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On this page NVIDIA’s Mosaic technology allows the creation of a large virtual canvas regrouping all of the connected displays by combining them into one large screen. This larger unique canvas reduces the impact on performance when using 2D or 3D applications in a multiple display context. TACHYON or PHOTON will still be able to identify each video output as an individual screen.
NVIDIA Mosaic is a requirement for maximum performance when using TACHYON or PHOTON.
Follow the steps listed below to build a Mosaic display group.
Before Opening the NVIDIA Control Panel
Physically connect the video displays (projectors, monitors, LED screens, etc.) to the server. Even though Quadro cards have 5 connectors, only 4 will work at the same time. PHOTON
Make sure video signal reaches all of the displays by changing the desktop color:
Click on the Windows Start button and select .
Select Background from the menu at the left of the window.
Select Solid color from the Background dropdown menu and choose a bright color.
You should see bright color in all displays.
When TACHYON or PHOTON starts, the desktop background will automatically turn black.
Check the Windows Display settings to make sure all of your displays are identified.
Right-click anywhere on the Windows desktop background and select Display settings from the contextual menu, OR click on the Windows Start button and select .
You should see all of the displays that are connected. Display numbering starts at 1.
The Display settings window allows the modification of many parameters. You will need to set correctly the resolution, orientation and desktop spanning for each of the connected displays:
Select a display by clicking on its numbered representation.
Select the appropriate size in the Display resolution dropdown menu. The same size should be selected for all connected displays in order to be able to complete the Mosaic configuration.
Select Landscape in the Orientation dropdown menu.
Select Extend desktop to this display from the Multiple displays dropdown menu.
Repeat these previous steps with all connected displays.
Warning: Make sure the appropriate display is selected as the main display by checking the box located in the Multiple display section.
Open the NVIDIA Control Panel
Right-click anywhere on the Windows desktop background and select NVIDIA Control Panel from the contextual menu, OR click on the Windows Start button and select NVIDIA Control Panel from the app list.
Manage the 3D Settings Make sure the driver settings are correct. PHOTON
Select Manage 3D Settings in the “Select a Task…” list under 3D Settings . Make sure the Global Settings tab is selected.
Select “Workstation App - Dynamic Streaming” in the Global Presets dropdown menu.
In the Settings list below:
set the Power Management Mode to “Prefer maximum performance”;
set Triple Buffering to “On.”
If you make any changes click on the Apply button.
Change Resolution
Select Change Resolution in the “Select a Task…” list under .
You should see all of your connected displays represented as small icons that look like monitor screens. By selecting these icons you can adjust the resolution, refresh rate and depth of color for each video output. Make sure that all of your video outputs have the same parameters (both for resolution and frequency rate).
If you make any changes click on the Apply button. An “Apply Changes” confirmation box with a 17-second timeout will appear. Click on Yes to apply changes, OR No to cancel changes.
Warning: To set up a Mosaic display group, all of your video outputs must be set at the same resolution and refresh rate.
Adjust the Color Settings
Select Change Resolution in the “Select a Task…” list under Display .
Select the display you want to change.
Select the “Use NVIDIA color settings ” radio button located beneath section “3. Apply the following settings.”
Select Full from the Output dynamic range dropdown menu.
Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 for each display.
Danger: If you are using HDMI or DP connectors, it is crucial that you set correctly the Output dynamic range. Not doing so might result in altered image content in the brighter and darker areas.
View System Topology
Select View System Topology .
The Quadro cards feature Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) management. (Please refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Display_Identification_Data for more info.)
EDID management allows you to force a similar behavior on all of your video outputs by pushing the same manufacturer’s metadata onto them. This will allow you to hot swap displays without breaking the Mosaic configuration, while facilitating its creation.
Select View System Topology in the “Select a Task…” list under Workstation .
Select any of the EDID links in the Settings column of the System Topology table. This will open the Manage EDID window:
Export Export will allow you to grab the EDID in a (.txt) file from a display connected to the graphic card.
Select the Export tab.
In the Select Connector to Export EDID list, select the display from which you want to export the EDID.
Click on the Export EDID button at the bottom of the window. A Save As window will open and allow you to select the destination where the file will be saved.
Name your text file. Give it the same name as the display. PHOTON
Click on the Save button.
Load The Load tab will allow you to load the EDID onto all of the selected displays, forcing all of the video outputs to use the same manufacturer’s metadata.
Select the Load tab.
Click on the Browse button at the top of the window.
An Open Windows file dialog will prompt you to select the EDID file (.txt) you want to load.
Click on the Open button.
In the Select Connector to Force EDID list, select the displays you want to load the EDID onto by checking the boxes beside their name.
Click on the Load EDID button.
You will see a black flash in the connected displays.
A pop-up will confirm the Load procedure was successful.
Click on the OK button.
Danger: Don’t load EDID in video outputs that aren’t connected to a display, as it might create ghost video outputs.
Unload The Unload tab allows you to remove a Forced EDID from the selected video outputs to regain the original display’s metadata.
Select the Unload tab if you wish to do so.
In the Select Connector to Unload EDID list, select the displays from which you want to unload Forced EDIDs by checking the boxes beside their name.
Click on the Unload EDID button.
You will see a black flash in the connected displays.
A pop-up window will confirm the Unload procedure was successful.
Click on the OK button. Once all of the connected video outputs have the same EDID, go back to Change Resolution. Make sure each display has the same resolution and refresh rate.
Set Up the Mosaic Display Group Now you are ready to set up the Mosaic display group.
Select Set Up Mosaic from the “Select a Task…” list under Workstation .
Click on the “Create new configuration” link. This will open the NVIDIA Mosaic set up window.
Follow the next steps to established the Mosaic display group:
Create a Mosaic Display Group
Select Topology tab
Select the number of displays you want to include in the Mosaic display group with the help of the dedicated dropdown menu.
Warning: You must include all of the available video outputs in the Mosaic configuration.
Select the Topology — how the displays will be positioned on the grid — with the help of the dedicated dropdown menu.
Warning: Always use a single row topology (1 X …) because TACHYON or PHOTON works through horizontal screen spanning.
Select the display Orientation with the help of the dedicated dropdown menu.
Warning: Always use Landscape even if your project includes rear projections or projectors set up in portrait format. TACHYON or PHOTON will automatically manage these cases.
For the maximum and minimum GPU topology, this is a feature that only matters if mixing different Quadro GPU models. This should be set to Maximum GPU Topology, but it doen not matter since Tachyon does not support mixing GPUs models in one machine.
If your screens are listed correctly and placed in the right order, you can immediately check the box next to “I am using the recommended connections for the selected topology” and click on the Enable Mosaic button. This will open the “Apply Changes” confirmation window. If the Mosaic display group seems to be set up correctly, click on the Yes button.
You should be ready to launch TACHYON or PHOTON now. If not, click on the No button and go through the next steps.
Display Mosaic Setup
Select Displays tab
All of the available displays listed underneath “Displays for Mosaic” should already be checked. If not, check the boxes next to their names.
Select the desired refresh rate in the Refresh Rate dropdown menu. Match the one specified earlier in the Display settings.
Select the desired resolution in the Resolution Per Display dropdown menu. Match the one specified earlier in the Display settings.
Click on the Next button.
Organizing display
Select Arrange Displays tab
Arrange the displays by dragging them from the top of the panel to the white rectangles located in the bottom section. This will set their position in the Mosaic large canvas.
You can also type the display numbers into the white rectangles and press Enter .
Each display is identified by the large number in the top-left corner
Display Number As mentioned above, displays are identified by numbers. The numbers indicate the order in which the displays are connected to the graphics card:
display #1 is connected to the output port closest to the motherboard
display #2 is connected to the next output port, and so on.
This system for prioritizing displays by using numbers that represent their proximity to the motherboard applies to the other output ports as well.
The small-number pairs displayed in the lower-left corner of the displays represented are another element of this prioritization system.
The first number (before the comma) represents the hierarchical position of the graphics card (starting at 0).
The second number (after the comma) represents the hierarchical position of the output ports on the graphic card (starting at 0).
When the displays are in the correct order, click on the Apply button. An “Applying Changes” loading bar will appear, and you will see a black flash in all of the connected displays. (This might take a while.)
An “Apply Changes” confirmation window will appear. Click Yes to apply, or No to cancel.
The upper section of the window, where the drag and drop displays were initially placed, will have changed. A pop-up window should tell you that the “Mosaic is enabled.”
You can still reorder the displays by dragging and dropping them, but you will have to go back and Apply Changes again.
The Mosaic display group’s maximum resolution will be written near the bottom of the window.
Click on the Finish button. (DON’T click Next .)
Warning: Do NOT adjust overlap and bezel because TACHYON or PHOTON will take care of these issues while calibrating.
Finish Mosaic Setup
The Set Up Mosaic window will have changed, and will present a summary of the current Mosaic configuration. If you wish to make changes, click on the Modify button OR the Disable button.
You can also find out if the Mosaic display group is recognized in the Windows display settings. Right-click anywhere on the Windows desktop background and select Screen Resolution in the contextual menu, OR click on the Windows Start button to access .
You should see a single monitor representing all of the connected displays. It should be #1.
The Mosaic display group is now established and you are ready to launch TACHYON or PHOTON.