I too have struggled with this and so far, my vote goes to a projector. The sim is flown in a dark room (day or night) and this type of enviroment rally shows off the backlit panels, even when flying in daylight. The screen is mounted close to the ceiling in back of me and is "throwing" about 9 1/2 feet for a screen size in front of me of about 6 feet wide by 6 feet high. I have to use blinders in certain parts of the windscreen to block out the sideviews but the experieince is pretty immersive. The Projector id a Vioewsonic PJ501 andis only 800 Native and compressed to 1,072. The proof in the pudding is on approaches whereby everything gels pretty well for an excellent experince. I attempted the fresnel solution for a side view but I am not happy with the result..I too am awaitng the next wave of tehcnology before I invest in a second projector for my side view (Captain only). Here are some pics...

Based on all information I collected, I decided on the fresnel lens solution.Last week I purchased a 19"x25" acrylic industrial quality lens from Edmund Optics. The cost was $202 plus UPS shiping to Israel, another $65. The lens arrived at my door in 48 hours (including custom clearance).The lens has 50 grooves per inch, 1250 grooves across, which results in about one groove per pixel.From first experiments (I didn't mount it yet, because it needs a plywood side cover - painted in black) I can say it was an excellent buy. You get a near real 3D feeling plus a large and cristal clear picture. No tint at all. I use two CRT monitors - 19" for view with the lens, operated by Active Camera. and 17" for instruments. The first monitor is connected to the motherboard and the second to the video card. This arrangement improve frame rate by about 30%.Active Camera gives you a free hand in deciding what part of the outside view you want to see relative to the dash board.Have funSeev

Based on all information I collected, I decided on the fresnel lens solution.Last week I purchased a 19"x25" acrylic industrial quality lens from Edmund Optics. The cost was $202 plus UPS shiping to Israel, another $65. The lens arrived at my door in 48 hours (including custom clearance).The lens has 50 grooves per inch, 1250 grooves across, which results in about one groove per pixel.From first experiments (I didn't mount it yet, because it needs a plywood side cover - painted in black) I can say it was an excellent buy. You get a near real 3D feeling plus a large and cristal clear picture. No tint at all. I use two CRT monitors - 19" for view with the lens, operated by Active Camera. and 17" for instruments. The first monitor is connected to the motherboard and the second to the video card. This arrangement improve frame rate by about 30%.Active Camera gives you a free hand in deciding what part of the outside view you want to see relative to the dash board.Have funSeev

wow, so much has changed since 2004.

 

Anyone still using fresnel?

 

http://www.godrules.net/Fresnel%20Lens%20Collimated%20Display.htm