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I want to set up a system with (9) monitors arranged in a 3x3 grid.

Is this configuration possible with Windows 7? Does it max out at a set number of monitors?

Any suggestions about known working hardware combinations would be much appreciated. Currently considering (3) nVidia Quadro NVS420 cards to drive the array.

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  • 7
    I envy your budget. Good luck!
    – RJFalconer
    Commented Jan 7, 2010 at 16:46
  • Any reason not to use Eyefinity? You probably only need two 5870's to drive that setup
    – Ivo Flipse
    Commented Jan 7, 2010 at 16:55
  • @Ivo Eyefinity allows 6 monitor at maximum
    – Drake
    Commented Mar 29, 2010 at 14:11
  • @Drake, it works fine as long as you don't want to use a full-screen application on all monitors. A windowed application filling all the monitors is fine though. Just don't try a game or CAD application.
    – Mircea Chirea
    Commented Dec 29, 2010 at 22:10

7 Answers 7

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There is no "limit" per se set by Windows. You are only limited by your ability to implement the hardware to support it. However, in order to make the maximum use of it and to make sure it works smoothly together, all of your video cards should use the same driver. If you start mixing different video cards/drivers it starts to have problems.

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Windows does have a hard limit on maximum resolution and overall pixel count. The maximum continuous windows desktop available is up to 32k horizontal pixels by up to 32k vertical pixels with an overall pixel limit of 128 million pixels. Which means that a 32k x 32k desktop is not actually possible. Even video wall processors, which are generally purpose built windows dekstops, are constrained by these limits.

Max pixels >= horizontal pixels(H) x vertical pixels(V)

128 Million >= H x V

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5

If you want to setup nine monitors, you'll certainly have to look beyond consumer products.

With Cinemassive Video Wall you can drive up to 64 monitors on a Windows machine.

4x3 Cinemassive

Cinemassive setup

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  • 2
    Now that's just frickin cool...
    – BBlake
    Commented Jan 8, 2010 at 16:16
  • Cinnemassive just did a display at McCarran International with 100 displays. It is touted as the largest display of its kind.
    – Sarge
    Commented Mar 18, 2011 at 15:16
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I was just looking up whether Eyefinity (by AMD/ATI) would be a good alternative, so I'm not sure whether Nvidia's cards enable you to do so. Though like BBlake said, I don't think Windows will limit you.

The AMD site notes:

Number of Monitors:

  • Up to six dependent on graphics card configuration

Aggregate Screen Resolution:

  • The aggregrate of screen resolution will vary based on the number of panels and screen resolution. The theoretical maximum: 8192 x 8192 (67.1 megapixel resolution) consisting of 6 panels of 2560 x 1600

Monitors:

  • AMD recommends DisplayPort Display monitors, as they offer optimal flexibility with the highest number of display outputs
  • Depending on the specific graphic card and operating system, ATI Eyefinity technology can support up to six displays. For configurations using more than two displays, additional displays must have DisplayPort connectors.
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I ended up using a device called a VWBox 133A from IEI to split a display port output into the required 3x3 array.

Posted full specs for all hardware used for the project here:

http://www.oceanbytes.org/2010/10/31/how-to-construct-a-global-visualization-lab/

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  • That's pretty sweet.
    – nhinkle
    Commented Mar 18, 2011 at 15:29
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I recall Windows 98 supports 9 monitors. So Windows 7 must support at least 9 monitors

This MVP claims that he has seen a Windows XP machine with 24 monitors. It also seems like Windows 7 supports 64 monitors although there are no official documents available

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Windows only supports a maximum of 16 monitors. More than 16 monitors, Windows will not allow you to press the 'Apply' button on the Display Arrange Settings dialog.

But there is always a workaround - like if you are using AMD GPU card, you can group monitors so Windows thinks it is one monitor.

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  • 1
    Which version of Windows? Please edit your answer, to clarify.
    – Greenonline
    Commented Jun 13, 2017 at 4:13
  • Windows 3.1 definitely doesn't support 16 monitors
    – phuclv
    Commented Jun 13, 2017 at 4:34

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