Hi all! First off, I'm a newbie on all of this, so go easy onme. This may have already been answered, although I have yetto find a specific post on it. I'm wanting to put two19" monitors side by side and have a forward Captain'sand forward First Officer's view, one in each monitor(using FS2004). I know how to get views in different windows and monitors OK,but I'm not sure how to create these views so that they lookas one view out the flight deck when put together(side byside). I'm not worried about panels at this point, as itwill be on a different monitor as well. Any help would beappreciated!

1- Use a parhelia card and you can stretch the window even around 3 monitors.2- Some videocards have output for 2 monitors (one vga and one dvi output or 2 vga outputs) . There are certain settings within the videodrivers to extend your desktop around both monitors (NVidea calls it NView).The problem is that you need a panel that has to be designed specially for that resolutions.I once saw a GA cockpit for 2 persons. They made a special c172 panel for the larger resolution. It lookes beautiful. The basic six were on both sides. The radio stack only on the right one. I do not know whether this panel is somewere on the major sites. Otherwise you have to make one yourself. Not that difficult with a panelmaker program.

Hi,about this subject i also was looking to find a solution to extend my forward external view. So i tryed my VGA's dual monitor output, by extending the FS in both monitors. I noticed that the window and the instruments was ok, but the extrnal 3d view had a limit about 1,5 monitor. I could not extend the 3D window in full size of the 2 monitors.Also the frame rate, it was not so good, but for this i will have news when i will upgrade my FS to a new PC.I have a new ASUS ATI 9600XT with 128Mb, 128bit VGA.As i want to find a future solution for Captain's and F/O's views there are 3 ways to do this.1. Easy and cheap, to split the signal from my VGA, to two Monitors, so one in front of Captain and one in Front of F/O. They will have both the same forward external view.2. To use Wideview, using minimum 2 PCs and have two external views with an angle. My only question in this solution is how to setup the panel.cfg for this configuraion and if i will have the centerline of a runway splited or hided between the two monitors. As the Left monitor/pc will have the Captain's view and the Right the F/O's, when the aircraft will be lined-up in a runway, i don't know if the center line and the runway will be visible enough from both monitors for a satisfied flight (departure and approach phases)3. To use a projector......, not approved from my budget and room space :-( Any other ideas, or advices ??Regards Eddie ArmaosAthens-Greece

You could always try a home-made projector... These use an lcd overhead projector (the kind used in office presentations) which plugs into your vga card, which is enclosed in a box that mimics an OHP. You can make one that costs no more than about $300 - $450 in total, using brand new parts, or even cheaper if you source second hand parts like I did :)The quality isn't extremely brilliant, but it's close enough to a low-budget projector to be worth it, as these DIY ones tend to put out about 1,000 lumens or more, which is roughly the same as a low-budget projector!But seriously though, if you're looking at a large front display, if you have the room a projector is the way to go. If you don't want the screen to be too far away, try rear projection. That way you won't have the keystoning effect as the projector can be mounted level with the screen, and not from above or below. If space is limited, try using a system of mirrors to shorten the distance from the screen to the cockpit. Although this gets complicated owing to the placement of some rather large mirrors, it does save space :)If all else fails, muck about with several monitor placements to get the desired effect. Try using WidevieW to offset the captains and F/O's view so that the displays look right, else you'll end up with motion sickness if you're not careful!

Hi and thanks for your reply.The custom made projector is a good idea, (i don't know about cost here in Greece) and the major problem i think will be the noise from the projector and the short distance from one wall to another, as my room where i have the systems is parallel and the distance is the short one, not good really, but i'm happy to have it, than nothing :-) So maybe a wide focus will be a solution for this.Thanks a lotEddie ArmaosAthens-Greece

This is the great advantage of a custom projector, you can use whatever lens you like! Plus the unit itself is very quiet, unless you include fans for cooling the light source. You can, however, use PC fans for this, and they tend to be very quiet. I have 4 large fans in total in my PC, and even with the case open I can barely hear them!

So, if it is easy for you, please can you send me the drawings for this custom-made projector, with the parts list, or any other information needed?My email is [email protected] Eddie ArmaosAthens-Greece

Here's an excellent site with details on how to make them, and how they work, and they'll even sell you the bits anywhere in the world!Parts list is provided, but you're not limited to what they have, in fact they state that you can use whatever equipment you like, their example is just a guideline.Check out the user's pics submitted by people who have built these, and see how good they are for yourself!The link is:http://www.diylabs.org/projector/index.htmEnjoy!

I can't get your link to work.Jim

It can be busy, I just tried the link and it worked. It's a free site, so it may be busy. Just keep trying!