Which is the height of your frensel lens you have?You know if exist biger than this?And which monitor ypu use for the fresnel lens?And from where you take it?Lambis

Lambis,There is a brief description of mirror collimated systems in the book "Flight Simulation" ed.by J.M. Rolfe and K.J. Staples. The book is 20 years old, but still worth reading.The website for Glass Mountain Optics used to have product brochures with useful information, but after they revised the site, the brochures disappeared. The site still makes reference to a "C 20 S" product which I believe is the single mirror, collimated display. You might be able to email the company and have them send product information to you.While researching the topic a few years ago I found the US Patent and Trademark website to be a good source. There are some patent numbers about mirrors at the bottom of page linked here: http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/mirror_coll...ed_displays.htm Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

>Which is the height of your frensel lens you have?It's pretty much the normal aspect ratio, the shape of a normal monitor screen.There might be bigger ones, but you might want to tile several side by side instead. They apparently are sold as "TV enlargers".//Tuomas

>>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>HelloI found from a friend a big TV enlarge 60cm width X 48cm height.Is 20 year old this lens and i don`t know if it is fresnel lens.Magnify the image but not like i was expect it.I make some test and i found the follow problems.(i say again i am not sure if this lens is fresnel lens)1. I use 17" monitor. The image of the monitor behind is was not projected in the entire surface of the lens.I can see and the border of the monitor and items that is close to the monitor.2.When i move my head left or right is moving and the image above the lens.This is not good when we tile together 2 or 3 fresnel lens together.If the image is not stable above in each lens it will not give us a good feeling.This lens that i have is something else.?Any test with fresnel lens?Lambis

>I found from a friend a big TV enlarge 60cm width X 48cm>height.>Is 20 year old this lens and i don`t know if it is fresnel>lens.>Magnify the image but not like i was expect it.It sounds like fresnel.>1. I use 17" monitor. The image of the monitor behind is was>not projected in the entire surface of the lens.>I can see and the border of the monitor and items that is>close to the monitor.Yes. Try larger monitor, and move it farther away from the screen.>2.When i move my head left or right is moving and the image>above the lens.>This is not good when we tile together 2 or 3 fresnel lens>together.>If the image is not stable above in each lens it will not give>us a good feeling.Yep. This is a known feature, and exists just as much in collimated systems. That's the exact reason why the setup works best for one-person cockpit.But then again, it's not that weird in practice, one does get used to a lot of things. I find it still better than just a plain monitor.A simulator will *always* be a compromise, since it's not the real thing.>This lens that i have is something else.?>Any test with fresnel lens?I think yours is fresnel. Can you post a photo of it?Here's a quite bad photo of mine:http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-...on-painted2.jpg//Tuomas

Hi I think the best solution for the outside visual is with projectors.With fresnel lens you can`t take a big continue screen.The colimated system is imposible to make it and the only that we have left is the projectors and the big expensive LCD panels. I found one cheap projector but i am not sure if we can add the vga cable from the computer direct to the projector. The model is the NEC VT 48G.If i take it i will post photos here.RegardsLambis

I searched the net for it and yes, you can add VGA cable to it as it has a computer monitor port for video input, but it is a very limited projector, being native 800x600 resolution and most places I've found for it are priced around $800-900. Checking for XGA (1024x768) projectors, I've found ProjectorsForSale.com to be the best priced. Check out this linkhttp://www.projectorsforsale.com/projector...L+-+-+-+-+-+-+-It will bring up all XGA monitors with 1600-2200 lumens of brightness priced up to $1500. Don't look at the retail price column, look at the column with the striked out prices. That is a general idea the price you'll pay for it, but it will be a bit lower. They can't put the actual price on the site due to restrictions placed by the companies that make the projectors. They sell them actually a bit cheaper than the site says.They also have all the accessories you need for your projector such as lamps, bulbs and cases. Expensive, but good.

Mike,So if you have the options to either use three projectors (Not collimated) or 2 collimated screens / monitors, one for Capt, other for F/O, which one would be better, for a NON-Single pilot simulator ?Regards,Deya

Deya,I would go with the three non-collimated projectors arranged to provide a wide panoramic view. I would use a curved screen to provide a strong peripheral component. The distance to the projection screen is likely still close enough that binocular vision can tell the image is on a flat screen. At least it will be farther than the interior, so there will be at least some sense of distance with the exterior view relative to the cockpit interior. The peripheral component supports something called vection. This is a subtle feeling of apparent motion brought on by movement in your peripheral vision. The best example is when you're stopped in your car and an adjacent car moves forward, you can feel like you're moving backward. I caution that this is my opinion based on a fair amount of research, but little personal experience with these options in a simulator setting.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.comwww.mikesflightdeckbooks.com

MikeCan you tell us your experiance about the correct simulator settings.And also how can we know :how long must is the visual screen from the pilot eye?how big?And i think the correct Field of view if someone use 3 projector to make the continue image it must 1.00 zoom that give us 45 degree of field of view in each projector (total 135 degrees of vision)About the curved screen you say Mike that you will use :the image from the projector it will not distortion in the edges?have you make any tests?And finaly the NON-collimated projectors you say are the normal projector right? LCD and DLP?RegardsLambisGreece

Nice discussion , this thread. I came across this site:http://www.bugeyetech.com/avsim_files/fse.htmlSomebody experience with this technique? Seems as a collimator too.I think that diy collimation is really a bridge too far.I am still dubbing between projection and flatpanel monitors. To have 3 monitors needs a lot of space. My room is too small for that. I know of several builders that changed from a projection setup to a multimonitor setup. With the new hardware (parhelia and the new matrox box) we need less pc's.I have spent a day in the moving simulator of brugges air college(http://www.brugesaircollege.be/). They use a 5 monitor setup. The middle 3 ones with a parhelia. Both sideviews are generated by 2 slower pc's, connected to the server with wideview.regardsNorbert

Lambis,I'm sorry, but I can't give you definitive answers. I recall a post made on AVSIM perhaps 2 years ago that described how to configure multiple views in MSFS. I lost my link to it, but as I recall it was thorough.It is possible to correct the distortion caused by curved screen. Matt Olieman is the expert in that area. www.a340project.us Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.comwww.mikesflightdeckbooks.com

>Nice discussion , this thread. >I came across this site:>http://www.bugeyetech.com/avsim_files/fse.html>>Somebody experience with this technique? Seems as a>collimator too.Its 3 fresnels put side by side, aimed at monitors behind.It probably works fine, but the same issue of one-head as with collimation exists in it too. Wont work for multicrew stuff.I think 3 tft's will be fine. In my experience it's more important to have a *wide* visual, since our peripheral vision plays a very big role in the sense of motion.//Tuomas