I installed 3-32 inch displays for sim racing | MASK |
People who are thinking about introducing a race SIM should at least once think that they want to do something like the following.
・3 large screens
・Cool steering wheel
・Direct drive
・Shifter
・Many buttons on the left and right
I was one of those people who thought so too. I haven’t installed a lot of switch boxes and LEDs yet, but since I recently installed 3 screens for my Racing SIM cockpit, at first glance, it looks like a full-fledged sim racer.
This time, I would like to summarize what I noticed about the introduction of the three-screen system, selection, and settings.
Update about my triple screen is here
I have been interested in 3 screens for a long time.
Exactly two years ago, around October 2020, when I saw my blog, it seems that I was investigating about 3 screens. At the time, I was thinking about introducing a 24-inch or 27-inch screen, and I didn’t even imagine having three 32-inch screens.
I originally had a 32-inch TV and used it for sim racing. However, it was knocked over and damaged.
After that, I compromised and played around with a cheap 24-inch 60Hz LCD monitor and an Oculus Quest 2. Due to future moving, etc., I thought hassle purchasing bulky equipment.
I had some time recently, so I decided to upgrade the combat power of my equipment. Since the war, prices in Japan have risen sharply, so I thought it’s best to buy when I want or need it. So I’m starting to think about getting 3 displays.
I thought hassle purchasing bulky equipment.
Considering simulator racing, using 3 screens is one popular? option, but let’s think about it from the opposite perspective. If your girlfriend/wife/father/mother, for example, wants to see your favorite artist or your favorite sport on a wide screen. If they bought three 32-inch LCD monitors and put them side by side in a small room, you’ll regard them as crazy.
To that extent, I think that I have stepped into a crazy area from the perspective of others.
I tried stacking the 3 screens next to the cockpit ↓
The box is really in the way. The 32-inch LCD monitor I purchased is a product called AOC C32G2ZE/1.
Well, I prepared the arm to install these 3 screens.
One thing I can say is that please buy separated three arms for each display.
The photo below shows an arm with a shape that is not recommended.
Two arms extend from one point. If you think about it by drawing a solid drawing, you will understand, the range of motion is limited. It was very difficult to put the base of this arm and put the 2nd screen in the middle, etc. And it’s difficult to match the edges of the 2nd screen and the 3rd screen exactly. So, if you want to build an arm, it’s better to buy one by one.
Only one arm was used, but it was purchased for about $37 at the time. There is a stick that can be slid in the height direction, so the degree of freedom is high, and the gas arm part is quite easy to adjust.
↑ It was very difficult to bring these two pieces to the right position!
Also, the left screen was so close to the wall that it was hard to adjust!
It’s done somehow!
*I use Nvidia’s Surround function
It’s a shame driving, but the 32-inch 3-screen is powerful!
The alignment of the screen is not perfect yet, but it is a video that I ran with joy for the time being. Please use it as a reference.
iRacing Porsche 911(992) GT3 CUP
So far, I’ve been playing with a 32-inch TV, a damaged TV, a cheap 24-inch LCD monitor I bought a long time ago, and VR.
To be honest, the most real thing is VR. However, the 32-inch 3-screen is incredibly powerful. You can easily drive while wearing glasses, which is difficult in VR. Although it is a 32-inch screen, even if you look at the side of an enemy car next to you, seldom you may not be able to see it because it is in the blind spot of the right rear or left rear mirror. At that time, it was not real, but I have no choice but to press the swing button to look left or right.
With 32-inch 3 screens, the replay will be powerful
Being able to race on 3 screens means that replays will also be on 3 screens. With iRacing’s default camera, the picture seems a little far away, so I zoomed in on the replay (with Ctrl + F12 in iRacing camera settings), and it turned out to be such a powerful picture.
Below, I dedicate this article to those perverts who want 3 screens after reading the article so far.
The rest of this article is a bit of maniac content, so normal readers may quietly close their browsers while reading, so if you’ve read up to this point, please let me know if you found it helpful or not. I would be happy if you liked it.
Talking about LCD monitors and computer specs
When I started studying gaming PCs to start iRacing, my knowledge level was like this.
・A computer will work if it has a CPU, memory, and SSD or HDD. The game doesn’t seem to run smoothly without a Graphic card.
I will write a sentence for those who are starting to investigate my initial degree. I think that 3 screens are the next step after doing a SIM to some extent, so I will assume that you will use the gaming PC you already have, and I will not write about the PC specs, but only about the display.
4 things to say about gaming displays
・Roughly speaking, the load on the PC will triple if the display with the same specifications is changed from 1 screen to 3 screens.
・Regardless of whether the screen is large or small, if the resolution (number of dots) does not change, the load on the computer will not change.
・4K puts four times as much load on the PC as full HD
・The load on the PC is proportional to the display speed (refresh rate) setting
How many inches should I buy if I want to have 3 screens with a race SIM?
When setting up the game, the screen resolution (number of dots) and screen display speed determine the smoothness of the screen. Monitor size doesn’t matter.
For many people who are thinking about 3 screens, 24 inches, 27 inches, and 32 inches are candidates because of price and space. I think. Quite frankly, I think it’s fine,
From my impression after installing 32 inches (AOC C32G2ZE/11), it is powerful! ! about it.
Compared to 24-inch and 27-inch screens, the area covered on the left and right is increased, so you can get a sense of immersion compared to other small monitors. There are also disadvantages. First of all, from the disadvantage of a large display.
・You have to think carefully about how to fix the monitor.
Since the monitor is heavy, fixing the monitor is difficult. If you use a monitor arm as I did, it would be quite difficult to align all three screens with the weight of the screen and fix them horizontally.
・Securing Space
Even with a 32-inch monitor, if you mount it horizontally at a steep angle, it can be compactly stored horizontally. However, the box of the monitor which packs it becomes quite large. If you’re about to move, or if you’re likely to sell your monitor in the future, you may have to consider storing three fairly large boxes. Also, if the monitor breaks down, I think it would be better to leave at least one box in case you have to send it in for repair.
・The cost is slightly higher than 27 inches
My monitors were around $200 each. This price is very cheap for a monitor that boasts a refresh rate of 144Hz or higher (there are also 240Hz). If other manufacturers have similar specs, it is an image of more than $ 250. Also, it was recommended by a person who is familiar with hardware on Twitter.
The display I purchased this time may be because there is no waste other than the display function, such as the display not having a speaker.
What is the best refresh rate in Hz when using 3 screens with a race SIM?
PC load is proportional to the display speed setting
The display speed of a cheap display is roughly 60Hz (the screen can be refreshed 60 times per second). If you spend money from there, it seems that there are products with 144Hz and 240Hz according to recent LCD specs.
For example, if you try to double the display speed from 60Hz to 120Hz, the load on your PC will roughly double. In other words, if the specs of your PC are low, even if you buy a display with a high display speed, you may not be able to make the most of it. I’m sure you could lower the quality of the game so much that it would display at 120Hz, but it would be a bit of a disappointment.
When I was young, Gran Turismo reached version 4, and I experienced an era when it was said to be “smooth at 60Hz.” Personally, I think 144Hz is enough for me. I think.
There may be a difference between 144Hz and 240Hz, but I don’t think it’s as big as the difference between 60Hz and 144Hz. And as mentioned above, no matter how good a display you buy, you can’t always play games on 3 screens at 240Hz unless your PC specs are high. (In my case, the graphics board chip is Nvidia 2070 super, and if iRacing is running alone, it will output 144Hz or more. If you don’t boil down the settings, it may drop below 60Hz when you race with multiple machines.)
60Hz If you’ve only ever seen a monitor, 60Hz might be enough. However, once you see the difference, the difference is obvious. If you buy a monitor with a low speed of 60Hz, you can’t buy a gaming display with a speed of 144Hz or higher from the beginning if you don’t want to have to replace the 3 screens with a longing for faster display speed, which is a very troublesome event. I think it’s good to think about it.
Is the image quality HD or 4K when using 3 screens with a race SIM?
Full HD (1920 x 1080) and 4K (3840 x 2160) are representative sizes when considering three screens. (There is also a method of arranging three ultra-wide displays such as WQHD, but it seems expensive.) With full HD, the screen has 1920 dots horizontally and 1080 dots vertically. 4K is double horizontally. Twice as long vertically. In other words, 4K has four times as many dots as full HD. So, in order to display the display under the same conditions except for the dots, 4K puts roughly four times as much load on the PC as full HD.
The graphic board I’m using is a model called Nvidia 2070 Super, and I bought it in the 400 dollar range in 2020. At the time, my impression was that it was neither too cheap nor too expensive, and was somewhere between the top and bottom. So, when I play with 3-screen full HD … When I’m practicing time attack alone with iRacing, I get 144Hz or more even with settings that don’t sacrifice image quality that much.
・When the number of runners increases after a race, the frequency drops below 60Hz.
And so on.
If you set this to 4K, the load on the PC will be four times higher. Therefore, even when driving alone, the frequency is below 60Hz, so unless the image quality is significantly reduced, it will start to be jerky. I don’t think I could have done a race.
When I think about it, I think 4K is still early.
If you want to use 3 screens for office work, I won’t stop, but if it’s 3 screens for racing games, I thought that full HD would be enough for me in 2022. This is my impression. If you have a budget, do whatever you want lol
How to fix a 32-inch 3-screen LCD display
Since racing simulators constantly generate vibrations, we would like to build a separate frame and install the display there. (If the base of the LCD screen etc. is vibrating, the risk of failure will increase.)
However, temporarily, I installed the leftover aluminum frame by extending it to the cockpit and installed the monitor arm there to manage 3 screens.
Also, if you let your guard down, the monitor will hang down, so you have to fix the bolts and nuts of the monitor arm firmly. It’s hard. Aligning the sides of three monitors with just a monitor arm is a miracle.
The photo below was taken from the back, but I put curing tape on it and forced it to stick. I don’t remember if it was SNS or a blog, but someone used Velcro on the side of each display frame, so I’d like to imitate it.
The cockpit is placed on a soundproof device that uses a balance disc, and the arm is fixed directly to the cockpit, so if you lightly touch the display, the whole thing will shake.
My future conception of race sim 3 screen
After experiencing it so far, here are some things to reflect on when designing a frame for a monitor in the future.
・If possible, build a monitor frame separate from the cockpit.
・Because of the weight of the 32-inch monitor arm, a large downward load is applied, so it is difficult to keep the monitor vertical. If you use a monitor arm, you should buy 3 separately.・If you can, the monitor will be more stable
if you don’t use the monitor arm and just use an aluminum frame.
