Any advice about projectors/beamers?I have seen conflicting comments in the past, ranging from "great increase in immersion" to "pixels clearly visible and distracting".Technology has come a long way recently, and prices have dropped as more are sold for home entertainment. But are these suitable for flightsim, or is the resolution too coarse?What do builders here think? What are the minimum resolution standards acceptable?And, off-topic, does anyone use theirs for looking at the family digital photos? How does it compare with a real slide/transparency set-up?Best regards to all,--Bryn

Whatever that gives you a BIGGER visual image adds to the immersion. WAY more than a super-sharp small 15" LCD screen with huge resolution.I'd take a huge, but lower resolution image over a small super high res one any day if I cannot have both. Make the artificial world bigger.Of course the other half of the equation is to completely block out everything that reminds you that you are _not_ flying. Amplify the artificial, simulated world, remove the room you are in.I think some of the newer projectors have technology to "smoothen" out the pixel squares and fill in the "in-between" of pixels, thus making it look less like a lego-brick-image. I guess go to the store and compare different projector images in action?//Tuomas

I use a projector for flight siming and I find it harder to notice the pixels on it than on my 19" LCD. It really adds to the effect that you are really flying. You do not want to go with a projector that is under 1024x768 (XGA). Also look for a projector that is around 1500 lumens or so if you are ok with flying in a dimly lit room (1200 lumens if you are going to be flying in the complete dark). Last thing to look for is the contrast ratio. You want a high contrast ratio, so the colors are vivid! On the point of for photos, it is defiantly better than using a slide projector, and is easier to use with a digital camera than a slide projector!

In general, LCD projectors show pixels - especially at resolutions under 800x600.DLP projectors are much better in this sense.The best advice I can give you here is carry your CPU to the shop and compare. There is nothing better to decide what is best than your own eyes.

Hello,using 2 DLP projectors (each at 800x600 coupled on a Nvidia card ( having 2 video outputs recognized as one logical screen by Windows) to produce a 1600x600 picture (giving a correct form factor for my Dash7 cockpit windows - 2 m by 0.8 m), I'm quite satisfied with the result, even if it is only 800x600 on each projector.But 2 projectors at 800x600 have costed less together than 1 at 1024x768 ... because often 800x600 are sold as end-of-line items !FYI, I have also activated Anti-Aliasing 4x smoothing the "jaggies". I fly VFR wih Switzerland Pro scenery without any glitches at 40 FPS.Regarding light intensity, my projectors are given for 1600 lumens (with economical mode = 1100 lumens, allowing to spare the lamp from 2'000 h to 3'000 h). I'm flying in dimmed (not dark) environment without any problem at 1'100 lumens because I have choosen to retroproject the picture on the glasses of my cockpit with the projectors in front of me. In this direction, the light you perceive is much greater than if projecting from behind you on a screen in front of you...Pushing brightness more is only giving me headaches because I receive too much light in the eyes.So, to summarize, the way you project the picture will influence your requirements in terms of brightness for your projector choice.But as a small picture is worth thousand words, please have a look at the attached pictures (one during buildup without the glass screens, the other one with the screens in place)Flightsimming yours.PhilippeLSGG

WOW! I hear you Philipe! Just as I suspected! 800x600 DLP technology coupled with a good graphic accelerator (for anti-aliasing + anisotropic filtering) is among the best and most affordable solutions today. No monitor can beat it for size and price :-).The limit however becomes the resolution. When a graphical pixel is big enough you must use plenty of "smoothing" and if you want to use a 100" screen, then the image becomes blurry.That's why I believe that you have found the right compromise: TWO 800x600 DLP projectors :-). Operating each of them like you do, at @50" diagonal, is about the max you can expect to push 800x600 until pixel size and smoothing become an issue.The only disadvantage I can see with your setup is the fact that you have to buy TWO very expensive projector lamps and that these lamps are not identical either. You may need to play with the color and intensity setups to balance both views.Regardless - good thinking and great work! And great aircraft - I love Dash 8's!

Happy to hear that other Dash aficionados exist ... so hopefully the flightsimming world is not only Boeing/Airbus.Your site is impressive. I 'm really stunned by the quality you have reached in the design and final look&feel of your devices. I have fought quite hard to reach this stage but I still need to progress further in my craftmanship abilities ...To answer your concern, I have been surprisingly estonished that this divergence was not an issue. Of course I have choosen the lazzy way by buying two identical beamers (Infocus X2 at 750$/piece, Switzerland is an expensive country ...) but no differential tuning was needed on color/brightness/contrast. Both are perfectly identical ... Maybe when I will replace the lamps ? But with 3'000 hours available and 4 children at home, I can go for a few years I think before being in front of this limit. I suspect also that, at this time, further technological/commercial progress will make other solutions more affordable and/or efficient (big plasma or LCD HDTV screens, flexible TFT screens, ...who knows ?)Best regards.PhilippeLSGG