Running campaign on multiple displays with one hardware

[Akiris]

We have a three Full HD Tv-s next to each other in one store. We are considering a solution of running all three displays using only one hardware. At the moment we are using Intel NUC as our hardware solution for digital signage, and its working very well with signage player software per one screen.

Since i can not post external links. model of our hardware is: INTEL NUC DN2820FYKH

Since this hardware only has one HDMI slot, we thought of getting a 3 input HDMI splitter. Our goal is to make a huge display out of three tvs, do a campaign which will run on each screen separetely (i thought maybe of making a screen division with three channels, each to fit on fullscreen of tv, and at some point play a video which will run across all three screens as a mini video wall.

Now what i do want to know is, what resolution of my screen division would be? 3 times 1920 and one time 1080? And is this even possible, with this hardware?

thanks in advance

[JMH]

This won't be possible with a hdmi splitter. The HDMI splitter will just copy the input 3 times. What you need is a standalone videowall controller. Though, I think an additional NUC will be cheaper than a videowall controller. The cheapest and easiest solution will be to build a pc that has a graphics card with 3 outputs and is able to control 3 individual screens with it. I don't know how big your screens are and at what distance the viewers will be, but in that case I would also display on 1280x720 instead of 1920x1080, because this will be a lot easier for the pc to process. Besides, in most scenarios you won't see the difference between 1280x720 and 1920x1080.

[Akiris]

thanks for your response. Do you happen to know what hardware configuration will suffice for such operation? We are using static images on fullscreen with some basic transitions and a few video files. Nothing too much demanding

[JMH]

It's all a bit depending if content is rendered using the CPU or GPU. To be honest I have never used a setup like that in combination with media signage. If the content is rendered on CPU, you will need a powerfull cpu, like a i5 processor (don't use the T or U types, these are less powerfull). If content is rendered on the GPU, your graphics card will be more important. Make sure you have a good PSU in your build, because it will run 24/7. Cheap PSUs have bad condensators, which are more likely to cause damage to your motherboard or just stop working because the condensators will 'blow up'.

[Akiris]

thnx. Well i built three configurations, maybe if you could take a look and tell me which will suffice:

Top configuration

INTEL Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Box
ASUS MB - SOCKET 1155 - Maximus V GENE
GIGABYTE Radeon R9 280X 3GB 384bit
2 x KINGSTON 4GB DDR3 HyperX Blu 1600MHz CL9
CHIEFTEC CTG-750C 750W A80 series Full
THERMALTAKE Midi Tower Commander MS-II (Black)

Medium Configuration

INTEL Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Box
ASUS MB - SOCKET 1155 - P8Z77-M PRO
GIGABYTE nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192bit
KINGSTON 4GB DDR3 HyperX Blu 1600MHz CL9
Cooler Master GX Lite 700W RS700-ASABL3-EU
THERMALTAKE Midi Tower Commander MS-II (Black)

Bottom line configuration

INTEL Core i3-3240 3.4GHz Box
ASUS MB - SOCKET 1155 - P8H77-M LE
GIGABYTE Radeon R9 270X 2GB 256bit
KINGSTON 4GB DDR3 HyperX Blu 1600MHz CL9
Cooler Master GX Lite 700W RS700-ASABL3-EU
THERMALTAKE Midi Tower Commander MS-II (Black)

I know the top configuration would work, but its really expensive, so maybe medium or bottom line.

[JMH]

As I said before, I have no experience running multiple screens on 1 device using the MS software, so I am not 100% sure what would suffice.
If it was me trying a setup like you want, choosing from the parts you mentioned, I would go for the following components:

This motherboard: ASRock B75 Pro3-M, it has 100% solid state capacitors, improving livetime. Besides, it is cheaper than the ones you are mentioning and you don't need any fancy options on it.

The bottom videocard will do fine I think (double check if it supports 3 individual screens. Also check if it supports 3x the resolution you want to play).

I think I would go for the i5, just to be sure (again, I am not sure how many CPU power your content on 3 screens will use). But, don't get a 'K' version, this is a processor for overclocking. You don't want to overclock your processor, you want a stable setup for 24/7 usage (so IF you gonna change clockspeed, you will 'underclock' the CPU for less heat and power usage). I believe the i5 should be MORE than capable of playing your content. The i5-3570 also supports VT-D, which the 'K' version does not. So you can use the setup for virtual environments if you don't want to use it as a player anymore :-P.

Make sure you get a decent aftermarket CPU cooler, this will provide better cooling than the stock one. This keeps temperatures lower (will the player run on a cool location?), improving its livetime.

You can try to start with 1x 4GB memory, but I think you want to upgrade this to at least 2x 4GB. Your processor supports dual channel, so getting 2x ram will also speed up the setup.

As OS disk I would get a SSD, like the Samsung 840 EVO or the Crucial M500, those are reliable and fast.

Do not save $20,- on PSU. The Seasonic G-Series for example are of very good quality. Because your player will run 24/7, you will need a PSU of good buildilng quality with good quality capacitors. This will improve lifetime of all your parts.

I am sure a setup like this should be able to run 3 screens. I have some builds running 2 seperate screens with a player based on the AMD E350 (which isn't even comparable with the setup described above). But, I run only some flash content on 1280x720 resolution, so that's very light content. Besides these players are not running on the MS software (yet), so i'm not able to compare them.

Hopefully this is of any help  good luck with your build!

[Akiris]

Thnx again. After your reply and additional research, i made a build which i think will do the job:

INTEL Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Box
Cooler Master - Hyper TX3 EVO - RR-TX3E-22PK-R1
Gigabyte MB - SOCKET 1155 - GA-Z77X-UD3H
GIGABYTE Radeon R9 270X 2GB 256bit
2 x KINGSTON 4GB DDR3 HyperX Blu 1600MHz CL9
SAMSUNG SSD 120GB, 2.5", SATA III, 840 Evo Series
Cooler Master GX 750W RS750-ACAAD3-EU
THERMALTAKE Midi Tower Commander MS-II (Black)

Since we are from serbia we are somewhat limited in choice of components. I couldnt find the mobo you recommended, but i chose Gigabyte Ultra Durable mobo which also has high quality capacitors.  As for aftermarket cooler i chose Hyper TX3, which i currently own on my personal home machine. If that cooler can cool off FX8350 at my home to 47 degrees celsius while playing watch dogs on ultra settings, i bet it can cool i5 while running simple campaign in signage Only thing left for me to check is if GPU suports 3 displays. as seen on forums. some people say all r9 cards support more than 2 displays without a Display port HUB, some say only 280 and 290 does. So i need to check that with AMD support. As for a PSU, again i couldnt find the brand and model you suggested but based on options what we currently have, this one proves to be very good.

Anyways, thanks for your replies, PC will be in our office on monday, ill let you know how it went

cheers

[justadsguy]

You can use any media card that has multiple outputs. There is a radeon card with 4 outputs that support 1080P for about $200
Remember that only one can have sound and in ms -- it's the one on the left -- which is configured as the main screen.

[Akiris]

Do you happen to know the exact model of that radeon card?

As for the sound, we dont use sound for this client so that is not an issue

[justadsguy]

VisionTek ATI Radeon HD 5570

They make plenty - just need to search

I believe this card is several years old

[criley]

I know this is old, but maybe it would help others. Matrox makes a device called TripleHead2Go that might do the trick for this as it in itself is hardware and would take the brunt of the work.

[lob]

With a HDMI modulator you can run the same content on several displays. Displays just need a coaxial cable to each screen ZeeVee make a very good unit.