Announcement

**i4004** · 09-19-2008, 11:06 AM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/238886

i have such card and for video playback pc they're rather unimpressive: quality is not good, and you need pc in order for tv-out to work...any recent card will let you use pc alone hooked to tv....

in that aspect any card(even those 8 years old) with tv-out beats matrox.

**PCBONEZ** · 09-19-2008, 11:40 AM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

Thanks for responding.

These cards probably ARE 8 years old. - I don't need quality better than that anyway.
Video/TV out of a laptop with 8Mb video RAM is just fine for my quality needs.
I've done that to an LCD screen before and that's adequate.
I be not a gamer and I don't care about hi-fidelity when I rent a movie or watch TV.
TV wouldn't even be an issue if I wasn't being forced into ATSC.
All my gear is NTSC and that will be useless next Feb for OTA.
I have an ATSC tuner for PC and that will be my only OTA TV from then on.

>> and you need pc in order for tv-out to work <<
By this you mean TV is only via PC monitor?
I knew that already if my brain was on. [I wrote question BEFORE the morning coffee.]
That is fine by me too. I would rather by another LCD screen than a new TV set.

I guess the basic question is how can I (or can I) combined these with other video options to get 3 screens out of one PC.

.

**370forlife** · 09-19-2008, 01:21 PM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

Is this a matrox millenium G450? Thats what my HP vectra vl800 use to have in it (agp, 16mb, dual d-subs,) you can't use the onboard and the video card unless you have Nvidia hybrid sli or ATI hybrid crossfire (will sli/crossfire the pci-e video card with a nvidia/ati card,) which only new (brand new) nvidia and ati chipsets have that.

**PCBONEZ** · 09-19-2008, 05:10 PM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

They are G450 and G550 and 16 or 32 Mb - AGP.
I figured AGP wouldn't go with onboard but never tried and these are unusual so I asked.

I think onboard might work with a PCI version to get 3 monitors but I haven't tried it.

Also have some regular AGP cards with TV out (S-Video). I think PCI too.

Might try that with a PCI version Dual Head with onboard if I can get my hands on one.
Seems that should work-out okay.

I'm not locked into a hardware configuration yet.
Mucho MoBos to pick from with and without onboard and a box of video cards.

Biggest hold-up is I have 6 PSU's that need re-capped first and the caps aren't here yet.

.

**370forlife** · 09-19-2008, 07:22 PM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

I know a guy who had a pci-e 16x nvidia 7900GT that he hooked up to his main monitor, then he had a pci Nvdia Geforce 2 that he ran 2 monitors on, so he ran 3 at one time.

Or you can get a new biostar motherboard with the MDV slot. On those boards, the onboard will usually have a dsub and dvi, then a card will go into the mdv slot (a backwards pci-e 1x slot,) and it has an extra dsub and dvi, and if you want 6 monitors, get a 8400 or 8500GT and hybrid sli it with the onboard and it will use the onboard's, mdv's and pci-e card's ports.

**Wizard** · 09-19-2008, 09:41 PM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

Matrox is known for excellent 2D performance and very clear signals.

I used G450, I think, and is AGP and with dual VGA outputs back then when CRT-based monitors were as common as flies so I use PC to test them while I have main monitor on at same time (dual head clone mode). Still have it.

Drivers are still available from matrox for 2000 and XP as well as 98.

And still use G400 and others in other machines at work so I have best signal quality possible for the best VGA input LCD monitor quality.

Cheers, Wizard

**PCBONEZ** · 09-19-2008, 10:14 PM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

I don't have anything with PCIe because I don't want it.
WAY more video card than I need and so too expensive.

I use a PCI-X slot for my RAID cards and I have dozens of boards (and RAID cards) to pick from already in hand.

PRV box will probably get a 3ware Escalade 7506-8 because I have 5 that aren't too busy right now. Or I might go cheap and use a promise TX-4000 for those. Have a few of those cards with no job too.

Will catch OTA with a Dvico FusionHDTV5 RT Gold ATSC tuner. (PCI)

(In same PRV or another box in the other room) I will have either a Hauppauge or Kworld NTSC capture card (I have some of each) to collect from the old type DVD and VHS players.

Only thought about multiple monitors recently.

.

**i4004** · 09-20-2008, 02:56 AM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

>By this you mean TV is only via PC monitor?

i mean in order to control(better to say turn on) the 2nd display(which can be tv) you need a working 1st display(primary monitor).
but it seems you won't mind that.
i did, because i need my playback machine to be standalone, separate from main rig.
it's a pc with tv as it's monitor, so to say. offcourse, tv is not good for reading, that's why it's video playback machine.

if you have agp cards, do you have mobo with more than 1 agp slot?
does that even exist?
it seems your best bet would be one dual head agp and one pci card.
judging by that ms article it should work...if you install it properly.

onboard? as you said, probably only if 2nd card is pci.
if you plug in agp it'll probably turn off onboard automatically....

>I have an ATSC tuner for PC and that will be my only OTA TV from then on

so how will your wife watch tv, then?
<wink>

**PCBONEZ** · 09-20-2008, 06:50 AM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

Conversation gets confusing because I'm building or reconfiguring more than one machine at the same time.
Sometimes *I* forget which one I'm talking about in the middle of a sentence. ~ Sorry.

Originally posted by i4004

>By this you mean TV is only via PC monitor?
i mean in order to control(better to say turn on) the 2nd display(which can be tv) you need a working 1st display(primary monitor).
but it seems you won't mind that.
i did, because i need my playback machine to be standalone, separate from main rig.

This is where I'm trying to get to:

One machine will be a PVR with recording OTA via programmable auto timer.
The ATSC Card will start machine to record if it's off.
If ATSC card will coexist with NTSC card to record/view from old VCR/DVD players too that would be great.
That one needs PC screen (I think) and 1 or 2 TV playback screens.
Intend to use MythTV on this one. I don't know MythTV yet.
This replaces two VCR's with timed recording and the old NTSC TV set.

Same room will have two non-entertainment work stations with 2 monitors for work. [These workstations are already there but are single monitor.]
A third monitor if it can be set-up for playback off that machine [preferred because it could be a 3rd work monitor on occasion] -or- a third monitor fed from the PVR unit and positioned so playback can be viewed from the work station.
Everyone in room sees same playback. That's fine.
[This replaces]
Currently one person can see TV directly and the other via a big freakin' mirror on the wall. (Watch TV in mirror because back is to TV.)

Another room will have one non-entertainment work station with 2 monitors.
[This replaces two existing systems on a KVM.] There will also be a NAS in there on the LAN for backups but it will not need a monitor. TV in that room is optional but probably no. This room is my 'think tank' room when I want quite.

Another room (shop - different building actually but LAN connected) will have one non-entertainment work station with 2+ monitors and an LTS Server controlled through a KVM. VGA does not go through KVM. Only keybaord/mouse does. Server has it's own monitor.
[This replaces 2 single monitor systems with one dual monitor.]
TV out there is optional. That space is about 600 Sqft and supported by about 900 watts of Kenwood 4.1 Surround so I don't really care about TV out there.

The last room (master bedroom) will have a TV playback only machine.
Recorded Files loaded via LAN from PVR machine.
Will have NTSC card to record/view from old VCR/DVD players.
This can either be two smaller or one big LCD screen.
Not sure about OS for this one yet.

if you have agp cards, do you have mobo with more than 1 agp slot?
does that even exist?

In effect yes:
Onboard video is usually on AGP BUS so it's basically an AGP card.

I think that's why putting an AGP card in slot kills on-board video.

It seems a regular PCI card shouldn't kill the onboard video but that could be a BIOS thing and different from one board to another.
- Not sure yet. Upcoming experiments.

it seems your best bet would be one dual head agp and one pci card.
judging by that ms article it should work...if you install it properly.

I think that would be best for some of the setups I'm trying to work out.

>I have an ATSC tuner for PC and that will be my only OTA TV from then on
so how will your wife watch tv, then?
<wink>

She's gonna have to learn Linux and MythTV if she wants to record her shows. All this OTA TV crap is for her in the first place. I only watch it because she turns off the stereo when she wants TV. Somehow when you are listening to it there is always something that makes you wanna look.
-
I didn't even own a TV when we met. Didn't want one either. I was on the road all the time following projects. [I do short term contracts.] Never in one city more than 6 months and sometimes only 8 weeks. I'd rent DVD movies and watch via Laptop but news and so forth I'd get via Internet. I had no desire to own a TV. Was just more crap to haul around with me or to pay storage on.

About the time I get all this sh*t worked out I'll probably have to move again and have to take it all apart anyway. -

I don't plan on settling here, this place is a stepping stone.
That's kind of why I keep putting off doing anything permanent in so far as a home network infrastructure. (Or for that matter a vegetable garden.)

If NTSC broadcasts weren't going away in Feb I'd be changing the work stations to dual/triple monitor and doing nothing about TV at all.

.

**i4004** · 09-20-2008, 09:37 AM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

sometimes i wonder why do we watch news at all.
films and series i wouldn't give up on(esp. comedy). i could get that from the web, though...but it's easier if it's broadcasted to you(i record it and watch when i want to...though i have some much stuff i dunno when will i watch it all..huh).

why not get some small tv-set? the size of monitor. and threw one monitor away.

how many times did you move alltogether?
you're still on the move, so i guess you're getting no pension?

**PCBONEZ** · 09-20-2008, 08:42 PM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

News on TV is a JOKE here in the US.
- Complete waste of time.
99.5% Irresponsible Journalism.
- They verify/validate/investigate nothing and just repeat whatever BS someone says.
80% belongs in a gossip column instead of in the news.

I saw a story recently that cracked me up.
They were talking about some medical break-through due to experiments with Mouse genes. The whole time the article ran they were talking about Mice and showing a cage full of Rats.
The Morons don't know the difference between a Rat and a Mouse.
- How many people do you think that was approved/reviewed by before they aired it?
NO ONE THERE knows the difference between a Rat and a Mouse.

.........

How much have I moved!! - OMG! ~ Can of worms!

I started early. - Age 6 months:
Henderson NV, Las Vegas NV, Missouri, Virginia, 3 places in Maryland, 2 places Northern Nevada, 2 places in Utah, then No. California.
~ That's where I started High School. That was school #14.
6 years there then joined military when College, naked women, sex, pot, rock-n-roll, Harley Davidsons, dirt bikes, 4x4's, horses, camping, hunting, and fishing got too boring.
[What was I thinking!!!]
Then: San Diego, Cali -> Illinois -> Florida -> Idaho -> then 4 places in San Francisco (S.F.) Bay Area (12 years in or near S.F.) -> WA State (2 places).
Visited 21+ other countries during that time. 7 tours to the Gulf between '85 and '99 (before, during, and after the war.). Counter Drug Ops off the coasts of Mexico and South America 3 times. And two cold war things up near what used to be the USSR that didn't officially happen. [Not in that order of course.]
~
[This next one is the period I mentioned up above. ]
Retired AND got divorced in late 2000/early 2001.
Sold about everything except what I could take with me in a big-ass station wagon.
Some of my tools (I had a 40'x60' wood/auto shop in WA), one 1964 Sports Coupe (Ford Fairlane), Tech books, Keep sakes, and my Kenwood (Full Size) all went into storage.
About everything else got sold or went to landfill.
- Tech for hire! Can travel!
Moves since 2001:
-> A 3rd city in WA -> Oregon -> WA again -> Oregon -> Auburn Cali -> Shingle Springs Cali -> Crescent City Cali -> North Highlands Cali -> Reno NV -> Kingston Jamaica (West Indies) -> Lincoln Cali -> Rocklin Cali -> Reno NV -> San Bernardino Cali -> Highland Cali.
That was 2001->2005
The gig in Rocklin was going to be a permanent job but (against my recommendation and objections) my Boss disabled a safety system which (a few weeks later) resulted in an explosion and fire that nearly killed 3 people. I told the plant manager to either fire my boss or I was leaving. He gave me 3 weeks notice that I was going to be fired. (Strange but true.) I think they wanted me to stay but to shut-up. I filed a report with OSHA and left.
Highland was a whole year so basically 15 jobs/moves in 4 years.
I'd rent rooms during the jobs and shack-up with a G.F. between jobs.
Met present wife in Highland. She was Boss's daughter.

Then (we) moved to AZ mid 2005 because SHE got transferred. Moved once since but that was about a crappy landlord, not a job. There is a 75% chance her job is going *poof* in the next 8 months and 95% within the next ~14 months due to downsizing so we may be moving again. She's already looking and interviewing for new jobs.

Pant Pant Pant Pant .. (Catching breath.)

Pension, yes since 2001 but is small for now (alimony/child support) so I still work. Legally I don't have to pay child support anymore but the kid is in college so I let it slide for now.
Don't have to work full time though....

Between 'real jobs' I have done a bazillion under the table or 'home enterprises' starting all the way back in High School when I did mobile auto repair (regular clients) and engine swaps. I've refurbished laptops. Built PCs. Done landscaping. Concrete work. Tile work. Remodeled bathrooms. Roofed 3 houses. Re-wired on. Had an online store for a while from which I sold used MoBos, add-in cards, and New/Used CPU's. Store had a Hardware Info section and a forum associated with it. The forum lived for 3 years on it's own after I abandoned the store (can't do ship/receive for a store when you're mobile) and stopped updating the site. From mid '80's - mid 90's (near S.F. then) I had a shop and fixed cars. (all under the table) Did engine swaps and rebuilds, transmissions, sand blasting, welding, front end work. Navy buddies helped me out in exchange for using my shop and tools for their own cars.
- One of those buddies ended up in Lincoln CA after he got out and I stayed with him while I was there. Still has the car he built some of in my shop near S.F. and some more in the shop in WA. He did a frame-up doing all the heavy stuff and sand blasting at my place(s). It's a 1967 Chevy Caprice with a 500 CID Caddy Engine. Vette suspension. Custom intake manifold to allow mounting an altered Ford 460 CID Truck Electronic Fuel Injection system. Caddy Trans was modified using racing and RV parts. It hammers out 700 HP on pump gas. More when he mixes in AVGas. [I think it gets like 2 mpg on a good day.]

Current project (job) is 3 hours from here so I've rented a room out there and come home on days off. I'm in limbo for a bit as they broke something and my part can't happen until they finish fixing their part. It's real hard to install and work the bugs out of a control system when the parts you are trying to control don't work.

~~~

Back OTS:

I'm not buying any new TV sets. - Just not.
They are WAY over priced for their actual value.
All they are is a tuner, sound card, video card, and a display.
- They don't record. I would still need a STB and/or an ATSC VHS or DVD.
- Part of going to PC is getting rid of VHS/DVD media for temporary recordings. (Can record to HDD.)

We rarely watch anything when it's actually broadcast. She records EVERYTHING to watch later when it's convenient. Some of her shows are broadcast at the same time on different channels. Keeping track of tapes or DVD's is a pain in the a** especially for shows you have to watch in sequence.

I can get a PCI ATSC PVR capable tuner for the cost (or less than) of one ATSC VHS/DVD recorder. - That part is no different $$$ wise but with the card I can record to a hard drive and edit or convert file formats. With LAN I can send it (or pull it) to where ever I wanna do playback without looking for the tape or DVD.

Also, for the cost of one ATSC/NTSC capable TV set I can get 2-3 comparable size LCD screens (used of course). More if they need fixed.
- Sometimes they come free.

Probably 2 dozen CRTs around here already and CRT's are dirt cheap here.
17" for $10 if you know where to look. 19"-20" for $20.
CRTs are temp-fix and being rotated out and replaced with LCD's.
Already have 7 LCDs. 4-15", 1-17", and 2-18".
[2-15" still need fixed. Just got 'em.]

The 15" will be side screens or 'close-up' TV's wall-mounted behind desks.

On my work stations I want to rotate 15"-ers 90-degrees to side of main screen so I can read from PDF and DOC files without so much up-down scrolling.
- Once wify sees that trick she'll want it too. - LOL

Eventually I want everything around here (including my O'scope) to be LCD vice CRT.
- Smaller.
- Lighter.
- Use less power.
- No CRT eye hazard.
- Make less heat.
- Don't screen burn.

U C ?

...........

We, - WAIT! -
~She~
.. has 3 TVs now [32", 20", 14"] but all are NTSC and we only use 2.
NTSC -> Useless in a few months for OTA.
20" is about dead anyway. (Won't always stay on without a fist-assist.)
- It's the 'new one' too. Only 18 months old.
14" is too small for watching wide screen DVD, no remote, and the sound sux.
- Yard sale crap she drug home because it was only $5. [No wonder!]
- It might make an interesting aquarium but I'd rather eat fish than feed them.
32" is in bed room where we watch movies or taped shows.
- As in: Things we actually want to pay attention to for the whole show.
- But, the chassis is ridiculously huge for the bed room and it won't fit in the TV cabinet in the other room where the 20" is now.

Might do something with the 32" but the others are outta here pretty soon.

.

**bgavin** · 09-21-2008, 11:30 AM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

I have extensive use of G450 dual-head cards in many client machines. The hardware and drivers have never given a moment's problem. 100% of these cards are still in use for business machines under XP/SP2.

**PCBONEZ** · 09-22-2008, 12:24 AM

Re: Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

Thank you bgavin. [Thanks EVERYONE!]

Have you ever tried them in a 3 monitor setup?
~ and how did it work in so far as hardware arrangement?

As I understand from reading the software lets you use the monitors as two separate desktops. (Vice two windows in one stretched/extended desktop).
Am I correct in that?

.

Announcement

Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

Matrox Dual Head Video Card - Anyone used one?

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment