Again multiple Monitors

Sorry, by asking that agin, but things change over the years and i am afraid many posts might be out dated.
I want to have 8 or 9 full-hd outputs from my TD-computer. What would be a good not too expensive way to go? My research up till now:

  • 3 multiple Nvidia graphic Cards. Do these have to be Quadros or would others like RTX 3060 also work? Quardos might be a quite expensive solution
  • datapath hx4, I guess also expensive, cant find a shop in germany which offers it
  • 3x Matrox triple Head to go
  • multiple PLUGABLE USB to HDMI Converter, could that work? (How to Easily Connect Up to 8 Monitors to a Windows Computer - YouTube)

Whats is the advantage of having a 3 Matrox instead af 3 graphoc Cards?
Thanks for any help.

Hello,
Per se, TD can work with only one graphic Card. If you use very expensive quadro (now Axxxx) with nVidia Mosaic, you can have more.
Matrox or datapath can be a solution (I would recommend Datapath) and with a 4 UHD output graphic card, you can obtain 3X4 = 12 HD output plus one for control.
But its only part of the problem… Which image would you project? For procedural, you need a powerful CPU and (most important) GPU.
Adding GPU cards dont add VRAM!
For recorded images, you have to play with decoding (more channels in Quadro cards) and charging video (I must separate process to use different CPU as to avoid stutter when I start clip).
So, there is no easy solution and no bad reason for the huge price of turnkey media server (Disguise, VYV and other).
Jacques

If you can use SDI, go with the blackmagic DeckLink Quad 2: DeckLink – Tech Specs | Blackmagic Design

You can use SDI to HDMI converter boxes on the other end if you need it: Micro Converters | Blackmagic Design

Otherwise the datapath fx4 is fine. Personally I try to stay away from matrox.

Thanks Jaques for your quick answer. Which Datapath with 4x UHD do you mean? I can obly find Datapath HX4, whcih has 4x HD. I will have no generatic Videos files, just filmed videos in HAP-Codec. What king of CPU or GPU would i need? Is NVidia RTX 3060 fine?

The DeckLink Quad 2 sound like an interesting solution. Will I need a seperate powerfull NVIDIA Graphic Card? What does it mean for the CPU? What would you suggest, or is’nt that anymore so inportant if I have that DeckLink Quad 2?

I would go to the Datapath FX4, IQS4, HX4
Personaly, I have a AMD Ryzen 5 and nVidia RTX 3090 and there is some stutter when I start a new movie (not changing with H264, H265 or HAP). The only solution (for me) is to separate process with separate instances of TD or with Engine Chops.

You still need a decent GPU/CPU just to run TD but the power you need depends a lot on what you’re doing. If you’re just playing back video from disk you could get away with something a bit older but if it’s a lot of generative content you’ll likely need more modern hardware.

Quadro cards are generally preferable but with the switch to Vulkan that might not be necessary. If you already have an RTX 3060 that may be enough power for what you’re trying to do.