Surround Gaming (as the name suggests) is gaming using multiple screen to create an immersive, or surround-feel (think IMAX theatre). The terminology is primarily used by Matrox to market their TripleHead2Go box. (see another article on this topic).

Up till recently, surround gaming uis only possible through the TH2G: Analog (VGA), Digital (DVI) and Display Port (DP) versions are all available. A Matrox’s TH2G allows the display output from a video card to be splitted/clone into a maximum of 3 streams. When output to 3 separate monitors, this creates a long “surround” screen for the gamer and deliver the illusion of a “surround” game (kind of like the C.A.V.E. for simulation).

A Computer Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE)

According to Matrox:

• 99% of the games on the market today are designed to run on a single screen only. This means that no matter how many graphics cards/outputs you have on your system, you will only be able to play these games on one screen. (I have an NVIDIA SLI-enabled desktop, and Resident Evil 5 only run at 1900 x 1080 on my dual screen setup).
• TH2G was specifically designed to get around this limitation by appearing to your system as if it were a single screen. When TH2G is connected to your system’s primary output, your game will detect a single ultra-wide display and render triple the content (as if it were destined for a single triple-wide monitor).
• The beauty of the TH2G is that this extra content will then be divided and displayed on your two additional screens. This unique technology thus allows games that would normally default to one screen to be played across three (and with three times the viewable content!). The same effect cannot be achieved by connecting three monitors to three standard GPU outputs.
• Whether on a laptop or desktop computer, no other solution offers the true Surround Gaming experience you achieve with TripleHead2Go’s unique technology.

DirectX 9 allowed Windows to display a maximum of 4k (4,096) pixels. When multiply into 3 displays (3 x 1280 x 1024), the maximum allowed resolution is thus 3840 x 1024. Any higher resolution (e.g. 1440×1050) will push the horizontal pixel beyond 4,320 (in the case of 3 x 1440) and is not possible due to the DX9 limitation. DX10 is more forgiving, and will allow the highest achieveable resolution to reach (even with the Display Port model) 5040 x 1050. [link] (DirectX 11 will be available with Windows 7, and should allow for even higher resolution. Matrox will no doubt bridge the gap with a new firmware when the time comes. (Can’t wait for Matrox to post the new firmware? See the post on ATI Eyefinity.)

Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital (with digital ports)

More resources and articles are available on the Wide Screen Gaming Forum. This is a must visit site for Matrox TH2G users. You can find many tips & tricks, troubleshooting guides, and surround game screenshots here.