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Product Review forMatrox Parhelia APVe
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Sometimes, two monitors just aren’t enough. You get a taste for the good life, gaining more real estate on your computer desktop and you instantly want more. But since the bulk of the video cards out there are only DualHead video cards supporting only two monitors, it’s easy to feel trapped in a world not meant for growth. But then, in steps a company like Matrox, catering to the needs of the general public and supplying them with products that provide the desired results. The Matrox Parhelia APVe Video Card is the card you want, if you need three monitors. Or perhaps even just two desktop monitors with television video display out. And with the ability to display and true full resolution High Definition, this is a logical choice for anyone wanting to step into the HD world.
What it does
The Matrox Parhelia APVe is a PCI express card that allows multiple monitor or multiple TV connections to increase your desktop workspace. With all the adapters that come with the Matrox Parhelia APVe Video Card, you can combine your set up all sorts of different ways. In the manual provided, I counted 21 ways to set up different displays. One set-up example is a DVI monitor, a VGA monitor, an HDTV and a standard definition television. That’s four displays at once! I could see this being good for the video editor who needs preview output in both HD and SD at the same time to compare how different audiences will perceive their work. You can have up to three computer monitors hooked up to the Matrox Parhelia APVe. Or if you reduce the number of computer monitors to two, you can add up to two NTSC preview monitors.
Why you want it
If you’d like a DualHead or TripleHead Video Card, the Matrox Parhelia APVe is a good choice. While there are many DualHead video cards out there that support up to two monitors, Matrox is the Leader at giving support to three or more monitors. And having more than one monitor means more desktop workspace. Having tabs and a start bar to minimize your programs are nice. But they often add clutter to a person’s already cluttered job-filled mind. Being able to have each application in its own monitor and being able to see those applications at the same time may solve a lot of headache. For data entry, when needing to view one document and type into another, this makes sense. For applications with myriads of palettes, more desktop is better. It really does increase workflow and productivity to have multiple monitors. Filing cabinets are nice, but so are big desks. When you need to work with many documents or programs at once, having a bigger desktop helps your workflow increase by allowing less clutter and more visibility. And, if you’re a gamer, more visibility is great. And according to Matrox, there are currently over 150 games that optimize the extreme wide-screen features of the TripleHead2Go. Flight simulators, Racing Games, World of Warcraft... all GREAT reasons to expand your gaming world to 3 monitors.
Ease of Use
I decided to try the preview out in Adobe Premiere Pro. I wanted to know how hard it would be to see video preview out. The first thing I found out was that when you change any monitor set up (such as plugging in a TV or 3rd monitor) you will need to not only let the APVe card know using the Matrox Power Desk control panel, but also reboot. The APVe is not does not have hot-swappable capabilities. I figured this out after I found the manual on the Matrox Disk. I’m all for saving trees and not printing out boring manuals, so I get it. But even though this is the growing trend, it would be nice if companies would include some sort of small bit of colored paper and easy to find that says something along the lines of “Hey, your manual is on the included disk.” That way, when you’re trying to find out why you’re not getting any video out of your recently hooked up TV, you’ll quickly find out that you need to reboot. Luckily, having done this sort of things many times, I knew about PowerDisk, rebooting, and PDF manuals.
Setting up 3 monitors was pretty simple and basic. It's as standard as setting up dual monitors. But, in order to get playback on my external NTSC monitor, Video Playback Settings and select the box that says "Use Video Overlay". If you also want to preview videos played in windows media player or some similar video player, you should also check the box that says "Use PureVideo/DVDMax". This will take any video overlay and send the signal out to your monitor. I think this feature is enough to make alot of people lay down the money and buy this card. Mainly because, with all the websites out there that allow you to download the latest episode your favorite TV show or a new release movie, most of us enjoy still being able to sit on our comfortable couch and gather around the TV to watch rather then crowd around a computer monitor. The APVe is set default to give an NTSC signal to televisions. If you want to change the signal to PAL, you would need to open up the Matrox PowerDesk Control Panel and go to "Monitor Adjustments". In this control panel, you'll want to click on the Picture of the TV and the select the button which says "Select a TV output standard". This allows you to choose NTSC or PAL. Once all these settings have been made, you’re only a few steps away from getting preview out in Premiere Pro, Photoshop or other programs.
The next big step is going out to Matrox’s website and installing the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) plug-in. Or, you can go to “Browse CD-Rom” in their CD menu, and open the “VideoOutPlugins” Folder. In there they have plug-ins for a few programs. Installing the WYSIWYG plug-ins will allow programs like Adobe Premiere Pro or Photoshop to work with your Parhelia. In Premiere Pro with video on your timeline, you’ll need to go to “Export” and select “Matrox WYSIWYG Plug In” Then you’ll get real time preview out as you press play. Ok, so a lot of my frustration comes solely from the documentation lacking simplicity and ease-of-use. The product itself rocks. Once I got it to work, I was extremely pleased with the results. Matrox, again, has created a product that does exactly what it claims it can do.
Conclusion
If you have movies on your computer that you want to watch on your TV, get a Matrox Parhelia APVe. If you’re a video editor that needs NTSC or PAL video preview out to both an SDTV and HDTV, get a Matrox Parhelia APVe. If you want three computer monitors hooked up to your desktop, get a Matrox Parhelia APVe or at least a TripleHead2Go. But if you want to avoid a powered breakout box, stick with the Matrox APVe. With 21 different ways to set up a combination of computer monitors and/or televisions there are many reasons to use the Matrox Parhelia APVe. With a very reasonable cost, it’s worth considering for your next video card.
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