Chapter 2. Connecting to the Breakout Box
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## Chapter 2. Connecting to the Breakout Box

This chapter provides information about connecting the breakout box to the monitors or head mounted display, placement of monitors, and cursor flow between monitors.

The following topics are covered in this chapter:

- “Connecting the Breakout Box Cable”

- “Connecting the Monitors or Head-Mounted Display”

- “Using the Four-Screen Mode”

- “Using the Two-Screen Mode”

- “Connecting the Head-Mounted Display”

- “Connecting to a Single Monitor: The Minify Mode”

- “Using the HSYNC or VSYNC Connectors”

## Connecting the Breakout Box Cable

To connect the breakout box cable to the OCTANE Channel Option board I/O connector, follow these steps:

1. Attach the breakout box cable connector to the connector on the OCO board. See Figure 2-1.

2. Tighten the thumbscrews on the side of the breakout box connector.

   Figure 2-1. Attaching the Breakout Box Cable Connector to the OCO Board I/O Connector

| Note: When the OCO board is active, the main monitor is blank. The main monitor cable does not have to be disconnected from the workstation when the breakout box cable is installed.

## Connecting the Monitors or Head-Mounted Display

The breakout box allows multiple monitors or a head-mounted display to be connected to the OCO board.

Figure 2-2. Connecting the Breakout Box to Four Monitors

The breakout box consists of four sections, each with three connectors. Typically, each set of connectors provides red (R), green (G), and blue (B) signals for the monitors. (The exception to this rule is the field sequential formats described in “Connecting the Head-Mounted Display”.) The section number (also the monitor designation) is in the bottom left corner of each section. When a monitor is connected to the pins in Section 1, the monitor is designated Monitor 1. The monitor connected to Section 2 becomes Monitor 2, and so on.

The shading around the RGB pins (or the shading of each section) tells you which group of pins to use for each configuration.

### Using the Four-Screen Mode

The OCTANE frame buffer assumes that the monitors are stacked in a square-shaped configuration, and sends information to the monitors as indicated in Figure 2-3. However, the monitors may be set up in any alignment. See “Setting Up Four Monitors in a Stacked Configuration” and “Setting Up Four Monitors in a Side-by-Side Configuration”.

#### Setting Up Four Monitors in a Stacked Configuration

To set up four monitors in a stacked configuration, follow these instructions:

1. Place the four monitors in a stacked, square-shaped configuration.

   | Caution: Do not rest the upper two monitors on the lower two monitors. Place the upper monitors on a bookshelf or similar structure.

   - Connect the monitor in the upper left corner to Section 1 of the breakout box.

   - Connect the monitor in the upper right corner to Section 2 of the breakout box.

   - Connect the monitor in the lower left corner to Section 3 of the breakout box.

   - Connector the monitor in the lower right corner to Section 4 of the breakout box.

     Figure 2-3. Connecting the Four Monitors to the Breakout Box

2. Connect the power cord of each monitor to an electrical outlet.

3. Connect the power cord of the OCTANE workstation to an electrical outlet.

You are finished setting up the monitors and are ready to power on the workstation.

To configure the OCO board, see “Using setmon to Configure the OCTANE Channel Option Board”.

#### Moving the Cursor Between Four Stacked Monitors

The cursor movement between stacked monitors is shown in Figure 2-4. The cursor from
Monitor 1, for example, always exits and enters from the right side or from the bottom. Monitor 1 always receives the cursor from Monitor 2 from the right side of Monitor 1, and always receives the cursor from Monitor 3 from the bottom of its screen.

Figure 2-4. Moving the Cursor Between Monitors

| Note: You cannot change the exit or entry points of a cursor.

#### Setting Up Four Monitors in a Side-by-Side Configuration

To set up four monitors in a side-by-side configuration, follow these instructions:

1. Arrange the monitors in the order you choose. A sample arrangement is shown in Figure 2-5.

2. Connect the monitors to the breakout box. The monitor attached to breakout box Section 1 is considered Monitor 1, and so on. See Figure 2-5.

3. Connect the power cord of each monitor to an electrical outlet.

4. Connect the power cord of the OCTANE workstation to an electrical outlet.

You are finished setting up the monitors and are ready to power on the workstation.

To configure the OCO board, see “Using setmon to Configure the OCTANE Channel Option Board”.

Figure 2-5. Arranging Four Monitors in a Side-by-Side Configuration

| Note: If you have a dual head system, with another graphics board and monitor, reconnect any cables you may have disconnected for the OCO board installation.

#### Moving the Cursor Between Four Side-by-Side Monitors

The cursor movement between monitors is shown in Figure 2-6. The cursor from Monitor 1, for example, always exits and enters from the right side or from the bottom. Monitor 1 always receives the cursor from Monitor 2 from the right side of Monitor 1, and always receives the cursor from Monitor 3 from the bottom of its screen.

Figure 2-6. Moving the Cursor Between Four Side-by-Side Monitors

In the example in Figure 2-6, the cursor cannot directly move from Monitor 3 to Monitor 2. It must go through either Monitor 1 or Monitor 4 before entering Monitor 2.

| Note: You cannot change the exit or entry points of the cursor.

### Using the Two-Screen Mode

The frame buffer assumes the monitors are stacked one above the other, and sends information to the monitors in the pattern shown in Figure 2-7. Monitor 1 is always the monitor in the upper position.

#### Setting Up Two Monitors in a Stacked Configuration

To connect two stacked monitors to the breakout box, follow the steps below:

1. Place the two monitors in a stacked configuration.

   | Caution: Do not rest the upper monitor on the lower monitor. Place the upper monitor on a bookshelf or similar structure.

   - Connect the upper monitor to Section 1 of the breakout box.

   - Connect the lower monitor to Section 2 of the breakout box.

     Figure 2-7. Connecting the Two Stacked Monitors to the Breakout Box

2. Connect the power cord of each monitor to an electrical outlet.

3. Connect the power cord of the OCTANE workstation to an electrical outlet.

You are finished setting up the monitors and are ready to power on the workstation.

To configure the OCO board, see “Using setmon to Configure the OCTANE Channel Option Board”.

#### Moving the Cursor Between Two Stacked Monitors

The cursor movement between monitors is shown in Figure 2-8. The cursor from Monitor 1 always exits and enters from the bottom. The cursor from Monitor 2 always exits and enters from the top.

Figure 2-8. Moving the Cursor Between Two Stacked Monitors

| Note: You cannot change the exit or entry points of a cursor.

#### Setting Up Two Monitors in a Side-by-Side Configuration

To set up two monitors in a side-by-side configuration, follow these instructions:

1. Arrange the monitors in the order you choose. A sample arrangement is shown in Figure 2-9.

2. Connect the monitors to the breakout box. The monitor attached to breakout box Section 1 is considered Monitor 1, etc. See Figure 2-9.

3. Connect the power cord of each monitor to an electrical outlet.

4. Connect the power cord of the OCTANE workstation to an electrical outlet.

You are finished setting up the monitors and are ready to power on the workstation.

To configure the OCO board, see “Using setmon to Configure the OCTANE Channel Option Board”.

Figure 2-9. Arranging Two Monitors in a Side-by-Side Configuration

#### Moving the Cursor Between Two Side-by-Side Monitors

The cursor movement between monitors is shown in Figure 2-10. The cursor from Monitor 1 always exits and enters from the bottom. Monitor 2 always receives the cursor from Monitor 1 at the top.

Figure 2-10. Moving the Cursor Between Two Side-by-Side Monitors

| Note: You cannot change the exit or entry points of a cursor.

### Connecting the Head-Mounted Display

In a typical video (field-parallel) format, the data is generated on three output wires, with the red data on one wire, the green data on another, and the blue data on a third. Many head-mounted displays require that the video data is given in a field-sequential format as opposed to a field-parallel format.

In a field sequential format, all image and timing information is output on a single wire. The red data for an image is output first, then the green data, and finally the blue data. OCO uses the red and green outputs from Channel 1 in the field-sequential format to output the information to the head-mounted display. The data for the right eye is present on Channel 1-Red, and the data for the left eye is present on Channel 1-Green.

Figure 2-11. Identifying the Section for the Head-Mounted Display

To connect a Head-Mounted Display to the breakout box, follow the steps below:

1. Connect the cable for the right eyepiece to the`R` channel of Section 1.

2. Connect the cable for the left eyepiece to the`G` channel of Section 1.

### Connecting to a Single Monitor: The Minify Mode

Using the minify mode allows an image to be reduced, resulting in a softened image. The reduced image is sent to a single monitor. The minify mode also prevents image shimmering or crawling.

To configure the OCO board, see “Using setmon to Configure the OCTANE Channel Option Board”.

Connect the single monitor used for the minify mode to the three channels in Section 4. See Figure 2-12.

Figure 2-12. Identifying the Section for the Minify or Single Monitor Mode

### Using the HSYNC or VSYNC Connectors

The HSYNC and VSYNC connectors provide external horizontal and vertical sync signals. These signals are locked to all active OCO outputs for a given mode, and can be used with monitors requiring separate sync inputs.

| Note: Only one monitor can be connected to these outputs at a time.

Monitors should be used that have sync on green as a built-in feature rather than monitors that require external inputs. If more than one monitor requiring external inputs must be connected to the HSYNC and VSYNC connectors, a customer-supplied distribution amplifier should be used.

To use the HSYNC and VSYNC connectors, choose one of the following options:

- Connect a single monitor to the HSYNC and VSYNC connectors on the breakout box.

- Connect two or more monitors to a distribution amplifier that is connected to HSYNC and VSYNC.

To configure the OCO board, see “Using setmon to Configure the OCTANE Channel Option Board”.

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Chapter 1. Installing the OCTANE Channel Option Board |  | Chapter 3. Configuring the OCTANE Channel Option Board