Ok so I finished my upgrade project. I ended up getting an ATI 5850 using 3 19” monitors. I know, “why not get bigger monitors”, in due time when $$$ allows. After playing with the connections for a day I finally got it all worked out and let me just say…OMG! If you are using 3 monitors, it is basically like getting 3 different hat views at once and not just a wider view. I am not sure I am saying that correctly so here is an example.
Looking forward you get of course the head on view and your side monitors are showing you the 45 degree views. In the greatest plane in the game “KI-84” , I can see the wings and everything in front of them as if you are using your hat to look 45 degrees right or left. When circling a base in a bank, I can see the airfield to my 45 degree left without even touching my hat.
The other views are just a great! When looking left, it is like seeing 3 hat positions at the same time. Looking left I can see from my tail to the nose of my plane with 1 hat position. Looking rear is the same.
Some cons of the setup. The 45 degree views I mentioned earlier stretch a little on the outside of the monitors but that is not a big deal because most of the time it is your peripheral vision anyway and you do not notice. Another con is actually looking around. After playing for years, the act of actually looking left and right to see things versus just using the hat was an odd sensation. Not really a con actually more realism I think. My last negative is the transition between monitors. I did my best in lining up the monitors but there is a slight blind spot as items transition from 1 monitor to another and their alignment. When an item moves from 1 monitor to another it is not exactly where you expect it, maybe just a few pixels off. Again no big deal I seem to be getting use to it already.
Anyway just wanted to wrap up my thread. If anyone is considering this same setup and have the $$$ you should definitely do it. It should help out with my game over all. I know it won’t make me a better shot, nothing will , but it helps with the realism and alleviates lots of blind spots that someone could be sneaking up on you.
