Nvidia Surround doesn't work

[Denoxx]

Hey guys

 

I recently bought a GTX 780 and as the 700 series supports single gpu surround, I bought another monitor so I have three now. BUT: When I want to activate Nvidia Surround in the Nvidia Control Panel, I get the wrong resolution. Its just a x1050 instead of a 1080p resolution. My three monitors arent identical but I've read that they dont have to, for 2d surround.

 

Had anyone had the same problem? I just dont get the right resolution.

 

Thanks for all your answers

 

 

[Godlygamer23]

All monitors have to be identical in resolution and refresh rate.

 

Never mind. I'm wrong.

[Elbstrand]

I'm not entirely sure, but there should be an option to type in your resolution yourself, atleast there is for single and dual monitors

 

somewhere in the nvidia panel under display -> change resolution or somthing like that (mine is in german) there should be a button on the bottom

[Denoxx]

I'm not entirely sure, but there should be an option to type in your resolution yourself, atleast there is for single and dual monitors

When I activate Nvidia Surround it automatically chooses the wrong resolution. When I try to change it afterwards, the button "customize" is greyed out, at all resolutions. 

This is so annoying... I extra bought a new display >.<

[Elbstrand]

When I activate Nvidia Surround it automatically chooses the wrong resolution. When I try to change it afterwards, the button "customize" is greyed out, at all resolutions. 

This is so annoying... I extra bought a new display >.<

 

before you activate nvidia surround, can you access all 3 monitors? (change their resolutions and so on?) Maybe one gets detected with the wrong resolution...

 

(sry don't use surround myself, but trying to help you anyway)

[Denoxx]

before you activate nvidia surround, can you access all 3 monitors? (change their resolutions and so on?) Maybe one gets detected with the wrong resolution...

 

(sry don't use surround myself, but trying to help you anyway)

I can access all of them but I've found that the monitor ( I have 2 of them connected through DVI and one connected through HDMI) which I connected with the HDMI cable, has a different kind of resolution. It says "HD, SD" resolutions (the others have a PC-resolution) and when I scroll down to the PC-resolutions, there is only 1680x1050 instead of 1920x1080 what it actually is.

[tabuburn]

Are any one of your monitors 1680x1050?

[ltguy]

I just had the same problem with my 3 monitors and found the solution. I have 2 24''s and a 27''. First you turn off surround and just use enable all displays. Then go to the resolutions settings for each monitor and create a custom resolution of 1920 x 1080 and most important...   set the timing to manual and use identical settings (the default ones are fine) for all 3 monitors. Save and apply the custom resolution and timings for all 3 monitors and make sure each is set to use the custom resolution. Then you can run the surround setup again and 5760 x 1080 will be an option. I'll find the link for the forum with the original answer when i get home later tonight and link it. Good luck!

[Denoxx]

First of all: Thank you all for your answers. Itguy I've tried your solution but I wasnt able to create a custom resolution because NvidiaControlPanel told me that there is already such a resolution. 

 

But I've found the problem: My main-monitor is attached over HDMI. NvidiaControlPanel recognised it as a TV and it gave it a TV-Resolution 1920x1080 (HD,SD) and not a PC 1920x1080 (PC). That was the first problem. The second problem I had, was that the main-monitor had a (+, +) sync polarity and the other two had a (+, -) sync polarity. That was the cause of the lower resolution. 

I was able to fix it with a nice little tool called CRU (Custom Resolution Utility). There you are able to change the polarity of a specific resolution. (The same would be possible over the NvidiaControlPanel, where you can change it with a custom resolution)

 

One thing I realized when I was in Surround: its great for gaming, but the desktop usability is much lower, and in games that don't support Surround, you either have to play them in fullscreen mode, where the other 2 displays are turned off, or you have to play in window mode, with which you can't really play any games where you have a cursor, due to the fact that you click out of the window after about 10 secs. I turned it off again, but it really is a nice experience to play on three displays. I just hope that Nvidia is going to improve the possibility to switch between Surround and standard. It would be so great if you just could start your game and play it on three screens, but then return to your desktop where you have three independent screens to place your apps on.

[Elbstrand]

But I've found the problem: My main-monitor is attached over HDMI. NvidiaControlPanel recognised it as a TV and it gave it a TV-Resolution 1920x1080 (HD,SD) and not a PC 1920x1080 (PC). That was the first problem. The second problem I had, was that the main-monitor had a (+, +) sync polarity and the other two had a (+, -) sync polarity. That was the cause of the lower resolution. 

I was able to fix it with a nice little tool called CRU (Custom Resolution Utility). There you are able to change the polarity of a specific resolution. (The same would be possible over the NvidiaControlPanel, where you can change it with a custom resolution)

Thats basically what i was trying to get at with my last answer. :D

[Denoxx]

Thats basically what i was trying to get at with my last answer. :D

Thanks :D

[ajlee322]

First of all: Thank you all for your answers. Itguy I've tried your solution but I wasnt able to create a custom resolution because NvidiaControlPanel told me that there is already such a resolution. 

 

But I've found the problem: My main-monitor is attached over HDMI. NvidiaControlPanel recognised it as a TV and it gave it a TV-Resolution 1920x1080 (HD,SD) and not a PC 1920x1080 (PC). That was the first problem. The second problem I had, was that the main-monitor had a (+, +) sync polarity and the other two had a (+, -) sync polarity. That was the cause of the lower resolution. 

I was able to fix it with a nice little tool called CRU (Custom Resolution Utility). There you are able to change the polarity of a specific resolution. (The same would be possible over the NvidiaControlPanel, where you can change it with a custom resolution)

 

One thing I realized when I was in Surround: its great for gaming, but the desktop usability is much lower, and in games that don't support Surround, you either have to play them in fullscreen mode, where the other 2 displays are turned off, or you have to play in window mode, with which you can't really play any games where you have a cursor, due to the fact that you click out of the window after about 10 secs. I turned it off again, but it really is a nice experience to play on three displays. I just hope that Nvidia is going to improve the possibility to switch between Surround and standard. It would be so great if you just could start your game and play it on three screens, but then return to your desktop where you have three independent screens to place your apps on.

How did you change the monitor from a TV resolution of 1920x1080 to a PC resolution? I am trying to get surround to work as well and the monitor keeps giving me the TV resolution. I can't choose a PC 1920x1080 on it and I can't create a resolution for it either.

[Denoxx]

How did you change the monitor from a TV resolution of 1920x1080 to a PC resolution? I am trying to get surround to work as well and the monitor keeps giving me the TV resolution. I can't choose a PC 1920x1080 on it and I can't create a resolution for it either.

I used CRU for this aswell. There you are able to change the resolution to 1920x1080 and NvidiaControlPanel recognises it as a PC resolution.

[Elbstrand]

You could manipulate the EDID in the ini file of the monitor driver. But the easiest way is probably to get the real "drivers"/profiles from your manufacturers website and not the generic ones via windows update

[R4STABAN]

So basically it's a case of HDMI being rubbish as always. I use 3x dvis for my surround and displayport for my accessory.

 

What's the problem you were having with the desktop functionality in surround? Mine works quite well generally. There are some programs (usually video based) where maximising stretches it over 3 screens which is bad, but others (web browser, word etc) will maximise to an individual monitor.

[Denoxx]

So basically it's a case of HDMI being rubbish as always. I use 3x dvis for my surround and displayport for my accessory.

 

What's the problem you were having with the desktop functionality in surround? Mine works quite well generally. There are some programs (usually video based) where maximising stretches it over 3 screens which is bad, but others (web browser, word etc) will maximise to an individual monitor.

In normal desktop mode browsers and basically all other programms had been maximised over all three screens, but it was kinda my fault because in Windows 8 (yes im using that shit) there you have to change between "One monitor"-mode to the "extended"-mode by pressing Windows+P. now it all maximises to the individual screen and its really comfortable to use. when you wanna play a surround game you just have to switch to the "one monitor" mode and back afterwards. 

one problem i had was that after each mode-change my desktop icons were messed up but I managed to get the position saved by a program called DesktopOK. 

[R4STABAN]

I'm not sure if win+p will work for me on windows 7 and tbh I'm not going to try now that I have surround dialled in the way I like it.

 

Productivity applications in general maximise to one monitor in 'fake one monitor' mode so I think your issue must be windows 8

[S2000Gan]

One thing I realized when I was in Surround: its great for gaming, but the desktop usability is much lower, and in games that don't support Surround, you either have to play them in fullscreen mode, where the other 2 displays are turned off, or you have to play in window mode, with which you can't really play any games where you have a cursor, due to the fact that you click out of the window after about 10 secs. I turned it off again, but it really is a nice experience to play on three displays. I just hope that Nvidia is going to improve the possibility to switch between Surround and standard. It would be so great if you just could start your game and play it on three screens, but then return to your desktop where you have three independent screens to place your apps on.

This is the exact problem I'm having with Surround.

It's great for gaming, but because it effectively virtualizes a single display it doesnt play well with desktop usage.

And when you disable surround it doesnt revert to 3 independent displays. Instead it disables 2 of the displays and only re-enables the primary display.

Meaning you have to go into the Nvidia control panel and re-enable the other 2 displays.

To top it all off when you re-enable Surround, you have to reconfigure the surround settings.

[Denoxx]

This is the exact problem I'm having with Surround.

It's great for gaming, but because it effectively virtualizes a single display it doesnt play well with desktop usage.

And when you disable surround it doesnt revert to 3 independent displays. Instead it disables 2 of the displays and only re-enables the primary display.

Meaning you have to go into the Nvidia control panel and re-enable the other 2 displays.

To top it all off when you re-enable Surround, you have to reconfigure the surround settings.

 

I've used surround now for quite a while and I just switch with the WindowsKey+P to "Extended", so I can have the three individual screens. When I'd like to play something in surround, I just switch to "PC-monitor only" and then it will be one huge screen. after I'm done with gaming, I'll just switch back to the extended mode. Its really comfortable to handle like that. Hope I could help you.