2 x dual head dvi display = 4 Screens

[FluffyPost]

is it possible for protools to support 2 x dual head dvi display cards or a single card with 4 dvi heads - so as to have 4 display screens running on a mac pro 2.66Ghz dual core

the card that shipped with my mac = a dual head dvi card = NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT

if i stick another of these exact same cards into pcie slot 2 will it work? and then place the HD cards in slot 3 and 4 - will there be too much heat for everything?

and will i be able to split protools windows and plugins over 4 screens?

i have HD2 system - slots #2,3 = digi cards
slot#4 is empty

directly above slot#1 - which is blank - there seems to be space for another card connection of sorts - are there cards out there that have 4 dvi heads on them though use the same pci bus?

how will it effect the HD cards and performance of tools

any tips? from HD users successfully doing this would be great as digi dont support it yet!?

[TVPostSound]

Yes, my cards are in slot #1 and #4

HD2 in Slots #2 and #3.

[Ray JB]

ATI Radeon HD3870 in slot #1
ProTools HD in Slots #2&3
Stock NVidia 7300GT in Slot #4

Computer is a Mac Pro 2 X 2.66GHz Dual-Core Xeon

4 X Screens. No worries.

[MixerGuy]

i have an HD3..... mac pro 2.66 - is there a three DVI out card that would work? or a 4 DVI card?

make and model?

or - any other options?

thanks

[Jeffrey Talbot]

Don't remember what slots they are in but my MacPro has a stock video card and a duplicate video card as well... up to 4 monitors...used mainly for video out into the booth for ADR work.

Lots of ways to manage this in Display Prefs.... 2 or 3 monitors mirroring the same thing, one left for the PT edit window.... and no need to have a FW Video Box for mix to pix.

[drenkrom]

Originally Posted by MixerGuy

i have an HD3..... mac pro 2.66 - is there a three DVI out card that would work? or a 4 DVI card?

make and model?

or - any other options?

thanks

Take a look at the NVidia Quadro NVS range (http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadronvs.html). These are graphics cards specifically designed for non-graphics-intensive, multi-display systems. You're looking more specifically for the Quadro NVS 420 and 450, which both support up to 4 displays up to 30 inches at 2560x1600 each. Those are around 400$ US, not cheap but waaaaaaay cheaper than the Quadro FX range.

I don't know how well these would work with PT on a Mac, though, as I have no experience with the NVS range. If you buy one, try and work out a "if it doesn't work I can return it" deal with the vendor.

EDIT: well, forget it, after all. No Mac drivers for the NVS range. Ooops. The equivalent ATI products don't support Mac either.

[Ray JB]

I researched the options for our particular generation of Mac Pro and arrived at the ATI Radeon HD3870 as I had to drive 2 X 30" monitors. It was compatible with the gen 1 Mac Pro. I use the old Nvidia 7300 (in slot 4) to play Quicktime pictures and an auxiliary monitor for Digibase, Filemaker Pro etc. Could not find a monitor card option that allowed more than 2 outputs per card with that machine.

I also use Video Satellite LE and a large HD TV set for my main picture feed. Screensharing in Leopard allows me to control the other machine which is in another room connected to my TV via a long HDMI cable, so I don't need a KVM or similar. Perhaps MixerGuy could use this sort of arrangement if you need the third monitor output for pictures only?

Cheers

Ray

[FluffyPost]

thanks for the suggestions and advice guys

kindest

rob

[Marco Bernardo]

Anyone have tried the OWC USB to DVI for a third and fourth monitor?

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...ing/VIDU2DVIA/

Regards,

[glenwoodedit]

Originally Posted by Marco Bernardo

Anyone have tried the OWC USB to DVI for a third and fourth monitor?

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...ing/VIDU2DVIA/

Regards,

Yes we have used a Gefen USB to DVI. I believe it uses the same Display Link chip as all the rest. You need an Intel based Mac to use it. It is not good for cutting against picture at all. At best the display it creates out the USB port is best for a mix page or edit pageor anything with somewhat static graphics. Even then the resolution can't get to max what our 24" Dells can support. It works, but not all that well.