NVIDIA Mosaic Technology

DU-05620-001_v01 | December 10, 2010

Users Guide
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 About NVIDIA Mosaic............................................................... 1

About This Document ........................................................... 2
System Requirements ........................................................... 2
Limitations ........................................................................ 2

2 Using NVIDIA Mosaic Technology ................................................ 4

Connect Your Displays .............................................................. 5
Configure Your Driver Settings .................................................... 6
Configure Display Settings...................................................... 6
Enable V-Sync..................................................................... 6
Set up Mosaic Mode ................................................................. 7
Troubleshooting ..................................................................... 9
Display position does not match the diagrams in Appendix A ............ 9
Only 800x600 resolution is available.......................................... 9
Issue ............................................................................ 9
Resolution...................................................................... 9
Mosaic options are missing from the Set Up Mosaic page ................ 10
Issue ........................................................................... 10
Resolution..................................................................... 10

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01 ABOUT NVIDIA MOSAIC

NVIDIAMosaicTechnologytakesmultipledisplaysandQuadroorNVSGPUsand
presentsthemasasinglelogicalGPUtotheoperatingsystem.

Inthisway,usingmultipledisplayhardwareacceleration,Mosaictechnologyletsyou
usemultipledisplaystocreatealarger,virtualcanvaswithminimalperformanceimpact
on2Dor3Dapplications.

Eachdisplaydefinesauniqueuniformregionwithinalargervirtualcanvas.

Figure 1.1 Mosaic Regions

Note: Unlike SLI Mosaic, NVIDIA Mosaic does not offer the synchro-
nized multi-GPU output required for stereoscopic or multi-projec-
tor installations.

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 Chapter 01 : About NVIDIA Mosaic

About This Document

ThisdocumentexplainstheMosaicsettingsandhowtoconnectyourdisplaysfor
optimumperformance.

System Requirements
ThefollowingQuadroandNVSproductsaresupported:

Note: If more than one GPU is installed and intended to be used for
Mosaic, they must be identical. For example, two Quadro NVS 295
cards can be used in a Mosaic configuration, but not one Quadro FX
380 and one Quadro FX 580.

NVS300
QuadroNVS290,295,420,450
QuadroFX380LP,FX380,FX580,FX1800,FX3800,FX4800
Quadro600,2000,4000
Quadro5000,6000(nonSLIMosaicenabledconfigurations)
QuadroFX5800(nonSLIMosaicenabledconfigurations)
QuadroPlexD2(nonSLIMosaicenabledconfigurations)
QuadroPlex7000(nonSLIMosaicenabledconfigurations)
Thefollowingoperatingsystemsaresupported:
MicrosoftWindows7
NVIDIAQuadroProfessionalDriverRelease265ornewer.

Limitations
MaximumResolution
ThemaximumresolutiondependsontheQuadroproductused.
Quadro5000/6000,QuadroPlex7000
TheseGPUshaveamaximumdesktoplimitationof16,384x16,384pixels.For
properoperation,donotconfiguredisplaysettingsthatwilltotalgreaterthan
16,384pixelsineitherthehorizontalorverticaldirection.Forexample,a1x4array
consistingofpanelsof6400x1600pixeloutputeachwouldhaveatotalpixel
outputdimensionof25,600x1600.Thiswouldexceedthe16,384limitationinthe
horizontaldirection.
QuadroFX5800,QuadroPlexD2,allothers

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 Chapter 01 : About NVIDIA Mosaic

TheseGPUshaveamaximumdesktoplimitationof8192x8192pixels.Forproper
operation,donotconfiguredisplaysettingsthatwilltotalgreaterthan8192pixels
ineitherthehorizontalorverticaldirection.Forexample,a1x4arrayconsistingof
panelsof2560x1600pixeloutputeachwouldhaveatotalpixeloutputdimension
of10240x1600.Thiswouldexceedthe8192limitationinthehorizontaldirection.
Thetotalpixeloutputforaconfigurationisthetotalhorizontalpixelsbytotalvertical
pixels.TotalsizeontheSetUpMosaicpagecalculatesthetotalpixeldimensionforyou.
ThetotalpixelsdisplayedisacombinationoftheDisplayconfiguration,resolution
setting,andedgeoverlapsettings.
MinimumResolution
Mosaicalsorequiresthatindividualdisplaysusearesolutiongreaterthan800x600
pixeloutput.Ifadisplayinyourconfigurationissettooneofthesmallerpixeloutput
resolutions(e.g.,640x480or800x600),thesystemwillreverttosingledisplaymode.
MatchingDisplays
Alldisplaysmustbethesametypeandusethesametypeofconnection(forexample,
allDVItoDVIorallDVItoVGA).Mixeddisplayuseisnotsupported.
MaximumNumberofDisplays
Upto8displays,dependingontheproductandconfiguration

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02 USING NVIDIA MOSAIC TECHNOLOGY

ThischapterdescribeshowtosetupyourdisplaysandconfiguretheNVIDIAsoftware
forNVIDIAMosaic.

ThischapterexplainsthethreebasicstagesforsettingupSLIMosaicmode,andalso
includesatroubleshootingsection:
ConnectYourDisplays
ConfigureYourDriverSettings
SetupMosaicMode
Troubleshooting

About the NVIDIA Control Panel

SeetheNVIDIA Control Panel Quick Start Guideforanoverviewoftheinterface.
MosaicsettingsarefoundontheSetupMosaicpageinyourNVIDIAControlPanel.
WhenMosaicisenabled,theMicrosoftWindowsDisplayPropertiespanelwill
showmultipledisplaysbutyouwillnotbeabletointeractwiththem.Instead,use
thesettingsontheSetupMosaicpagetoadjustthedisplayresolutionandrefresh
rate.

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 Chapter 02 : Using NVIDIA Mosaic Technology

Connect Your Displays

ConnectallthedisplaysthatyouintendtouseinMosaictotheQuadroboards.See
DisplayConnectionsonpage 18fortheproperconnectorstouse,basedonyour
solutionanddisplayconfiguration.
AlldisplaysconnectedmustbepartoftheMosaicconfiguration.Forexample,the2x2
configurationcannotbesetwithonly3displaysconnected.
AdditionaldisplaysthatarenotpartofthedesiredMosaicconfigurationshouldnot
beconnected,asthismayresultinunpredictablebehavior.
Mosaicmodecannotbeenabledwhenonlyonedisplayisconnected.
Alldisplaysmustbethesametypeandusethesametypeofconnection(forexample,
allDVItoDVIorallDVItoVGA).
Thevisualcharacteristicsofdisplaysvarybymanufacturerandmodelfromthesame
manufacturer.NVIDIArecommendsusingthesamemakeandmodelforalldisplays.

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 Chapter 02 : Using NVIDIA Mosaic Technology

Configure Your Driver Settings

ThereareseveralsettingsthatyoushouldconfigurebeforeenablingMosaicmode.
ConfigureDisplaySettings
EnableVSync

Configure Display Settings

BeforeyouenableMosaic,onlyonedisplayislit.Thedisplaysettingsthatyousetonthis
displaywillbeappliedtoallthedisplaysafterenablingMosaic.
1 OpentheNVIDIAControlPanelbyrightclickingthedesktopandthenclicking
NVIDIAControlPanelfromthecontextmenu.
2 ConfigureyourdisplaysettingsbeforeenablingMosaic.
Displaysettingsmayincludebutarenotlimitedto:
Desktopcolorsettings
Flatpanelscaling
VideoandTVsettings

Enable V-Sync
1 FromtheManage3DSettingsGlobalpresetspulldownmenu,selectBaseprofile.
2 FromtheSettingslistbox,selectVerticalsyncandchangeitsvaluetoForceon,then
clickApply.
3 FromtheGlobalpresetspulldownmenu,select3DAppDefaultGlobalSettings
(thedriversdefaultprofile)orusetheapplicationprofilethatmatchestheapplication
youareusing,thenclickApply.

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 Chapter 02 : Using NVIDIA Mosaic Technology

Set up Mosaic Mode

1 FromtheSelectaTasknavigationpane,underWorkstation,clickSetupMosaictoopen
theassociatedpage.

Figure 2.1 NVIDIA Control Panel Set Up Mosaic Page

2 ClicktheEnableMosaiccheckboxtoenableMosaicsettings.
3 UnderDisplays,clickthecheckboxesforthedisplaysthatyouwanttouseforMosaic.
ClickIdentifyandthecorrespondingnumberappearsonyourdisplaystohelpyou
determinewhichdisplaysyouwanttocheck.
4 UnderConfiguration,selectthetopologyanddisplayorientationyouwanttouse.
Theselectionmustmatchthenumberofdisplaysyouselectedinthepreviousstep.
5 Settheresolutionperdisplay.
ClicktheResolution(perdisplay)listarrowandthenselecttheresolutiontowhich
youwanteachdisplayset.Makesureyoursettingsfallwithinthefollowinglimits:
Maximumtotalresolution(horizontalorvertical):8192forolderQuadroproducts,
16,384fornewerQuadroproducts.SeeMaximumResolutiononpage 2.
Minimumindividualresolution:800x600
6 Settherefreshrate.

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 Chapter 02 : Using NVIDIA Mosaic Technology

ClicktheRefreshratelistarrowandthenselecttherefreshrateyouwantappliedto
alldisplays.

Note: The refresh rate list box contains the refresh rates that are
available for the resolution selected. The Set up Mosaic page shows
a limited number of refresh rates. For VGA displays, you may not
see a refresh rate that you know is supported. If a refresh rate sup-
ported by your display is not listed, you can set it by locating and
then setting it using the Windows Display Properties page. Alterna-
tively, you can define a custom mode using the NVIDIA Control
Panel->Change resolution page and then the refresh rate should
appear on the Set up Mosaic page.

7 Clickanddragtheiconsatthebottomofthepagetomatchyourdisplay
configuration.
8 ClickBezelCorrectionandthenadjusttheHorizontaland/orVerticaledgegapas
neededtoaccommodatebezeleddisplays.
9 ClickApplytosaveyourchanges.

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 Chapter 02 : Using NVIDIA Mosaic Technology

Troubleshooting
DisplaypositiondoesnotmatchthediagramsinAppendixA
Only800x600resolutionisavailable
MosaicoptionsaremissingfromtheSetUpMosaicpage

Display position does not match the diagrams in Appendix A

DuetodifferencesinsystemBIOSconfigurationswithrespecttotheGPU,thedisplay
positioningonyoursystemmaynotmatchthearrangementgiveninAppendixA.

Ifthisisthecase,
UsetheVerifyDisplaydiagramstodeterminethecorrectconnectionsforyour
system,andthenreconnectthedisplaysaccordingly.
Ifyouareusingaconfigurationthatdoesnotuseallofthedisplayconnectionsonthe
QuadroPlexunitandnotallofyourdisplaysarelit,thenconnectdisplaystoallofthe
connectoroutputstodeterminewhichoutputsarebeingused.

Only 800x600 resolution is available

Issue

OntheSetupMosaicpage,only800x600islistedunderResolutions(perdisplay).

Resolution

Verifythefollowingandmakethenecessarycorrections:
AlldisplaysarethesametypeallVGAorallDVIandthattheyhavethesameEDID
informationandcapabilities.
AllthedisplaysareconnectedtotheconnectorlocationsasindicatedinAppendixA.

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 Chapter 02 : Using NVIDIA Mosaic Technology

Mosaic options are missing from the Set Up Mosaic page

Issue

SomesectionsaremissingfromtheSetUpMosaicpage.

Resolution
1 WiththesystemturnedonandtheNVIDIAControlPanelopened,disconnect(hot
unplug)alldisplaysexceptfortheprimarybootdisplay.
2 IntheNVIDIAControlPanel,selectSetupMosaictoopentheassociatedpage.
AllappropriatedisplayconfigurationsshouldappearintheDisplaysetuplist.
Only800x600resolutionisavailable.
3 ClicktheDisplaysetuplistarrowandthenselectthetopologyyouwishto
configure.
Thetopologyshouldbeactivatedbutonlythefirstdisplaywillbevisible.IfVNCis
available,thefulltopologycanbeviewedfromaremotemachine.
4 Connect(hotplug)theremainingdisplaysuntilallarevisible.
Thedisplaysmaynotappearinthepropertopologyorder.Thiscanbecorrectedlater.
5 EnableMosaic,verifythedisplayconfiguration,andmakecorrectionsasneededas
describedinSetupMosaicModeonpage 7.

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