Is it possible to use 14 monitors with one linux box?
we're planning to build an information screens system for our business.
- Each screen must show different information
- Each screen must have 1366x768 as resolution

Do we need a computer for each screen or one computer with multiple graphic cards is enough for this?
If you have any experience or any idea i will be happy

You can have multiple monitors on one box, however I think 14 is gonna be pushing it a little.

Remember you will have to have a pcie/agp slot for each video card to run. I don't know of a card that offers more than 2 simultaneous screens and most MBs don't have that many pcie/agp slots. I would think you could possibly get 4 - 6 monitors

What is the solution for this situation?
-One computer with 7 or more graphic cards
-7 or more computer
-One computer and an external device (if there is any device for this)

A quick netsearch turned up the Matrox G450 which fits in a PCI slot, drives 4 monitors at > required resolution and is supported under Linux.

I stand corrected

Fine you want to be corrected.

Quadro4 NVS420 PNY VCQ420NVS-X16-DVI-PB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133258

Then use a motherboard with four X16 PCI Express slots like the following motherboard.

MSI 790FX-GD70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130223

Though this will give you 16 displays and it should handle larger resolutions than 1366 by 768.

If we only ever wrote what we were 100% sure of we wouldn't write much! Therein lies the synergy of working together, of "team thinking" -- giving what we know and learning from each other.

Good lord that thing would be a monster. And I would hate to see what sort of cooling it would need.

Than which chipset is more easy to setup nvidia or ati?
Iam planning to get thishttp://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...ProductID=3003 board and 2 pciexpress x16 and 3 pciexpress x1 ati based video card than with onboard graphics i will have 6 dualhead graphis card. maybe this solution is more cheaper.
If you have any cheaper solution share with us...

There have to be easier to make DIY space-heater kits out there, surely?:-)

Does it have to be this way...

Would it not be more practical to set up the one machine as a server and use others as terminals/thin clients?

http://www.ltsp.org/

You think your way might be more practical, but your way will not post information in real time. Also showing 14 windows will take a lot of room that even a very, very high resolution display (Dell UltraSharp 3008WFP at 2560 by 1600) can not handle at the same time. My way is easier and provides real time posting of information. The 14 monitors will consume more power than the computer. Also the 14 monitors will produce the most heat compared to the computer.

Would be nice if you post back your experiences/problems/success with this project.

jlinkels

In fact...

If you gave a more detailed description of the requirements of the projected system, you might receive a larger number of useful suggestions.

Otherwise, we can know what is possible and we may guess at what is desirable, but we remain uncertain of what is needed.

Hi

Running large numbers (>4) of monitors off a single PC is a BAD idea.

Especially if you are trying to maintain unique display images on each of the monitors.
The overhead on the PC to support a large number of unique display images is significant.

From a fault tolerance point of view it is very unwise to put all of the display hardware into a single box. Simply because: (a) one physical damage event, and all the hardware is potentially ruined; (b) the heating, and loading effects of running large numbers of display adapters in a single box will potentially shorten the operational life of the hardware. (c) one disaster event and all the displays cease to operate until repair is effected. (d) there is going to be a need for a lot of display cabling to physically reach all the monitors from one PC.

The one key exception of course would be if you are trying to crate a very large single real time image spread across a large set of displays collected together to form a single logical display (ie. where each monitor displays a piece of a single image, and the monitors are collected together side by side; and the the image on all the monitors must update at near the same time). If you are looking at that type of solution then you might like to consider using a completely different type of display technology. For instance there is a shop at Chadstone Shopping Center in Victoria, Australia that has LEDs across the roof surface and drives it as a single huge visual display with custom circuitry.

If, on the other hand, the monitors are spread out over a large area, all showing complete images on each screen, then you should consider using a local PC to drive a couple of the screens at each location; and network the PCs together. This would give you both redundancy, simpler monitor cabling requirements, and fault tolerance through redundancy.

All-in-all it really depends on what your are actually tying to achieve.
Is you specify a more complete, detailed, and accurate set of requirements than I am confident that all of us on LQ would be able to provide you with some more accurate practical solution advice. With your current description all we can do is comment on generalities.

Best of luck.

Chris

PS. For this type of application, given the cost and complexity, I would tend not to look at conventional desktop PCs to solve the problem. A group of stripped down thin client PCs with multiple display adapter interfaces would seem to be a more power efficient solution (shrugs his shoulders) it all depends on your requirements. I'd even question why you are using 14 monitors, and the display technologies you are intending to use since that will represent a lot of power consumption also.

C.