ATI's Eyefinity Brings Multi-Display Gaming to New Heights

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
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From our front-page news:
At a press event held by AMD, many ATI-related technologies were unveiled, such as more information pertaining to their DX11 graphics cards. One technology to take the web by storm, though, is the company's "Eyefinity" multi-display technology, which looks to put all previous multi-display technologies to absolute shame. But, by the looks of things, this will benefit mainly those willing to part with a lot of money.

The Eyefinity technology is scalable, so you can use three displays if you want, or for a more realistic perspective, six. If you paired six 30" displays together, you'd be able to enjoy your game at the unbelievable resolution of 7680x3200, or 24.5 megapixels. This not only delivers more immersion into your gameplay, but it would also allow you to see more on-screen at a time.

Probably the most amazing demo of them all would have to be the 24 display setup which showed off some flight simulator. With those 24 24" monitors paired together, the resolution would be 11520x4800, or 55 megapixels. Now that's intense. Of course, you'd expect that ATI's newest cards would be capable of handling the performance required to pull off such a task, and it does look as though they will be. Of course, things like anti-aliasing might be considered a luxury, but what part of a 24 - 55 megapixel display isn't?

While I do think that Eyefinity is cool, I really have to wonder how well such a technology would sell ATI's products. I can think of few people who own multi-display setups, and they're certainly not using 30-inch's or usually even 24's, much less six of one or the other. Still, for those hardcore gamers with the cash, this looks to become the latest killer app for our gaming.

ati_eyefinity_legit_091009.jpg

AMD obviously spent a lot of time on the Eyefinity drivers and they seem to be fairly solid even though the graphics cards won't be launched for a number of weeks. AMD had a system up and playing the upcoming DX11 racing game, Dirt 2, at 7680 x 3200 with solid performance from the looks of it. Playing games at this resolution will tax the system, but obviously the new Evergreen DirectX 11 graphics card has the muscle to run the game just fine.


Source: Legit Reviews
 

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Of course, things like anti-aliasing might be considered a luxury, but what part of a 24 - 55 megapixel display isn't?

The higher the resolution, the less AA is needed to achieve the same image quality. With such an insanely high resolution, just looking at the photos makes it seem like they don't need AA.. I'd be surprised if they need to use any. ;)

It is about time that GPUs began offering serious support for multiple monitors at their native resolutions. Even the lowest model 5000-series part is going to support up to 3 discrete displays, and I applaud ATI for finally taking this step with their graphics cards. :) I don't use multiple displays myself, but a very large number of people do.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Kougar said:
The higher the resolution, the less AA is needed to achieve the same image quality. With such an insanely high resolution, just looking at the photos makes it seem like they don't need AA.. I'd be surprised if they need to use any.

Well, it depends on how you look at it. Generally speaking, the more monitors you have, the further away from them you'll have to be (I couldn't imagine sitting right in front of 6x 24"). But despite the resolution increasing, the lack of "jaggies" isn't going to disappear. The resolution is increasing in relation to the number of monitors applied, so it wouldn't negate the need or want for anti-aliasing.

As for the support, I agree. I just really hope it supports a wide-range of games, and isn't ultra-limited. NVIDIA is currently scoffing at ATI's attempts here, so it will be interesting to see how it flourishes, if at all.
 

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Well, it depends on how you look at it. Generally speaking, the more monitors you have, the further away from them you'll have to be (I couldn't imagine sitting right in front of 6x 24"). But despite the resolution increasing, the lack of "jaggies" isn't going to disappear. The resolution is increasing in relation to the number of monitors applied, so it wouldn't negate the need or want for anti-aliasing.

As for the support, I agree. I just really hope it supports a wide-range of games, and isn't ultra-limited. NVIDIA is currently scoffing at ATI's attempts here, so it will be interesting to see how it flourishes, if at all.

Well the other selling point (as I understood it) was that a single GPU can drive three displays at each display's native resolutions. For instance if you have three monitors on your desk, or just two side-by-side... I'll have to wait and see the specifics to be sure though, since I don't use multiple displays I don't remember all the hoops and limitations current multidisplay setups come with.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Well the other selling point (as I understood it) was that a single GPU can drive three displays at each display's native resolutions. For instance if you have three monitors on your desk, or just two side-by-side...

That's a really good point. To have the ability to run 7680x1600 off one GPU is a damn nice proposition. I wish I had room for such a setup... ;)
 

gibbersome

Coastermaker
That's a really good point. To have the ability to run 7680x1600 off one GPU is a damn nice proposition. I wish I had room for such a setup... ;)

Good for workplace, but how would you create a 6-monitor like in the picture. You could have truly immersive gaming at your finger tips.

Of course you could just sit in front of a 50" LCD TV.
 

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
But a 50" LCD TV (The good ones, mind you) are 1280x1080.... so really it would get you the same effect as gaming on a ~20" monitor with 1280x1080 resolution using a magnifying glass over the screen. :D

My 24" monitor is 1920x1200, that's a very big increase in on screen pixels and detail... The key isn't pure screen size, but having the right balance between screen size and level of detail. Don't forget 30" monitors offer 2560x1600 resolutions either... that's almost the equivalent of compressing the detail of two 50" TV's together into just a 30" screen. When you sit 2-4 feet away from said screen, that level of detail does matter. ;)
 

gibbersome

Coastermaker
But a 50" LCD TV (The good ones, mind you) are 1280x1080.... so really it would get you the same effect as gaming on a ~20" monitor with 1280x1080 resolution using a magnifying glass over the screen. :D

My 24" monitor is 1920x1200, that's a very big increase in on screen pixels and detail... The key isn't pure screen size, but having the right balance between screen size and level of detail. Don't forget 30" monitors offer 2560x1600 resolutions either... that's almost the equivalent of compressing the detail of two 50" TV's together into just a 30" screen. When you sit 2-4 feet away from said screen, that level of detail does matter. ;)

Lol, thanks for the input.

The Pioneer Kuro can do 1980 x 1080, but still wouldn't compare to hooking up 4 of those 30" screens.

Maybe a high-end projector would work best.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Kougar said:
1280x1080

Are you sure that's a real resolution? It would have to be one of the ugliest if so.

I got to see some Eyefinity in action the other day using three 24" monitors and Hawx, and it looked quite good. I still don't think it's for me, because I can't stand bezels getting in the way (no matter how thin), but I can definitely see why some would jump at the opportunity to play games like that.
 
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