing excess pixels.

How do you set the custom resolution?

 

[Gringo]

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u3415w.htm

It was pricy for me as I purchased early this year and my region is expensive... but the cost is coming down and I am sure more manufactures will offer 21:9 in the short term.

But compared to an investment in triple screens I feel the extra cost was not really that much. If you pay 600-700 USD for 3 screens then a little bit more will get you into UHD.

 

[Gringo]

How do you set the custom resolution?

You should find in your graphics card control panel, some options to create custom resolutions supported by your video card/monitor combination. If you dig into your graphics card options you should find the controls.

After you define a custom resolution, you configure your game graphics as you normally would, however now you should find your new custom resolution available to select.

 

[Emery]

If I were going for a single monitor with an eye on owning triple monitors in the future, I'd get a 3-D monitor that can run 120 Hz refresh. A 970 GTX should be able to drive it at 120 Hz, though you may have to turn down some in-game settings depending on content.

I have a 970 GTX and run rFactor2 with triple 27" 1080p monitors at 80+ fps. To do so, I had to drop antialiasing by one or two notches.

As for VR goggles... how ya gonna find the buttons on your button boxes?!?

 

[razorseal]

If I were going for a single monitor with an eye on owning triple monitors in the future, I'd get a 3-D monitor that can run 120 Hz refresh. A 970 GTX should be able to drive it at 120 Hz, though you may have to turn down some in-game settings depending on content.

I have a 970 GTX and run rFactor2 with triple 27" 1080p monitors at 80+ fps. To do so, I had to drop antialiasing by one or two notches.

As for VR goggles... how ya gonna find the buttons on your button boxes?!?

put everything you can on the wheel and the rest... well... I don't know. I don't have a box yet so I guess it wouldn't matter LOL.

 

[razorseal]

phew, that's a 1000 dollar monitor in the us!!! way above my budget lmao

 

[razorseal]

I could probably do 3 of these 24" monitors

http://amzn.com/B0098Y77U0

or I can do 1 27" with sneaking 2 more through the wife in the future

 

[jimortality]

I've got a 29" widescreen Dell 21.9 from amazon. Excellent monitor.

 

[Mark Ratzenbacher]

I use the LG34UM65 and paid ~500€.

(Not my vid, but to give you an idea)

There´s a newer model the 34UM95 which goes for ~700€.

 

[LacSlyer]

Totally agree with what Gringo wrote. I changed from a triple-setup to a single 34" 21:9 monitor and have no regrets. Make sure you move the monitor as close as possible to yourself to cover as much fov as possible.
Until VR-technology is available and mature i´m happy with what i got.

This is a hugely important point in using a single monitor setup. I moved my 39" monitor roughly 18" closer and the FOV difference is massive. It can be the difference in seeing the side mirrors in some cars, which is substantial for a single monitor setup imo.

 

[razorseal]

I'm curious if it will be sufficient with 3x24 monitors, or if I need to fess up the extra cash and get 27 inch monitors for a triple monitor setup...

 

[Gringo]

If your looking for "correct" FOV then it would depend on how far from your eyes do you plan to place your screens. Also if you look at the hi end triple screen setups. The guys move the screens back a bit from the eyes and maybe a bit below your eye level. Then they position the wheel (controller) so that when seated and looking to the screen with the correct FOV they can remove the ingame steering wheel and "everything kind lines up" if that makes sense.

Its not easy to get it right but I am sure its very immersive.

So "generally" speaking smaller monitor means you need to place the monitors closer than a larger monitor for the same rig.

 

[Emery]

I'm curious if it will be sufficient with 3x24 monitors, or if I need to fess up the extra cash and get 27 inch monitors for a triple monitor setup...

1) 24" monitors will be slightly faster in response time, but overall they lack features (like displayport and thin bezels) unless you spend 250% the cheapest prices. Whereas 27" monitors with features are only 50% more expensive than the cheapest 24" prices. Shop carefully!

2) My 27" triples are 30" away from my eyes. To get the same FOV with 24" triples, the monitors would have to be closer yet (28" away? Can't remember. Use an online FOV calculator). Unless you have VESA mounts (eek, another expense!), you'll have to leave room for the base and that will likely interfere with your wheel.

3) Bezel width eats up more percentage of the screen in a 24" monitor than a 27" monitor.

4) Ultimately, if you're constrained by budget, you have to figure out the compromise that works best for you. In my case, I bought triples and video card upgrade at the same time, prioritizing monitor features ahead of video card on the theory that I'll likely upgrade the video card sooner than I'd want to upgrade the monitors since monitor technology stays current for a longer time.

 

[StrongManBR]

Maybe 3x40" TVs seems to me a not very expensive option.

 

[Andy_J]

Another vote here for the LG 34" 21:9 monitor. I absolutely love mine. And it will do until Occulus Rift consumer version gets released. When that happens, cockpits and multi screens will be so old hat.