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6.7 Display system

The display system is an important area for most flight simulator cockpits. It is more than installing a number of monitors or a beamer. Any combination of the following areas may play a role.

How to proceed depends on your cockpit type and own ambitions. In the next sections you will find an overview of issues that play a role.

6.7.1 Connecting multiple monitors

On the same PC

Using Windows 98 or higher it is a standard functionality to expand your system with multiple monitors. There are special graphic cards (e.g. NVIDIA or Matrox) that support the use of multiple monitors. Mounting stands can be found on Quad Vision. A promising new concept is offered by Matrox with the TripleHead2Go. This is a interface box that allows you to add two or three monitors with a combined resolution of up to 3840 x 1024 to your computer even if it only supports a single display output. In many cases this will give you a better working solution than using separate video cards or video cards supporting multiple monitors.

Interesting additional sources of information are: PC World (general article) and Multi- Monitor Resources.

On different PCs

It is also possible to view the Microsoft Flight Simulator on different PCs by means of Wideview (Luciano Napolitano). Several PCs are connected via a TCP/IP connection. On all PCs the Microsoft Flight Simulator is active. Using specific software one PC is used as a the server to "fly" (including display) and the other PCs (1 or more) are used as additional display. The client PCs can be configured as "virtual windows", to show maps, additional instruments, a GPS, a custom panel, etc. A down side from the current version from Wideview is that it does not display AI aircraft on the client windows.

A more generic approach is provided by MaxiVista (MaxiVista), this is dual monitor software that turns your (spare) Laptop or Tablet PC into an extra monitor for your primary PC. Toolbars and program windows can be moved and extended across both screens as as if it were one big monitor.

How to join / align 2 monitors more close to get a better view when using 2 monitors is described at Nico's flightplank (dutch).

6.7.2 Display magnifiers

A low budget approach to magnify a display is the use of fresnel lenses. There are various types and sizes around. A general rule is that high groove density allows higher quality images, but gives more loss of light. A good place to look for specific offers are suppliers for visual disabled people. Additionally they often offer mounting devices. Examples of providers are SimKits, Edmund Optics, World Wide Vision, and Magnifier Place. Bugeye Technologies and Icetec offer single and multiple monitor (display) systems based on fresnel lenses.

An other -more professional- approach is to use monitor based collimated display systems. These systems are designed to provide an "out of window" display by displaying a scene with realistic depth of field cues for the pilot/operator. Each display unit typically consists of a mechanical structure called a collimator, which contains a high quality spherical mirror, coated beam splitter, and a high resolution CRT monitor. The down side of a collimated display is that the user should stay with his head (eyes) within a small area in order to see a correct image. This is called the eye relief distance. When using multiple CRT monitors, the boundaries between the viewing area are pronounced. When looking sideways (next screen) will give a partly distorted view. Examples of providers are: Glass Mountain Optics and SEOS. Interesting flight simulator related sites are: Rick Lee's flightsim pages, 737sim.

The third option is to use a beamer. There is a lot of information about beamers on Internet. There are 2 special issues to consider:

• The beamer should have sufficient resolution (1024x768) to see all effects used in the Microsoft Flight Simulator.
• The beamer should support moving images, i.e. the refresh time should be fast enough (old models sometimes have a slow refresh time so that moving pictures get blurred).

A simulator specific beamer supplier is VDC Display Systems.

Hi Resolution Image Generator (Precision Flight controls) is special hardware technology to warp and edge blend any image on any curved surface, for instance a 45 degree circle area.

6.7.3 Visual systems

More and more third party scenery enhancements are available. They play an important role to maximize the flying experience. Already known are the suppliers of high resolution terrain databases that can be installed within Microsoft Flight Simulator giving the most beautiful results (e.g. MegaScenery). Relatively new is the introduction of separate visual systems (e.g. Sim Instruments). These clearly very high-end systems can take position, altitude en attitude information from Microsoft Flight Simulator and translate that into a separate visual system. The system typically provides very high resolution and high speed. The current down side is that one looses the scenery, light and whether effects of Microsoft Flight Simulator.

For those who want to fly at their local airports there may even be the need to develop your own scenery. This is a whole area of expertise on its own. Starting at sites like AVSIM you can find a lot of information on the web on how to proceed.

6.7.4 Virtual reality

Within the scope of this article virtual reality can be split in 2 area's. First the area where you get submerged into your environment. This is typically the setup where you wear for instance a visor or helmet and/or gloves. You move around in a virtual cockpit. Following this line of thinking there is no need to physically develop a flight simulator cockpit. This is not the objective of this text.

However virtual reality is also the area of vibrations, feedback and 3-D. The issues around vibrations and feedback are discussed in separate sections. In the remainder of this section we will focus on 3-D effects.

There are various 3-D systems around. A popular example are the glasses from eDimensional, they support the use of Microsoft Flight Simulator. An other example is 3DFlightSim. When only viewing the screen, this approach seems to be attractive. However it does not seem practical when combined with handling real switches and reading real gauges and maps.

There is however a new 3-D development coming towards us that seems very attractive for the use with flight simulator cockpits. It is a technique based on multi layer LCD displays. By using the layers depth is brought into the image without the need for glasses or other devices. This type of technique is the perfect fit for outside windows. With current prices the hardware competes with the high-end beamers (without 3-D effect). In the recent period developments are going rapidly and drivers for standard 3-D formats are being developed. Examples of suppliers are: Dimension Technologies Inc and Sharp.