Roextended Project

Introduction

In this post, I will show you how to make the most out of your setup if you have mismatched monitors. Before we get started:

What’s the problem?
If you use Nvidia Surround, there are restrictions on what you can do. For example:

• All monitors must be the same resolution and refresh rate
• If not, higher resolution monitors are scaled down to match lower resolutions
• Can’t choose scaling method, scaled images are always blurry

These limits often leave you with a suboptimal setup.

What’s the solution?
The idea is to use windowed mode and stretch the window over your desktop. This bypasses the above restrictions, allowing you to use any desktop configuration you desire. It takes some setup and third party software to make this work.



Example Setup

Personally, I’ve used 27” 4k, 1440p, and 1080p monitors in conjunction to make a unique quad monitor setup.



The 1440p monitor is running at native resolution (no scaling), and the center right monitor is 4k integer-scaled to 1080p for better performance and no blur. I’m also only using half of the far right screen, allowing me to use the remaining space for other programs.

Basically, you can create any desktop configuration you want and use it for the game. So let’s get into how to do this!



Windowed Trick

Here is how to bypass Nvidia Surround (or equivalents) using windowed mode in ATS/ETS2.

First Time Setup

1. Install Simple Runtime Window Editor (SRWE). Link: https://github.com/dtgDTGdtg/SRWE/releases
2. Adjust your monitors’ virtual positions to desired layout (see “Configuring the Desktop”).
3. In config.cfg, set r_fullscreen to 0 and set r_mode_width and height to the size you want the window to be (see “Configuring the Game”).
4. Edit your multimon_config.sii file (see “Configuring the Game”), and make sure r_multimon_mode is set to 4 in config.cfg.
5. Start the game as usual. It will open on just one monitor.
6. Go to options and change the Vsync setting (enable or disable), then hit apply.
7. The window may disappear, press Esc to revert changes.
8. Alt-Tab out, start SRWE, and select the game process (amtrucks.exe, eurotrucks.exe).
9. Adjust the window x, y, width, and height until it fills the screen the way you want (see “Configuring SRWE”).
10. Save it as a profile by check-marking amtrucks.exe/eurotrucks.exe and pressing save profile.
11. Switch back to your game, and now you can play!

Subsequent Startups

1. Set your monitor layout (if needed).
2. Start the game as usual.
3. Change Vsync, then revert by pressing Esc.
4. Alt-Tab out and start SRWE.
5. Select the game process and load the profile you made.
6. Switch back to the game, you are ready to play!

If you want some visual guidance, this awesome video by Dan Suzuki shows similar setup steps for another game, ACC. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-irPlVdDdJo&t=353s

From 5:53 to 7:56, he shows most of the steps from “first time setup”. You can ignore the in-game settings he shows, they obviously aren’t applicable here. Instead, make sure to follow steps 3, 4, 6, and 7, those are the steps specific to ATS/ETS2.

Also, you can watch from 8:44 to 9:14, he shows you the steps for subsequent launches. He doesn’t show step 3 because it’s specific to ATS/ETS2, but make sure to do it!



Configuring the Desktop

Using the windowed trick, any desktop configuration can be used as the base for the window. An easy way to see your desktop configuration is looking at the Windows display settings screen. Your graphics control panel will likely have something similar as well. Here's an example.



There’s a utility named DPEdit, which lets you edit monitor positions with pixel precision. If you have trouble lining up your monitors or finding out their exact position, try using this tool. Link: https://github.com/programmer2514/DPEdit-GUI

For the game, you can just use your normal desktop, or you can choose to do scaling for performance or quality benefits.

If you’re after performance, I recommend integer scaling, which lets you scale to exactly half the pixel width and height without any blur. For example, you can scale 4k down to 1080p, or 1440p down to 720p. It gives a huge boost to performance (75% less pixels), but the resulting image will look more aliased. Only certain GPUs or monitors have support for integer scaling, look it up for your system.







If you’re after quality instead, I recommend just sticking to native resolution and using NPI AA, it looks the best to me. Link: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1000

However, DSR (Nvidia) or VSR (AMD) are also options, and DSR can even be combined with NPI AA. Enable it in the graphics control panel, then your monitor’s resolution can be raised above native. This will drastically decrease game performance and cause some blur, but is a powerful anti-aliasing method.







If you need to change your desktop configuration every time when starting the game, there is software out there that can make it easier. I used Monitor Profile Switcher, which is free, lightweight, and allows for keyboard shortcuts.

Another free program is Display Magician. Among other things, it allows you to create game shortcuts that also change your monitor profile automatically. Then there's Display Fusion, which also has a profiles feature, along with many other functions too.



Configuring the Game

We need to configure the config.cfg and multimon_config.sii files to tell the game what to display and where. See my other post, it will guide you through installing the multimon file and using my calculator to configure the view. Link: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2125

Just follow the guide, using the Hybrid Calculator to recreate your setup. Check the virtual screen space visualization diagram, it should fit what you see in your display settings. Don’t forget to set r_mode_width and height in config.cfg, as well as setting r_fullscreen to 0.

Remember that you don’t have to match your desktop configuration exactly. You can exclude monitors, or use only part of one, or split one monitor into multiple views. You’re free to create whatever setup you want.



Configuring SRWE

This section will quickly explain how to use SRWE to move and resize the game window. The first step is to select the game process.



Now you will be able to adjust the window x, y, width, and height settings. To make changes, simply enter a number into a box, and press the “set” button to apply.



The x and y are the coordinates of the top left corner of the window in pixels. Increasing x moves right, and increasing y moves down. Width and height is the size of the window in pixels, including borders. You want to pay attention to the area on the right titled “Client Area Position and Size”; that is the actual size and position of the game contents, without the borders.



You want the client width and height to match the window size you set in config.cfg (r_mode_width and height). For x and y though, it will differ for every setup, and it depends which monitor is set as primary. Just try adjusting it until it looks right, you should be able to get the correct values through trial and error.

If your Windows display scaling is not set to 100%, the pixel values in SRWE will all be scaled, which can be confusing. This can be fixed by right clicking SRWE.exe, going to Properties > Compatibility > Change High DPI Settings, checking the box under High DPI Scaling Override, and choosing Application in the dropdown.



Extra Tips

Compatibility/Quirks
A few things to note about using the windowed trick:

• Yes, you have to do it every time you launch the game.
• I have only tried Windows 10, I do not know about other operating systems.
• Nvidia Profile Inspector tweaks for anti-aliasing work just fine in conjunction with the windowed trick.
• Windows task view (Win+Tab) resets the game window, putting it back on 1 monitor again.
• Changing graphics settings may cause the window to disappear again; Alt-Tab out and reapply the SRWE profile.
• Generally, if a function works with the game in normal windowed mode, it will most likely work with the windowed trick.
• Try not to Alt-Tab excessively, I’ve had the game crash after tabbing in and out too much during testing.

SRWE Alternatives
Other people have expressed success using different software for the window resizing. Borderless Gaming and Resize Raccoon can do the same job as SRWE, with the main difference being that you don’t have to select the process and apply the profile on every startup. Note that you still have to change Vsync then revert. I haven’t tested them personally, but they seem like great options to try.


Performance
By tweaking the multimon_config.sii file, the game can render a non-rectangular picture within the rectangular window resolution. As far as I know, the performance is dependent on how many pixels are actually being rendered, not necessarily the window size. For example, my setup can use a 7680x2160 window, with my monitors all side by side. If I take a screenshot, there is clearly black space within the window.



If I use a 5760x2160 window instead, with the monitors tiled so there is no black space, the performance remains the same, even though the window area is reduced by 1/4. A screenshot looks like this.



Note that, with adjustments to the multimon file, the end result looks identical. So it probably doesn't matter which setup I use, since they both render the same number of pixels.


Other Games
Could the windowed trick work for other games? It depends. Other games will handle windowed mode differently, and very few games have something equivalent to the multimon_config.sii file. You will just have to try resizing the window, and see if you can expand it to span multiple screens.

For games with less extensive triple screen support, you will likely need monitors of the same size (or at least the same height) for it to look correct. The video referenced earlier shows using windowed mode to bypass surround in three different racing games, which inspired this post, but the specific steps required to make it work for ATS/ETS2 I discovered myself.


If you have any questions about mismatched monitor setups, ask them below. If you find any mistakes, let me know.

Update 1: Changed topic name to be more descriptive, and added "configuring SRWE" section. Other minor additions, including an image of my new setup to use as an example.

Hello,

In love with ETS2 recently and hoping to get triple monitor setup correctly. I am not sure if my monitor combination does not make sense. I am having hard time to align all monitors by following this guide.

The monitors are Gigabyte M32U 3840x2160, width 695x385mm without bezel and 2 x 15" portable monitor running portrait, 1200x2160, physically 198x340mm.

multiroom_mode = 4, height is 2160 and width is 6240 in config.cfg respectively.

Since the physical width (after portrait) of the 15 monitors is so small so I would just expect both monitor to show only left and side mirror.

Case1:
In multimon_config.sii, I set monitors to 3, with hFOV 58, the steering wheel always stays at the middle of the 32" monitor. I would like to show the dashboard as much as possible as I am expecting both 15" monitor only show both mirrors. So I increase hFOV override to 90, much better, but no matter how I change the config.sii the center monitor screen does not move to right side (btw I am an UK driver), all the settings inside multimon_config.sii just change the view angle?

Case2:
Now I make it 4 monitors, the center 32" has 2 viewports, the steering wheel is now at right hand side of the screen, but since the 32" monitor has splitted into 2 viewports, there is always a line in the middle and creating fisheye effect, is there any way I can fix this?

I'm using SRWE as suggested and do the configuration after the screen was stretched across 3 monitors, but somehow the value from the fov calculator isn't what I want and so i have to do everything manually pixel by pixel ...

If the fisheye effect has gone I will surely spend my life to tinker both 15" monitors!

@sirhideo - I don't recommend adjusting the values in multimon_config.sii manually, it will make it very difficult to line everything up. Change the input parameters in the calculator instead.

sirhideo wrote: ↑

January 5th, 2023, 6:16 am

Case1:
In multimon_config.sii, I set monitors to 3, with hFOV 58, the steering wheel always stays at the middle of the 32" monitor.

I assume you used the calculator to start with to get the hFOV 58. Was everything lining up and looking correct at that point? If so, you can make tweaks from there.

First off, if you want to shift the steering wheel to the right, you have to use the Quad calculator, since the Horizontal calculator doesn't support that function. You can create your triple monitor setup in the Quad calculator, make sure everything still looks correct.

To move to the right for right hand drive, enter -0.25*screen width into lateral offset on the center monitor. So assuming you put 695 for the screen width, you would enter -173.75 into lateral offset. This will move everything over and keep things aligned.

Make sure you physically move your head as well, so that you're in front of the wheel. Look at the top view visualization diagram, your head should be where that blue dot is. It will look correct from that position, even if it looks weird from other angles. If you want to be extra precise, re-measure "eye distance to center" from that position. It will be a slightly diagonal measurement, as the center of the monitor is now to your left.

Now to see the dashboard better, I recommend adjusting vertical offset. Try putting -0.25*screen height into vertical offset on the center monitor. So if you put 385 for screen height, you would put -96.25 into vertical offset. Also put this same number into vertical offset for the side monitors. If you already had something there, sum them together.

This will shift everything down, exposing more of the dashboard. If you want to be extra precise, look at the front view diagram and move your eye line to match the blue line. You can also re-measure "eye distance to center" from that position if you'd like.

If the result doesn't satisfy you, there's more tweaking that can be done. Let me know how it goes.

@a1337cookie - Thank you very much for your support. I am still confused about the calculator since I am not a math guy, I feel myself wasted your great work.

I assume you used the calculator to start with to get the hFOV 58. Was everything lining up and looking correct at that point? If so, you can make tweaks from there.

Yes, after more precise eye distance measurement it comes up with 77.42 in the calculator.

To move to the right for right hand drive, enter -0.25*screen width into lateral offset on the center monitor. So assuming you put 695 for the screen width, you would enter -173.75 into lateral offset. This will move everything over and keep things aligned.

Now to see the dashboard better, I recommend adjusting vertical offset. Try putting -0.25*screen height into vertical offset on the center monitor. So if you put 385 for screen height, you would put -96.25 into vertical offset. Also put this same number into vertical offset for the side monitors. If you already had something there, sum them together.

This will shift everything down, exposing more of the dashboard. If you want to be extra precise, look at the front view diagram and move your eye line to match the blue line. You can also re-measure "eye distance to center" from that position if you'd like.

I am using Quad V2 calculator now. If I input 695 as the width of center screen, What is the width of Left? (I assumed Left2 and Right are the small 15" portrait monitors side by side with the center 695mm). If I do not put the width for Left, Top View graphic only shows a straight line with the head moved to right. Should I divide 695 by 2 and put it into Center and Left? If so, are the Lateral and Vertical offset value the same?

If I put another 695mm to Left screen width, it doubles up the width of my actuall screen size, is it how the calculator works?







Also, would SRWE affect the number in calculator when I stretch the screen? Why I am saying this is that, the total width of the monitor should be 1200+3840+1200 = 6240 and height is 2160 . In SRWE I have to set 5380 x 1240 to fill across 3 monitors. Maybe I have scaled to 175% on Windows Display Setting. My eyes cannot live with 2160p with 100% scale only on a 32" monitors so I have to do this, and I have put 6240x2160 into config.cfg. I am really not sure if anything that I have set will ruin the calculation.

@sirhideo - Ah, you don't have to split the center monitor into 2. You could do it that way as well, you would instead use half the width for center and left and no lateral offset. The outcome would look the same, but it's unnecessary to use an additional viewport.

For the previous way I was describing, you just need three monitors: center, left, and right. Leave the last line blank. Then you can follow my previous instructions, it should make more sense now.

The way you've set up SRWE doesn't affect the calculator at all. If you've followed this guide and set normalized_width/height/x/y correctly, it should be fine.

a1337cookie - I started to get the idea, the picture of 3 screen are lined up now with both side monitors inline middle

However, the overall view is way too close, the steering wheel occupies 2/3 of the 32" screen, and both side monitors aren't far enough to clearly just showing both side mirrors. Would you please shed some light on this?

Also, is there any way I can increase the height of the ui? it does stretch on the middle 32" screen but the height remains the same. I am using minimal route advisor so this mod isn't showing the gps at the top of the screen.

https://truckymods.io/euro-truck-simula ... the-corner

@sirhideo - The UI should not be stretched after applying SRWE. If it is, then the resolution is not correct. I can see that your screenshot is 3840x2160, but it should be 6240x2160 instead.

Make sure you're not skipping any steps when starting the game. So you should:

1. Start the game
2. Go to Options, set Vsync to Enabled, hit apply
3. Press Esc to revert changes
4. Alt + Tab out and use SRWE to resize window

Changing Vsync and reverting is crucial. If you don't do this, the game ignores the resolution you put into config.cfg and just uses the default resolution, which is 3840x2160 in your case. When done correctly, a screenshot should be 6240x2160, like this.



If you can get that working, the route advisor should go to the top of the screen as well, assuming you have normalized_ui_x/width set correctly.

As for the view seeming zoomed in, that's what a mathematically correct FOV looks like, it's normal. Imagine your monitors as windows into the game world, that's the effect it creates. To see more, you have to get closer to the window, or get bigger windows.

In real life, that means moving closer to your screens or getting bigger screens. Those are your only options if you want to stay mathematically accurate. If you're willing to give up some realism though, just decrease the eye distance value in the calculator until you're happy with the result.

Finally I got it!!!




The only thing left is the height of ui:
normalized_width: 0.192308
normalized_height: 1.000000

Is there any way to fill up the ui on middle screen? Right now the 32" position and size is:
normalized_x: 0.192308
normalized_y: 0.000000
normalized_width: 0.615385
normalized_height: 1.000000

Thanks!

Funny timing haha, see what I posted above, it should answer your question.