ideas for triple monitor stand for playseat?

[bevo]

I thought about getting the new obutto setup, but really couldn't see spending that amount when I have a playseat and it already works pretty well. What really killed the obutto for me is the 230$ shipping and I just couldn't see me spending that to get it when my playseat only cost me 250$ with free shipping.

Anyway what could I use to mount 3 screens right in front of me with my playseat. I've been looking at triple mount systems and none of them seem to do what I want. I could build some sort of stand that would sit over the front of my playseat, but which mounting bracket systems would work really well to use for triple screen racing? I've looked at a bunch of them but don't really know if they would give the angle you need for racing.

What I am asking is if someone could send me some links to what they use or show me some pictures of how they have went tripe screen with a playseat.

 

[Mayaman]

FastTrackSims.com is what you want.

 

[NeoAgent]

I thought about getting the new obutto setup, but really couldn't see spending that amount when I have a playseat and it already works pretty well. What really killed the obutto for me is the 230$ shipping and I just couldn't see me spending that to get it when my playseat only cost me 250$ with free shipping.

Anyway what could I use to mount 3 screens right in front of me with my playseat. I've been looking at triple mount systems and none of them seem to do what I want. I could build some sort of stand that would sit over the front of my playseat, but which mounting bracket systems would work really well to use for triple screen racing? I've looked at a bunch of them but don't really know if they would give the angle you need for racing.

What I am asking is if someone could send me some links to what they use or show me some pictures of how they have went tripe screen with a playseat.

I used three small carts (9" deep x 22" wide x 30" high) up until recently. Just sat my monitors on the top shelf. The carts were on wheels so it was easy to adjust them for any angle I wanted. Added benefit was the extra shelves which could be adjusted to hold my PS3s and other gear. Center cart was open on the bottom with only one shelf adjusted to hold a PS3 slim sitting horizontal under the top shelf.

I've now upgraded to a custom triple screen mount from Fast Track Sims and will be adding an additional shelving unit to hold my PS3s and audio equipment I will be adding for SimVibe.

The carts are the least expensive route to go, around $37.00 each from Amazon with free standard shipping (or free 2nd day for Prime members).

Whitmor 6056-53 Supreme Laundry Cart, Chrome

 

[Mayaman]

Awesome setup neo! Can you tell me what kind of tiles those are and where to get them? they look nice and thick.

 

[Jav]

FastTrackSims.com is what you want.

^^This^^

 

[bevo]

What size of screens do you have on their neoagent, they look really big.
Also what size of stand did you have them make you? It says they want to know minimum height but I'm not really sure without actually seeing it infront of me with screens on how high I would want it.
I would love to see some more pictures of your setup if that's possible. Maybe some that show how you mounted your small screen and button box.
Your setup looks fantastic. It's exactly how I was picturing mine. I do though have the older playeseat with the bar more forward.

Another question. I looked at the fastTrack sims stuff. How do you connect the triple monitor brackets to the stand. It doesn't look like there are any holes or anything to connect the two parts together.

 

[NeoAgent]

Awesome setup neo! Can you tell me what kind of tiles those are and where to get them? they look nice and thick.

Mayaman,
I'm using SoftFloors™ Modular Exercise Mats from XpressMats.com. You can get the same type mats from many different places on the web as well as different consistencies (hard enough to support a vehicle). The stuff I got is pretty firm but I also added the plastic chair mat to keep the wheels on my rig from creating dents in the flooring. I looked at many sites and this one had the best price.

The mats are very firm and easy to install (or remove if necessary). They also clean up easily with just a damp cloth. So far I am very satisfied with the way they look and feel.

Here's the page I ordered from. I selected from the Custom Mats - With Custom Widths & Lengths at the bottom of the page and select the size I wanted in Black & White.

http://www.xpressmats.com/Floor-Mats/Locker-Gym-SoftFloors-Mats.aspx

 

[bevo]

What about these for monitors? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/AOC+-+2...726428129&skuId=6293177&st= i2757fh&cp=1&lp=1
Price seems reasonable and the bezels seem about as small as you can get only 2mm wide.

 

[NeoAgent]

What size of screens do you have on their neoagent, they look really big.
Also what size of stand did you have them make you? It says they want to know minimum height but I'm not really sure without actually seeing it infront of me with screens on how high I would want it.
I would love to see some more pictures of your setup if that's possible. Maybe some that show how you mounted your small screen and button box.
Your setup looks fantastic. It's exactly how I was picturing mine. I do though have the older playeseat with the bar more forward.

Another question. I looked at the fastTrack sims stuff. How do you connect the triple monitor brackets to the stand. It doesn't look like there are any holes or anything to connect the two parts together.

bevo,

The monitors are Samsung UM40D5003 40" LED, and the bezels are 1" wide. I can adjust the height of the bottom of the monitors from 22" to 37" off the floor. I can adjust the angle from 0 degrees to 110 degrees. There is a center monitor support which connects to the uprights via a clamping system, the two side supports connect to the center support via a bracket which actually allows for about 220 degrees of adjustment.

Fast Track Sims is the way to go if you want a sturdy, flexible triple screen mount.

I'll post some more pics of how the button box, etc are mounted with info in a bit.

 

[fatkrakr]

What about these for monitors? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/AOC+-+2...726428129&skuId=6293177&st= i2757fh&cp=1&lp=1
Price seems reasonable and the bezels seem about as small as you can get only 2mm wide.

Those monitors dont have a vesa mount system so triple monitor mounts wont work with them. You would need a solution for them to stand on.

 

[NeoAgent]

Fast Track Sims Triple Monitor Mounts

The following is not recommended since the stand is constructed for the monitors to face toward the front, just trying to show the adjustability of the side monitors. Plus you can see how the side supports connect to the center support.

 

[bevo]

I have another question about your setup.
How are you running those 2 small screens? I have 2 GTX 570's and I think I can only run 3 screens max with those cards using nvidia surround. I would love to be able to use those small screens also so that I can take all of the HUD of the 3 main screens.

 

[left888]

Use USB monitors for the telemetry. I use a 7" Liliput monitor and an iPad. I also Have 2 nVidia GTX 570"s. The USM monitors are not set up through the nVidia control panels but rather the Windows "screen resolution" Works fine, just give it time on the initial set up, sometimes it take Windows a few minutes to recognize the USB monitors.

 

[NeoAgent]

I have another question about your setup.
How are you running those 2 small screens? I have 2 GTX 570's and I think I can only run 3 screens max with those cards using nvidia surround. I would love to be able to use those small screens also so that I can take all of the HUD of the 3 main screens.

bevo,

Since you asked here are some more photos -

In this photo you can see my HUDs in action. I'm using a 7" Kindle Fire, a 10" Motorola Xoom and my old iPhone 3G. I run iSpeed or Dash Meter Pro on the Kindle and the Xoom (in this image I'm running Dash Meter Pro on both) and iHud and Button Box on the iPhone (I'm running iHud in this photo). These program connect to the devices through Wi-Fi so no need to physically connect to your PC.

Here is the triple monitor stand without any monitors mounted. I'm having an additional bar made to use for mounting my center speaker, it'll go across the very top of the uprights.

You've asked how did I mount the small monitors so here are some images of how these are mounted. I used two Arkon TAB-FSM Tablet Seat Bolt Mount (TAB-FSM), one Arkon 18.5-Inch Flexible Gooseneck Seat Bolt Floor Mount for iPhone 4, one Arkon 20-Inch Flexible Seat Bolt Mount for Samsung Galaxy Tab and one Twelve South 12-1215 HoverBar Version 2 Adjustable Arm (for the Apple Track Pad).

This first image shows how I mounted my Apple wireless keyboard and track pad to the shifter bar and shifter plate.

Close up of the keyboard and track pad mounts.

In this image you can see where I attached the Arkon mounts (to the back of the Playseat steering plate). In the photo I had my Xoom on the mount on the left but eventually change that to the other side and used the mount for my button box.

A shot of how it is now, two mounts coming out on the left (button box and iPhone) and two mounts coming out on the right (Kindle and Xoom).

A close-up shot from the back.

From the front (sorry a little out of focus).

And one from the top looking down.

Button Box from front.

Looking from front of rig back (looks like a H.R.Giger creation).

Some cable management. I mounted an eight receptacle UPS to the cross bar to use for plugging in my monitors and the charger cords for the iPhone, Xoom and Kindle. This way I only have one cord running down to the floor vice six.

With monitors plugged in...

Monitors and charger cords plugged in...

Wire loom running down the side of the upright with containing the UPS power cord and HDMI cables for the monitors (subwoofer and Buttkicker amp on top of it).

Wire looms running from rig to computer; one contains USB cables for wheel, pedals, button box, and shifter. The other contains the power cord for the wheel, under chassis LED lighting, buttkicker cabling and rear speaker wires (long enough to allow me to pull rig out and leave everything connected).

Cable management from the side (use the uprights to mount front left and right speakers - Love my Fast Track Sims TMM).

White wire loom contains cable for Buttkicker remote control which is mounted to the side of my Playseat.

Hope this helps you out and answers your questions or maybe even give you some ideas to try out. I'm in the process of upgrading just about all of my components (wheel, pedals, rig, etc), just trying to decide what my next step will be (leaning toward motion, perhaps a GS4 seat first).

 

[bevo]

That's awsome. Thanks for all the pictures, it's given me all kinds of ideas.

 

[Hwangm]

Neo Awesome mount you got there. thank you for sharing that, been looking for an alternate way to mount my BB, one thing tough , for button box, does the mount wobble when you try to flip the toggle switch or press the button, I mean how strong is the flexible arm?

 

[Mr Latte]

Great inspiration for others on this build.
Shows how far you have come from a Playseat and excellent work on the cables.

Using a proper stand for the screens looks much better too than the older stands, more professional looking and no doubt far handier for positioning.

Congrats on a superb setup, go enjoy it.
I'd love to see a review thread that compares all the different apps for telem (hint, hint)

Also how good is the track pad as I have the same keyboard.

 

[NeoAgent]

Neo Awesome mount you got there. thank you for sharing that, been looking for an alternate way to mount my BB, one thing tough , for button box, does the mount wobble when you try to flip the toggle switch or press the button, I mean how strong is the flexible arm?

The flexible arm is very strong, it takes a good deal of force to bend it to the shape you want. Of course, the shorter the arm the stronger it will be at holding up heavy items. The button box I have is very heavy (it's all metal), much heavier than I realized. The button box has been mounted on the arm for a couple of months and it has not sagged down at all. But with the BB sitting at the end of the arm and the arm being horizontal it does move a bit when you press down on the toggle switch (it takes a good bit of pressure to press the toggle switch down so that doesn't help either). This is really not a problem for me, I simply place either my thumb or finger under the BB when I use the toggle switch as shown in the photos below. You can just work the toggle normally but the box will move some as you press down.

The center row of rotary/push switches is no problem. Pushes each switch in or turning the rotary switch works just fine.

The bottom row of buttons may be pushed in normally but there is a little give as you push. To counteract that I simply place one finger behind the box as I push the button with the other finger. Is this the ideal situation, no, but with the limited mounting options on the Playseat this works out really well.

As far as the other mounts with the touch screen displays they are strong enough to use the touch screens normally.

The trackpad mount works perfectly but the keyboard mount does have a little movement. If you're just pressing one button, such as F2 or Esc, etc. no problem. When your typing you do get a little movement but nothing that I can't live with. Once again, with the limited mounting options on the Playseat this works very well for me.

 

[Hwangm]

wow. thanks for that, defo going to go that route, I too hold the box when pressing the toggle switches down and up, even though it's hard mounted to my frex.
good thing I read this thread. thank you so much. im so getting the arkon mount for my box and Keyboard.
Oh and beautiful rig. both the sim and PC, that pc case must've cost around 1200

 

[NeoAgent]

Great inspiration for others on this build.
Shows how far you have come from a Playseat and excellent work on the cables.

Using a proper stand for the screens looks much better too than the older stands, more professional looking and no doubt far handier for positioning.

Congrats on a superb setup, go enjoy it.
I'd love to see a review thread that compares all the different apps for telem (hint, hint)

Also how good is the track pad as I have the same keyboard.

Thanks Mr Latte.

I agree, the proper stand makes all the difference. I love the trackpad especially since I don't have a lot of space for a mouse, although I do have a Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse also. I actually use both, the trackpad and the Arc touch mouse, just depends on what I'm doing (Apple Magic mouse also works). (I'm running a script that reverses the scroll on the trackpad & mouse to keep scrolling the same on all my devices; iPhone, Xoom, Kindle and PC).

Here's a quick rundown of the apps I'm using (I'll try to put together a more in-depth review later). Some of these apps are available for other games but I only have the iRacing editions.

Dash Meter Pro - I love Dash Meter Pro, you can use it via Wi-Fi or with USB tethering and it provides a ton of information. It is very easy to set-up and I have not noticed any lag between the onscreen data and the data on Dash Meter Pro.

The Telemetry Analyzer allows you to save, analyse and compare 15 parameters up to 50 laps.

The GUI Editor allows you to change the layout and all colors, it is fully customizable and easy to use!

Dash Meter Pro is only available from Google Play and is for Android devices (does not work with the iPhone). In order to get it to work with my Kindle Fire I had to root my Kindle and install the application Google Play Store.

HoiHman's iRacing for iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone - This is a handy little program, especially if you don't have a button box. Even though I have a button box I still use it occasionally although using it on an iPhone is a bit tedious since the screen is so small. This would really be nice on an iPad or perhaps the soon to be released iPad mini. To run this you must install HippoRemote.

iHud for iRacing - I really like iHud BUT since I don't have an iPad it is very limited for me right now due to the small size of the iPhone screen (as soon as the new iPad is released I'll probably grab one). iHud is easy to navigate and setup is pretty straight forward, changing the display is pretty simple.

iHud has the following

Up to 15 categories of accessories.
Up to 110 widgets witch you can place anywhere you want.
5 Spaces where place your widgets or a prebuilt Dashboard
4 prebuilt dashboards.
You can to move, rescale and place any widget anywhere.
Up to 6 new Packs that includes:
Time Pack
Telemetry Pack
Platinum Pack
Live Timing

I don't have any of the accessary packs yet but will be adding those once I get an iPad.

iSpeed for iRacing - I haven't utilized the full potential of this program yet but what I have used is really nice and what's available is very impressive. iSpeed runs on your iRacing computer - either quietly or actively, and surfaces data through a wide variety of displays (second computer, iPad, iPod, iPhone, Kindle Fire, etc.

Z1 Dashboard - Haven't had this one long so I really haven't had a chance to run it through it's paces. I was using this with iDisplay so I could pull the Z1 Dashboard onto my Xoom monitor but ran into a few instances where iDisplay would freeze my game. I haven't had time to try and figure out what was going on so I haven't use the Z1 Dashboard since. Once I get some spare time I'll try to figure out why iDisplay is causing the freeze up.

I know you are probably looking for more info concerning all the data provided and how useful it is but I really haven't had a chance to run each of these programs through all of the options available, especially the telemetry analysis.

 

[bevo]

Just had someone link me to this http://shop.sim-seats.com/Standalone-Monitor-Mount-SS-10-SAMM.htm
That looks like the deal of the day to go triple monitor with a stand not attached to anything. It looks a little flimsy but if the sides sag a little I'll figure some what to get them level.

 

[katikomer]

Thanks for the photos and detailed description. I am running triple screen VisionRacer with a T500RS and like the plays eat was struggling to find ways to mount my iPad and button box. I never heard of the Arkon mounts and looking on amazon will purchase them as required. Keep up the good work.