Maximum number of monitors Win 7 Supports?

Question

I want to set up a system with (9) monitors arranged in a 3x3 grid.

Is this configuration possible with Windows 7? Does it max out at a set number of monitors?

Any suggestions about known working hardware combinations would be much appreciated. Currently considering (3) nVidia Quadro NVS420 cards to drive the array.

Answer 1

I ended up using a device called a VWBox 133A from IEI to split a display port output into the required 3x3 array.

Posted full specs for all hardware used for the project here:

http://www.oceanbytes.org/2010/10/31/how-to-construct-a-global-visualization-lab/

Answer 2

Windows does have a hard limit on maximum resolution and overall pixel count. The maximum continuous windows desktop available is up to 32k horizontal pixels by up to 32k vertical pixels with an overall pixel limit of 128 million pixels. Which means that a 32k x 32k desktop is not actually possible. Even video wall processors, which are generally purpose built windows dekstops, are constrained by these limits.

Max pixels >= horizontal pixels(H) x vertical pixels(V)

128 Million >= H x V

Answer 3

There is no "limit" per se set by Windows. You are only limited by your ability to implement the hardware to support it. However, in order to make the maximum use of it and to make sure it works smoothly together, all of your video cards should use the same driver. If you start mixing different video cards/drivers it starts to have problems.

Answer 4

If you want to setup nine monitors, you'll certainly have to look beyond consumer products.

With Cinemassive Video Wall you can drive up to 64 monitors on a Windows machine.

Answer 5

I was just looking up whether Eyefinity (by AMD/ATI) would be a good alternative, so I'm not sure whether Nvidia's cards enable you to do so. Though like BBlake said, I don't think Windows will limit you.

The AMD site notes:

Number of Monitors:

• Up to six dependent on graphics card configuration

Aggregate Screen Resolution:

• The aggregrate of screen resolution will vary based on the number of panels and screen resolution. The theoretical maximum: 8192 x 8192 (67.1 megapixel resolution) consisting of 6 panels of 2560 x 1600

Monitors:

• AMD recommends DisplayPort Display monitors, as they offer optimal flexibility with the highest number of display outputs
• Depending on the specific graphic card and operating system, ATI Eyefinity technology can support up to six displays. For configurations using more than two displays, additional displays must have DisplayPort connectors.

Answer 6

I recall Windows 98 supports 9 monitors. So Windows 7 must support at least 9 monitors

This MVP claims that he has seen a Windows XP machine with 24 monitors. It also seems like Windows 7 supports 64 monitors although there are no official documents available

Answer 7

Windows only supports a maximum of 16 monitors. More than 16 monitors, Windows will not allow you to press the 'Apply' button on the Display Arrange Settings dialog.

But there is always a workaround - like if you are using AMD GPU card, you can group monitors so Windows thinks it is one monitor.