Review: Matrox TH2Go triple-screen module

The advantages of dual-monitor computing are manifold, so much so that nearly all modern computers and laptops are capable of running multiple displays.

For office productivity the advantages of all that extra screen space are obvious. Unfortunately, the same cannot usually be said for gaming.

If you run a game across two screens, the crucial action occurs slap bang in the middle. Unless your chosen entertainment involves a faithful recreation of the Morris Minor c1954, you won’t enjoy staring straight at the split between the two displays.

This is where Matrox ’s concept of triple-screen Surround Gaming comes in.

With an odd number of monitors, the centre of the action takes place in your centre monitor, which is what’s intended. The two monitors to the left and right serve to fill in your peripheral vision; an effect that works very well indeed.

It’s such an immersive experience that the gaps between your monitors are far from distracting and you soon forget about them altogether.

The TH2Go (Triple Head 2 Go) from Matrox cleverly masquerades as an ultra-wide monitor - a role which it then effectively sub-contracts out to three physical displays.

To your PC, it appears as a single display capable of resolutions of up to 3,840x1,024 pixels, which just happens to be the combined resolution of three standard 17in or 19in panels.

You simply attach these three panels to the TH2Go. This then acts as a go-between, converting the three into a single virtual display.

Matrox has been touting Surround Gaming since the release of its triple-head Parhelia graphics card. Unfortunately, the gaming performance of Matrox’s graphics cards has since fallen well behind that of competitors ATI and Nvidia.

The TH2Go product gives you the best of both worlds by piggybacking onto your existing graphics card and adding triple-head capabilities without the need to upgrade or open up your PC. This also means you can easily add the same functionality to laptops.

Although the TH2Go is very simple to set up and use, there are some compatibility issues. At the moment, Nvidia cards are happier than ATI cards when it comes to running games at the top resolutions.

Older ATI cards can run a 2D Windows desktop at 3,840x1,024 pixels but can only manage 1,920x480 pixels in 3D.

This means running each display at just 640x480 pixels. Newer ATI cards can run each screen at up to 800x600 pixels on each of the three displays in both 2D and 3D modes but only Nvidia cards can operate in both 2D and 3D at the top resolution.

Matrox provides a downloadable system compatibility tool which you can run to find out if your system is compatible with TH2Go and what its capabilities will be once it’s set up.

There is also the question of software compatibility. Some games are happy to work at esoteric resolutions with non-standard aspect ratios while others are not. Some may require tweaking of .ini files or other modifications.

To help with this, the TH2Go comes with the Surround Gaming Utility (SGU). This is a regularly updated utility which automatically configures your installed games to work with the TH2Go in Surround Gaming mode. Currently 135 titles are supported, including recent ones such as F.E.A.R. and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

New resolutions are also periodically added for both 2D and 3D modes.

To make best use of the TH2Go you’ll have to either own or buy three monitors, which are as similar to each other as possible; preferably identical models.

While the cost of the TH2Go plus three monitors may seem high, you’re getting a huge display area with very nearly as many pixels as a £1,500 30in panel for a far lower total cost.

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