Details of our 2nd generation visual system

[NicD]

I've had lots of folks asking for details on how we've done our wrap-around visuals. So I've *finally* got round to documenting it ... http://www.insitesolutions.com.au/73...develop_v2.htm

Today is one year to the day since I did my first 3-projector test with the TripleHead2GO ... my how time flys !!!

[Matt Olieman]

Thanks Nic for that wonderful documentation of your setup. I wonder if you would (for people like myself that requires visuals), if you can pictures of your setup. Would be fantastic

[Kennair]

That's fantastic information Nic. Once again all us multi-monitor users thank you for some fascinating research. Although I haven't got projectors I'm using some of the design philosophy on my LCD/TH2GO sim. I've directed many people to your site given the concise information you've gathered. I'm sure glad you don't charge for this information (although you probably could ask for research funds from Microsoft or even Matrox).

Happy Christmas simming,

Ken.

[Kennair]

Hey Nic,

Just one question re your projector resolution of 1024x768. Are you using this res due to a constraint on the projector or is this what you've found to be optimum? Considering the TH2GO can go to 3x1280x1024, wouldn't you get a greater field of view with this resolution? I intend using 3x22" LCD's that can run at 1280x1024 and wonder what advantage this might give me if any.

Ken.

[andarlite]

Ken

Isn't 1280x1024 more suitable for standard monitors with 4:3 aspect ratio? All 22" LCD's that I've seen are widescreen.

Regards,
Henry

[NicD]

Thanks - yes the native resolution of the projectors is 1024x768 (XGA). It will emulate a higher resolution but quality drops a bit, so I've stuck with the native resolution.

I'll add some pics when I get a chance.

[Kennair]

Yes your right Henry, that was my error. Of course a widescreen monitor will have a res of something like 1600 x 900 (16:9). However, my question was more directed at the wisdom of using the lesser standard monitor (4:3) res of 1024x768 and Nic has answered the reason why in the above post.

Ken.

[andarlite]

Nic, great stuff that you are doing..... thanks for sharing it with us.

Ken, the only reason I mentioned it was because I've been comtemplating a 3rd 22" LCD, but I've noticed that with the TH2G, I wouldn't be able to use them at their native resolution of 1680x1050. I can right now with only 2 of them. So far, I have mostly seen people with 3 monitors (or 3 projectors) that are standard and not widescreen. That's why I took noticed when you mentioned 3 22". I'm very curious as to what the best resolution would be to use for 3 widescreen.

Regards,
Henry

[Tomlin]

Nic

I have been over your site a few times to get a grasp on what your latest vis system is doing and I have a few questions.

First, what is the size of your room that you've used Ver. 2 in?

2) You mention that it's best for the screens to be about 2 meters in front of the windscreen. What about the side views? (your drawing to illustrate is not to scale, correct?)

2b) Would it be more correct to say 2 meters in front of the pilot's eye point, or the actual windscreen?

3) When you suggest high quality mirrors, what if our room is big enough for shooting the FRONT projection without the mirrors, that's better right? My building is 17.5x 17.5 feet, or 5.46 meters by 5.46 meters.

4) Looking at the specs of your FS server, how are your frame rates with the Ver. 2 Wrap around Visuals?


Thanks for all your help,

[NicD]

Hi Eric. The room is approx 5m long x 3.5m wide, and the back section of the sim is outside of the room itself. So pilots eyepoint is about 2.5m into the room (longways).

Our side screens are too close and that's because the room is too narrow. The ideal is that all screens are at the same distance from the pilot eyepoints. This means that if the centre screen is 2m from the captain's eyepoint then the left-hand screen should be the same. And for first-officer... 2m from his eyepoint to the right-hand screen. But even so - measurements are not the focus.. they are a place to start. Nothing beats experimentation until it looks and feels right. The more room you have the more flexibility you have to experiment. That's why I don't provide exact measurements and diagrams of my setup.

If you can avoid mirrors at all then please do! Mirrors are good in many applications, but only use them if you really have to. Genuine glass mirrors (flat) provide the best image. Acrylic mirror is slightly degraded when flat and this worsens the more you bend it.

Oh - and only use back-projection if you really have to... front-projection is generally better.

You have good space there in your room and with the LJ cockpit being smaller you should do well without mirrors. Ceiling height is also important - because mounting the projectors up and over the sim is the preferred method I think. But you need projectors with good keystone and zoom controls (plenty of variation), or image warping software (like SOL7).

Our frame rates are around 20FPS in general, sometimes dipping down as low as 12 in heavy weather, heavy scenery areas. Squawkbox3 also pulls down frames a bit... this is a known issue with SB3 that affects some systems only. Hopefully that will be fixed in SB4 (which I hear will be released in the year 2023... if we're lucky ).

To improve frame rates my only way forward now is to get a newer video card with more RAM (staying away from FSX and DX10 for quite a while yet).