So I have just switched over from 3x LG Flatron 1280x1024 17" monitors to 3x Dell U2312HM monitors in portrait, and am getting quite a bit of vertical screen tearing. From what ive found, it seems to be made worse by the the fact I'm using 2x display port and 1x dvi/vga. I have enabled V-Sync in Planetside 2, which seems to help some. I have attempted to set my preferred display to one of the displayport monitors, which a few seconds later, the screens blink, and it sets it back to DVI. Yet i still get it pretty bad in and out of game. Now, i am planning to get a 7970, MSI Lightning or ASUS Matrix, as they have 4x Display ports, but that is still a few months off. (also allow me to try 5-1 eyefinity as well !) View attachment 3117 Will the new video card fix this issue, and is there anything else i can do?
I've never heard that using different cables would cause screen tearing. They just deliver a signal to the monitor to be displayed. I was under the impression it was the hardware that caused the screen tearing (refresh rate of the monitor). Based on my previous knowledge of how this works it won't fix your problem as it is the monitor not being able to deal with the input from the video card. I don't know if there is a way to eliminate it all together. I get screen tearing here and there.
As you said, Vertical sync fixes the majority of screen tearing. You can also try enabling triple buffering in the graphics control panel as that helps too, but I think only with OpenGL game engines. I am pretty sure DirectX games dont support triple buffering. Do both display port monitors have the same singla and the DVI monitor is displaying at a different speed? Or are there differences in the image between the two display port monitors as well?
The 2x DP connected monitors seem to have more screen tearing the the DVI connected one, which keeps getting set as the preferred display. When i get back home later today, ill look around catalyst control panel and see if i can find any options for buffering.
Could be a problem with the graphics card's output over display port (driver or hardware issue), or the monitors input of display port (the way it processes the signal), or just one of the things with how DP connections are.
There is a well documented issue with multi monitor setups using multiple types of ports from certain eyefinity cards. Word was, it was supposed to be fidxed with latest drivers released in mid January. I also have seen that ensuring the oddball port is the first monitor in the chain helps. For example: DVI-DP-DP. or HDMI-DVI-DVI. Make sure the 0'0' coordinates of your monitor setup are that odd port. Its supposed to help though I've never personally verified it and I don't know how or why it works. Could be snake oil... but definitely get those drivers updated.
I have the latest drivers, maybe i should see about beta drivers? just formatted and setup this HDD 4 days ago. gonna try and re arrange cords to see about #1 being my DVI. Currently: Monitors 3 2 1 dvi dp dp
worth a shot. I just know a few people were talking about this over on overclockers back in Nov and Dec. To be perfectly honest, I dont see how it could be that relevant. Let us know what you find!
I switched the monitors so its now: DP DVI DP now both side monitors have no screen tearing, because the left most monitor is default preferred display.
middle dvi port still has some tearing issues, i may move it to the right side monitor, but this means when i get the MSI Lightning, i should be all set, all mini DP ports.
I saw your setup, and was wondering, why not just play on a 42" TV? With the current setup, it's not like you're seeing more of the battlefield, so you might as well get one giant display. Unless you're doing it for the higher resolution, but with all those bezels in the way, I'm not sure if it's a worthwhile compromise.
I have personal experience in using a 42" TV as a display. It is really a terrible idea once you do it. I am all for bigger and better, and it is really nice filling up your entire view, really helps the immersion in the game. However, in FPS games (what I played most at the time) it hurts your performance too much because you cant clearly see your hud without moving your whole head. In MMO's you cant see all the info well enough either so your reaction time drops by a lot. Everything looks terrible because the pixels are so large, and you can clearly see each pixel because you are so close. Then there is the global performance decrease across every activity because the TV has such bad input lag compared to a computer monitor. Sure its cool to show off, but other than that it has no use other than if you are a hardcore single player RTS gamer. Which BTW, fun times when you are playing through the campaign or a skirmish in an RTS game on a 220" TV screen (sitting 10 feet away of course). Here is a pic of my friend standing in front of my TV screen. For size comparison, he is 6' tall:
Luckily for my, my game of choice, Planetside 2, has a centralized hud. My main reason for my new setup is because with such a wide screen setup before, and even in a single monitor setup, there is so little vertical view. It kills me PS2 not having that vertical view, as there is so much aircraft and tall buildings and everything. As far as the bezels go, ive played on my Eyefinity setups for so long, the bezels dont bother me at all, its tiny compared to the size of the screen. Also, you really only stare at the main monitor, the 1 on each side is really just advance peripheral vision. I would not recommend this kinda setup for anything else except FPS games. I love the setup personally, and i find that i notice things long before other players.
Trancet: Glad to see my suggestion helped! Its weird, but setting the older style port on these ATI cards on you main display is supposed to work. I'm glad my sources were correct. Still, would you mind trying the DVI port for screen one just for the sake of us here at the tech forum. My friends over at other forums were explicit when they said it has to do with the 0'0' coordinate pixel. Evidently, it sets the clock speed for all the ports for syncing purposes..? I dont see how this could be true, but I've seen it time and time again with triple monitor guys. I've got exactly 3 hours of experience with triple monitors... wasnt a fan. I use dual 30's now, and this business just further solidifies my opinion of "eyefinity" Along those lines, do you feel the triple portrait landscape setup gives you any competitive benefit? Is it purely for shits and giggles? Or, do you just like the wider field of vision- assuming this gives you any?
I have zero experience with Nvidia's surround vision. That being said, I've only seen post related to multimonitor screen tearing with AMD tech video cards. This may be a function of the wider support for eyefinity among the range of offerings within the AMD video card lineup more than anything else.
could ya explain this 0,0 coordinate pixel thing? ive tried moving the monitors around in screen resolution, but i havent seen any changes. i feel it helps, and i do seem to be more aware with an eyefinity setup.
yeah. Think of you monitors as a big graph. the top left corner is pixel 0 by 0. Now, imagine counting your pixels all the way to right and then all the way down- and you have your total resolution size. On your setup, you count all the over to the right 3240 pixels and then count down 1920 lines to find your 3240x1920 resolution. So, So, what I'm saying is to use that older port on the 0'0' pixel-the far left hand side data. Now, we've gone WAY to far into the weeds with this and would never have suggested you try it except that it was supposed to be a quick yank and run a benchmark kind of thing. Like I said, I read from multiple sources that this was supposed to help with vsync issues. I just thought this might be a good way to test my friends over at another forum to find if they are prophets or full of shit. In the end, its all just duct tape anyway. You solution has always been turn those vertical monitors back the right way so you arent having to render so many vertical lines- Or, get more video processing power to handle the load.