DualHead Display Technology

DualHead? Who needs it anyway?

The G400's DualHead technology is definitely a feature you have to see for yourself. Just reading about the feature isn't enough. Mere words cannot describe how kick-ass dual monitor support is in real life. I'll be the first to admit that I was once a member of the uninitiated. I had read Tim's reviews of the normal G400 and the G400 Max, but I wasn't around when he was testing out the G400's DualHead capabilities.

Just by chance, I finally witnessed DualHead in action a few weeks ago. Bob (Calbear) and I had received our new monitors, and he decided to run a DualHead setup. It was a sight to behold. My God, Windows 98 dual monitor support may be the best thing to ever come out of Redmond, Washington. Having a desktop that expands across two screens sounds nice when you first hear about it, but actually seeing Bob cut and paste from a word document maximized on one monitor to a HomeSite (a text editor we use for HTML) window maximized on the other monitor made me a believer.

Back in my trading days I would have killed for a card like the Marvel G400-TV. Imagine having CNBC open in one monitor, and a browser window with your Datek or Discover account open on your other monitor. Even with a 21 inch monitors, it's hard keeping two or three different open windows separated. Having two monitors helps provide a better division between open windows.

It's not just about the desktop

Matrox is working with game developers to include multi-monitor support in future games. Activision's Star Trek: Armada uses the second monitor to display a cinematic view of the space battles. During the game the computer automatically moves the camera around to show the 3D space with the most action. The Marvel comes with Wild Metal Country, a tank game that uses the second monitor to display an overhead map.

Granted, some of these games only offer gimmicky features such as a "rocket cam" that displays the rocket's POV when you fire the rl, but multi-monitor support looks interesting in head-to-head games. Imagine playing football with a friend when each person has their own monitor showing the game form their point of view with you on offense and your friend on defense. You won't have to fake calling any plays, because your opponent won't have his eyes on your screen.

Marvel DualHead DVDMax, Zoom, and Clone Modes

DualHead also comes in handy for DVDs, Photoshop, and presentations. You can use the second display for DVD playback, and keep the DVD software controls on the other monitor. Plenty of us like working with a little background noise. What could be better than having The Matrix playing on your TV while you're working on a hardware review? The Marvel still depends on a software DVD player because it doesn't have hardware DVD support beyond subpicture blending and scaling. The ATI All-in-Wonder is the only all-in-one card that has real hardware DVD support.

The G400 also offers a DualHead Zoom mode where you can select any region on the desktop, zoom in on it, and have it appear on the secondary display. This is a great feature for programs such as Photoshop or Illustrator. The DualHead Clone mode allows you to mirror your desktop to your secondary display. All you GenX Power Point jockeys can easily output your presentations to a big screen TV through the Marvel.