Man I was amazed to see those displays now for sale they look real stunning!! Should give extra realism to some sims out there here is the link in case you haven

Anyone have any ideas on how this works? I've been looking all over the place and have yet to find out how they actually make the screen larger by bouncing the image from a monitor off a 45 degree mirror.I'm trying to make something like this before I dive into a projection system, seeing as though I already have a 21" trinitron monitor with FS running smoothly at 1600x1200x32 (30-40FPS in any situation).

http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/mirror_coll...ed_displays.htm//T

Thanks for that link!! As always the master of Pit Building Mike!! Thanks for the tip.Roberto

I've read that over and over, but it still only explains the basic concept, but the webites he cites as sources of information are very vague on the concept.My biggest question is how to make a system that is multi-viewpointed from a CRT monitor. I've seen a system like it on one of the sites he points to, but with no idea how to construct such a thing.I know the basic concept means that someone looking at a mirror not directly in front of him/her won't see what they're supposed to see, so how to make a collimated display for multiple viewers (Cpt/FO) so you can look left through the captains window to see if theres traffic or to look right to make that turn onto the taxiway.Theres got to be someone in our hobby who knows the answer to this and can explain it all away. The geniuses and talent we have here usually collaborate to construct some pretty exciting things that we only used to dream of and at a fraction of the cost from buying a product off the shelf.

>I know the basic concept means that someone looking at a>mirror not directly in front of him/her won't see what they're>supposed to see, so how to make a collimated display for>multiple viewers (Cpt/FO) so you can look left through the>captains window to see if theres traffic or to look right to>make that turn onto the taxiway.I don't think this is possible. I have flown a real 737 simulator with collimated displays at the United flight training center and I could not see anything out of the right hand side (F.O.), only the front & left sides. Maybe there's new technology that allows that, but I don't think you will find it with collimated displays (I could be wrong :-)

This kind of collimated displays is an older technology. One of hte figures of merit for a through the window display is the size of the view box. The view box is the volume the viewer's head must remain within to be able to see an acceptable image. This type of collimated display has a relatively small view box. It's generally not large enough for the pilot to view the copilot's display, or visa-versa. With careful design you can place several of these displays side by side so the view boxes overlap. This gives one person a wider field of view, but the view box is still the limiting factor.Another issue with this system is that in order to minimize image distortion, the display device should have a spherical screen surface of radius "R/2" if the collimating mirror has a radius of "R". This is less of an issue if you have only a single display. However, if you want several side by side, the image distortion means the side by side images do not blend together as well as they might.In order to get a larger view box (wider view angles, etc.) you have to move to a newer technology. High-end display systems use a curved projection screen above the sim cabin. There may be three projectors building a blended, panoramic scene on the single screen. The crew views the screen as a reflection in a curved mirror in front of the cabin. The mirror is a spherical section that provides the collimation.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

Mike,This is really interesting what you mention here, Probably for most of us Projection and Large Plasma or LCD displays might be a better solution than this one, I knew that collimated displays had some sorts of issues reason why the newer Sims use the spherical Curved Projection screen...Which By the way is a mirror like tin foil type very thin paper, a vacuum is achieved is inside the display system so that the paper unwrinkles and the projector throws the image to a smaller plastic type screen which the throws it to the screen itself, pretty cool system I even have a video of it will try and see if I can convert it to some sort of video I took it with Digital8... Anyways it is a great achievemnt I guess that now you can have now access to this type of sim technology! It is another great option I still think the best way will be prpjection or LCD displays.Regards,Roberto

Yep.Mirror collimation units nearly always have two separate front views, one for captain and another for the first officer. And like mentioned above - it is not perfect. Captain cannot see "two o'clock" and first officer cannot see "ten o'clock" direction.Still, it's pretty nice and if one can find such units, worth using. The feeling of depth is good and the magnification of the image is neat - we get "big enough" scenery from three 19-inch monitors. But it works best for single person cockpits. We have three such units on our Cessna sim, and it works reasonably well. Thankfully the brain is amazingly adapting, and one gets a very good immersion besides the fact that even on the C150 cockpit, the right seater does get quite big "blind" bands between the units. But it is not as bad in practice as it sounds.The view from pilots seat, slightly leaning towards center:http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-stuff/simvis.jpegAnd the display construction:http://www.mik.fi/midcom-serveattachmentgu...ew_oh-com-3.jpgI would say that "from scratch" it would make most sense to do a multi-projector projection on a curved screen if budget and space permit that. Most of the smaller certified simulator manufacturers seem to choose that method for the "wide visual" products they have. //Tuomas

Hi Guys I have some querys:Where we take the magnification of the image ? In the back curved mirror?This mirror is the MYLAR material?And if we give to MYLAR a little bend it will magnify the image?Or nothing will happen?The beam-splitter is only mirror from the one side and glass from the other side? It magnify the image? Or only tranfer the image to the sperical mirror?If we take a big MYLAR Film 2,5m X 0,80 and we bend it.Next to place the beam-splitters in the correct positionsand the monitor in top of the beam-splitters it will work?Like the Mikes drawingHave someone try anything? any tests? any resaults?The best is a big continuy image.LambisGreece

Lambis,The back mirror is a spherically shaped mirror. It does provide some magnification of the image on the monitor. The mirror can be made from aluminized mylar as well as many other materials. This link: http://vis4d.ncms.org/3634-241.pdf is to a paper that describes a bit about a large mylar mirror and its optical properties.The beam splitter is simply a partially silvered mirror. It does not magnifiy the image. It reflects from either side, but only a portion of the light is reflected. The rest of the light goes through the mirror.I have received email from people interested in experimenting with mirror collimated displays. But I have never received any emails saying anyone has succeeded.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.comwww.mikesflightdeckbooks.com

A big fresnel gives the same effect a lot easier. A collimator has better image quality, but like you said, it's a lot harder to do from scratch.I'm using a fresnel and it does the similar effect, although it smooths the view a bit - which is not all bad either, making it more "natural". The gauges are in a tft anyway and thus sharp, so it doesnt matter that much.I'd go for a projector setup if I had the money and space for it.//T

HiMike if you have any other information about the colimated displays please send them ,if is easy to you. Soon i will make a try and a need any information that can help.Thomas about the fresnel you say i think they not exist so big like 1.00 X 0,80 m that i want. Thats the problem.thats why i want to go with colimated displays.But i don`t know how much curve to give in the back material that will emulate the mirror.Lambis

A collimated display system can only be configured for one person when wanting a seamless view.This is how Boeing had there earlier simulators.In those CD simulators either only the captain could see from left to right Later others used teh following setup : the captain could see front,left front left and right, while the FO could see front , right front, right and left. In the last setup the captains front and the FO front where 2 the exactly the same views.Because the left and right view where exactly at the pilots sides they could see the other ones side most view too. /- - | o o | -> the o 's are the pilots and the lines the views.

>Thomas about the fresnel you say i think they not exist so big>like 1.00 X 0,80 m that i want. Thats the problem.Yep, my fresnel is 60cm wide. But nothing stops you from putting two or three side by side and having as many monitors behind? For one person cockpit you can align them for the pilot pretty nicely I would think. Just like the collimated systems.//T