B42L8 what about using your big screen tv for the outside view and using a lcd monitor to place the 2D panel, that way you will have the best of both worlds, awesome large outside view plus sharp fonts to read the cockpit instrument displays.

A few months ago I upgraded to a 30 inch Dell U3011 IPS monitor at 2560 x 1600. Image quality of a high-resolution SHD monitor, when running at the fairly close viewing distances of a typical PC monitor, is vastly superior to a large TV running at standard HD resolution.Absolutely worth the $1300 price tag, IMHO. IPS display technology produces super-bright colors and brilliant contrast, dark blacks, and it's really quite something in the sharpness department.Just beware, though, a monitor running 2560x1600 requires nearly double the video bandwidth compared to a 1920x1080 display. To paraphrase the words of the immortal Sheriff Brody..."You're going to need a bigger boat" (CPU+GPU). :Shocked:

I have a Dell 30" 2560x1600 which I had been flying with for couple years and recently upgraded to a 50" plasma 1920x1080 (see my previous post). To me the 30" Dell is absolutely no match to the big TV. The immersion factor with a 50" screen is just great. 1920x1080 is of lower resolution, but as I'm sitting 40 inches away from the TV the picture is nearly perfect, and it nearly fills my field of view. The advantage of a big screen physical size simply can not be compensated by sitting closer to a much small screen (although 30" isn't exactly small). It is critical though that a TV must be adjusted properly when used a computer monitor. You must have 1:1 pixel mapping, otherwise the picture quality will be absolutely terrible. I also turn off noise reduction and sharpening etc. Essentially you want to disable all those features on your TV designed for processing and displaying videos. Once done, a full HD of 1920x1080 is plenty enough for FSX at 50" screen size. Also at 1920x1080 I can run 4xFSAA which I can't do on 30" 2560x1600.

hi flyice, thanks for your tips, i was looking at going down the 30" way but it looks like a 50" screen will be better $ wise and immersion wise!

hi flyice, thanks for your tips, i was looking at going down the 30" way but it looks like a 50" screen will be better $ wise and immersion wise!

You're welcome. If it's dedicated to flight simulation then the $699 50" LG plasma I bought from Costco indeed is quite cheaper than Dell 30" normally priced around $1000 or more. Screen resolution vs screen size may boil down to personal tastes. but I'm actually the kind of person very picky on resolution: the higher the better. It sure will be great to have 2560x1600 on a 50", but even for a picky person like me I feel 1920x1080 is sufficient for FSX. Of course there are always someone pickier than me. I also tried FSX on my older 50" plasma and found its 1366x768 resolution is definitely not good enough.I have one suggestion is to make sure you put TV on a lower table like 20-22" high not a regular 29-30" office table, so your vision is slightly downward when looking at the center of the TV screen. To me this makes a critical difference and things become much more immersed when I'm flying while slightly looking down to the screen.I did have one regret that I didn't buy a 120Hz model so I can enjoy 3D. Red/Cyan 3D I tried with iZ3D is terrible and I'm convinced those shutter glasses + 120Hz display are the only way to go. However, a 50" 120Hz will be at least $1000, and I consider myself a tremendously lucky guy who has successfully stretched the wife-approved $500 budget to $700 for a TV dedicated to flight simulation. Mentioning anything close to $1k is like dropping a bomb in the house (over $1K that must be nuclear) and FSX is supposed to be a civilian aviation.... life with a wife is tough...

lol flyice,yes you quoted so very good prices on big TVs there, however in the ripoff couuntry in which i live, the tvs here will be alot more dearer, even though the Aussie dollar is stronger than the US dollar, :Tounge: go figure!

I really like my 40 inch screen. It's the difference between Ho-hum and Wow! Kind regards,

with these huge monitors, i was thinking, do you guys miss the side views, especially important when taxing on the ground or doing visual approaches, or are you content with the large display a huge tv has to offer of the front view?

with these huge monitors, i was thinking, do you guys miss the side views, especially important when taxing on the ground or doing visual approaches, or are you content with the large display a huge tv has to offer of the front view?

Hi Clayton,I combine my 40 incher with TrackIR, so I see everywhere and everything I turn my head to look at.Kind regards,

hi Stephenthats a good point, i too have trackir, but hate putting that hat on my head all the time.

I use TrackIR5 + clip Pro too. I hate wearing any hats, so the the LEDs clipping to the earphone fits me very nicely. TrackIR + 50" screen works very very well...

Glad I found this thread. Question about Plasma TV's... What about burn in? If I am flying saying in VC and keep the same viewpoint for some hours while flying at cruise and do this continually, won't the plasma tv suffer from burn in? I know the LCD will not do this. As well, with a 3D LCD, how is it you read the gauges in VC mode?Finally, if sitting from say 3ft away, which will be better for pixelation issues, color saturation and (for lack of a better term), vividness? I want to get a 40" and have two ATI 5800 series cards. Please I would love to hear your guys input. Many thanks.One last thing, must you run sound through the TV? I plan on using a HDMI to DVI adapter into the computer but still want to run sound through my sound card in the computer to my surround sound speaker system I already have for it. Thanks guys.

with these huge monitors, i was thinking, do you guys miss the side views, especially important when taxing on the ground or doing visual approaches, or are you content with the large display a huge tv has to offer of the front view?

Clayton- No reason to not have the side views (and perhaps some extra popup gauges such as the CDU) when you have a big display. This pic was an experiment on a 19" CRT- should be gorgeous on a 40 or 50 incher!ARPMDG 747 Triple views (LFwd,Fwd,RFwd) on a single monitor experiment. Black rectangles are unused monitors 2 & 3.

Glad I found this thread. Question about Plasma TV's... What about burn in? If I am flying saying in VC and keep the same viewpoint for some hours while flying at cruise and do this continually, won't the plasma tv suffer from burn in? I know the LCD will not do this. As well, with a 3D LCD, how is it you read the gauges in VC mode?Finally, if sitting from say 3ft away, which will be better for pixelation issues, color saturation and (for lack of a better term), vividness? I want to get a 40" and have two ATI 5800 series cards. Please I would love to hear your guys input. Many thanks.One last thing, must you run sound through the TV? I plan on using a HDMI to DVI adapter into the computer but still want to run sound through my sound card in the computer to my surround sound speaker system I already have for it. Thanks guys.

I bought the plasma simply b/c at $700 it's the largest screen I could buy. Yes, burn-in is always a concern on plasma, but I figured that since I'm using TrackIR in 3D cockpit, nothing on the screen is static. So as long as I'm using the TV primarily for flying burn-in is not an issue at all. Of course, if I could buy same or bigger sized LCD at the same price I probably will pick LCD so burn-in becomes a none-issues at all.Within similar price range, I believe plasma gives you better picture quality than LCD. Sitting less than 3ft away from a 50" screen will give you some pixelation. To me, 40" to 48" is perfect for 50". I'm using HDMI port on my ATI 5850 card and the audio is transmitted to TV fine. I'm wearing earphone + TrackIR clips all the time so I seldom use the TV sound.

I bought the plasma simply b/c at $700 it's the largest screen I could buy. Yes, burn-in is always a concern on plasma, but I figured that since I'm using TrackIR in 3D cockpit, nothing on the screen is static. So as long as I'm using the TV primarily for flying burn-in is not an issue at all. Of course, if I could buy same or bigger sized LCD at the same price I probably will pick LCD so burn-in becomes a none-issues at all.Within similar price range, I believe plasma gives you better picture quality than LCD. Sitting less than 3ft away from a 50" screen will give you some pixelation. To me, 40" to 48" is perfect for 50". I'm using HDMI port on my ATI 5850 card and the audio is transmitted to TV fine. I'm wearing earphone + TrackIR clips all the time so I seldom use the TV sound.

But you don't have to use the tv audio right? I can still use my surround sound speakers with sound card?

But you don't have to use the tv audio right? I can still use my surround sound speakers with sound card?

Yes.