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Multiple Monitors, One Big Display April 14, 2004 Wrap-Around Monitor While Windows XP allows you to do it yourself, there are off-the-shelf systems that are purpose built and concentrate on making the screens flow together. Panoram Technologies PV230 DSK desktop display, for instance, combines three 15-inch LCD screens to create a semicircle of screens with less than half an inch of separation between the panels. This makes for a realistic, nearly unbroken view to surround yourself with. It's all mounted on a tiltable articulated arm and this monjo-monitor has 12-input plugs as well as a 12-volt power supply for a peripheral like a video-conferencing camera. With 43.5 by 11.5 inches of nearly unbroken screen space, the PV290 is perfect for digital design, trading, video editing and all sorts of visualization work. It's just as satisfying for playing a round of "Civilization III" or "Need or Speed" when the work is done, of course. It's compatible with Mac, HP, SGI, Sun and Windows systems, but Panoram has more mobile ideas. The company has a wild idea that could change the face of warfare with an armored vehicle without windows. With video cameras in key places, the road ahead and behind are viewed on a wrap-around Panoram screen with the truck's steering wheel in the middle. It's called Virtual Integrated Electronic Window, or VIEW for short, and it can help protect troops because armor plating is lighter and stronger than bulletproof glass. As a result, the overall vehicle can have better armor. California-based Lieberman, Inc. specializes in offering desktop and tabletop display arrays that are targeted at the most demanding workstation users. Their biggest product, aptly called the Grand Canyon, can span nearly 8 feet of display space to produce an ultra-wide view of the world. With only a thin black bezel separating the four 23-inch LCD screens, the company's Grand Canyon array is perfect for those who need the latest in high-performance visualization. While the monitors are only 2.5-inches thick, they provide up to a 6,400 pixel-wide space to work in. The key to Grand Canyon's performance is its Ultra Speed technology, which boosts how fast the pixels react, particularly gray and intermediate color tones. Rather than applying a constant voltage to charge each individual pixel, a large initial voltage spike--ten-times the normal amount--is briefly fed to the pixel, resulting in rapid response. In actual use, it takes all of 15 milliseconds to create gray a pixel, nearly twice as quickly as conventional LCDs. Go to page: 1  2  3