ClusterDisplay multi-channel rendering (MVP)
Dawn Engine ClusterDisplay is a multi-channel cluster rendering Gem (Gems/ClusterDisplay). Multiple render nodes share one logical time, camera state, and frame boundary while each draws a different screen viewport—so CAVE rooms, wraparound simulators, LED walls, and exhibition displays can form a continuous image without tearing or state drift.
Maturity: MVP delivered. Platforms in scope: Windows and Linux. Disabled by default.
Difference from O3DE: upstream O3DE has no built-in multi-display cluster Gem. ClusterDisplay is Dawn-proprietary and opt-in.
It does not cover virtual production / ICVFX, media I/O, or OCIO color pipelines—those are explicitly out of scope. For browser cloud streaming, see Dawn Stream.
What problem it solves
Single-GPU multi-window output covers small setups. Training sims, digital-twin command walls, and venue LED arrays need multiple GPU hosts that:
- Agree on the same simulation time and camera / input snapshot each frame;
- Split viewports across nodes with off-axis (or related) projection;
- Present with software barriers (hardware sync adapters where available);
- Fail over when a node drops, without rewriting the scene as one giant mono window.
MVP capabilities
| Area | MVP coverage |
|---|---|
| Topology | Static topology JSON (dawn.cluster-display.v1), optional calibration file |
| Viewports | Nodes / windows / viewports / screen mapping, bezel / overlap |
| Projection | planeOffAxis (default), camera, manualFrustum; mesh / MPCDI extensions where enabled |
| Sync | Primary-driven FrameSnapshot over AzNetworking TCP; software present barrier |
| Ops | Launcher / listener tooling, editor splice preview, failover strategies |
| Gate | Off unless Dawn/ClusterDisplay/Enable or --cluster-display-enable |
Enable and configure
- Ensure the
ClusterDisplayGem is active in the project. - Provide a topology JSON path and this node’s id (Settings Registry or CLI):
Dawn/ClusterDisplay/Enable=true(or--cluster-display-enable)Dawn/ClusterDisplay/ConfigPath(or--cluster-config-path)Dawn/ClusterDisplay/NodeId(or--cluster-node-id)
- Start the primary and secondary nodes with the same config hash; secondaries join the primary’s frame sync.
Schema details, projection policies, and sync knobs are configured via Settings Registry and the topology JSON (see this chapter).
Related topics
- Introduction: Dawn vs O3DE capability matrix (ClusterDisplay listed as MVP).
- Double-precision rendering: large-world coordinates for venue-scale scenes.