I must be one of the last dinosaurs on Earth to have retired an elderly squarish CRT and gone widescreen.I bought a nice 23" 16:9 monitor due to some professional requirements and must say I am rediscovering the virtual world.I was aware of the drawbacks of this move from the FS9 point of view, mainly the lack of widescreen panels for the 2D pilots.There always is the unaffected VC, I know, but I am rather a 2D guy (another prehistoric reptile), especially since my TrackIR4 died.There is no way back (to 4:3) for me now. Apart from other obvious advantages of having a large WS on the desk, the MSFS world looks brand new and brilliant!The virtual world got huge and wiiiiiide, the wingviews are lifelike and well-modelled aircraft seen from the outside make me think I'm behind a window pane.The pain in the .... is the 2D panels. You all know how bad the 4:3 panel bitmaps look in 16:9, especially when gauges are oval instead of round.My sincere thanks go now to the developers who gave us widescreen options by dafault: PMDG MD-11 and Leonardo Maddog 2008.I also found some WS user edits, for: DA Fokker and Level-D 763. The first one works great but I'm having trouble with the latter.My WS LVLD panel stops working afetr a short moment, especially if I go to the menu bar. I visited the LVLD forum and found others having the problem too.But there is no clear solution. Some say installing latest MS visual basic helps, others blame graphics drivers and some suggest it's the high resolution problem (mine is now 1920 x 1080).Has any of you faced the problem and coped with it definitely?These are all the widescreen panels I know of. It's a pity, especially for other top notch birds like PMDG 747. I wonder why PMDG team will not offer us a WS option. I'd even pay a reasonable price for the update. I guess most pilots have WS now and the number is growing.Do you know of any other available widescreen edits? I'd really be grateful to hear about them. FeelThere, RFP, PSS, PT, others?Not that I can't do all the searching myself but, let's say, I'm a totally fresh WS noob.Yesterday was the first day of my life with FS9 in the widescreen version. All I can say is recommending everyone to go for it.Monitors are getting really cheap these days. For a long time I though I don't need it for my FS9 world. I was wrong. Except for the lack of WS panels, of course... :( Windows XP SP3 Home PLIntel Core 2 Duo E8400 3GHz4GB DDR2 RAMGigabyte EP43-UD3LNVIDIA GeForce 8800GT

Rafal: I feel your pain! I'm postponing the inevitable move to widescreens for as long as possible -- I run 4 "Square" monitors I bought 2 years ago on my rig and am thankful every night they light back up. I would consider investing in a copy of FSPanelStudio and a cheap bitmap editor and learn how to use them both. That way you can resize just about any panel you want to relatively easily (although not automatically!) and customize them as well. You won't regret the minimal investment and you won't be at the mercy of developers and other simmers who may all have other priorities . . . :( Good luck!

I totally disagree. 4:3 ratio is the best for 2D panels. IMHO :(

I would consider investing in a copy of FSPanelStudio and a cheap bitmap editor and learn how to use them both. That way you can resize just about any panel you want to relatively easily (although not automatically!) and customize them as well

Yes, Chuck, that is an idea. However some panels, including the one I'll miss most, PMDG 744, have coded bitmaps/gauges.So I am afraid FSPanelStudio will not be enough to remake them. I may be wrong though.

Yes, Chuck, that is an idea. However some panels, including the one I'll miss most, PMDG 744, have coded bitmaps/gauges.So I am afraid FSPanelStudio will not be enough to remake them. I may be wrong though.

You don't need to remake them in any way, just resize them which you should be able to do with click and drag commands. I've resized and redone the PMDG 737 2D panel this way to display properly on my 4th monitor, without the windscreen center bar. (You also have to make sure you delete that darn copyright notice FSPS automatically puts in too!)Chuck

------------------------------But there is no clear solution. Some say installing latest MS visual basic helps, others blame graphics drivers and some suggest it's the high resolution problem (mine is now 1920 x 1080).Has any of you faced the problem and coped with it definitely?These are all the widescreen panels I know of. It's a pity, especially for other top notch birds like PMDG 747. I wonder why PMDG team will not offer us a WS option. I'd even pay a reasonable price for the update. I guess most pilots have WS now and the number is growing.Do you know of any other available widescreen edits?[/size] I'd really be grateful to hear about them. FeelThere, RFP, PSS, PT, others?Not that I can't do all the searching myself but, let's say, I'm a totally fresh WS noob.

I believe there IS a very simple solution for 2D panels on a wide mon.Simply drag the right edge of the panel leftward until gauges are correctly proportioned. Then fill in the vacated screen area with popup sub panels.Here is a pic of a test I did using a 4:3 monitor and dragging up the bottom to simulate a widescreen. (Black area at bottom is unused 4:3 screen.)The PMDG 747 main panel now also displays the Lower EICAS & SW Panel & misc SW Panel. Or you could insert the FMC/CDU or Throttle Console.Save this modified panel as a Saved Flight and you are ready to go next session.Alex Reid

Do you know of any other available widescreen edits? I'd really be grateful to hear about them. FeelThere, RFP, PSS, PT, others?

Hi Rafal,Bjarne Horsb

You don't need to remake them in any way, just resize them which you should be able to do with click and drag commands

OK, Chuck, I stand corrected. The reason I believed so were post like this (Ryan of PMDG on making a widescreen 2D panel for 744):

It's not that simple, there's code changes that would have to be involved - we don't do our 2D panels in the SDK type way...

I will consider getting the FSPanel Studio.

Simply drag the right edge of the panel leftward until gauges are correctly proportioned. Then fill in the vacated screen area with popup sub panels.

Yes, I know your option from other posts but, frankly speaking, that would not be a real widescreen cockpit for me.What I have just fallen in love is the size and width of the whole panel (bitmap) on my 16:9 monitor. :( Thanks anyway, Alex!And thank you, Steve. I do not own the King Air. Though I am sure (I've read a lot) it is a great aircraft, so who knows. Now that I'm looking for WS panels...

Rafal,I've been using widescreen monitors for a couple of years now with FS9, and I've ... just got used to the way the panels display. Yes, round gauges aren't round in widescreen but I'm so used to it now that a- they look round now! (except when I tilt my head) amd b- when I do fire FS9 up on the single remaining 4:3 in the house, the real-round gauges look distorted. So visual accommodation has taken over, and I now prefer the look of 2D panels on a widescreen monitor!There's another benefit too: I don't have to spend any time modifying panels!;)

I totally disagree. 4:3 ratio is the best for 2D panels. IMHO :(

I'd agree with Ed if it were two months ago. :( I've gone widescreen (reluctantly) since then and I must say I kind of like the extra space and size of the 27" LG thingie. I'm working on my own mods but with some aircraft it is pretty difficult and some payware guys won't permit distributing modified files because of the copyright.ERJ-1x5 V2 has been sent to Vic over at Feelthere and hopefully he will put a notice on their forums when and where it will be available. RFP and PSS are on my list...Rafal: I have exactly the same problem with Lvl D... as soon as I open their menu, the main screen freezes. Couldn't find a solution to that... so what I do is I do not touch the Lvl D panel. Not really a solution, I know....Regards,Jure

Hi,I was a die hard 2D panel man myself (as God is my witness), I did not like the VC AT ALL!. I never thought I'd see the day when I would be using VC panels. Well, I finally upgraded my system to three Samsung SyncMaster T260HD monitors. I'm sorry, but looking at what I have now I don't know what I ever saw in 2D. I will NEVER go back to using 2D panels.

I have exactly the same problem with Lvl D... as soon as I open their menu, the main screen freezes. Couldn't find a solution to that... so what I do is I do not touch the Lvl D panel. Not really a solution, I know....

Yes, I have come to the same conclusion. Looks like their menu in not compatible with widescreen high resolutions.I have posted on their support forum but I don't think they're interested anyway.

I don't know what I ever saw in 2D

Take it easy, Mike. The fact you used 2D with pleasure for so long means you DO know what. :( I like VC for GA flying, great for constant looking around the view outside and VFR experience.I quite like VC in my airliner cockpit before leaving the gate and maybe during taxi. A nice immersion factor.I dislike VC in flight when I need to operate all my switches, onboard computers, radios, maps and papers. Like many of us, hardcorers.Though I've never had a multimonitor experience, I admit.A bit off topic maybe, so enough from me on VC flying.

Do you know of any other available widescreen edits? I'd really be grateful to hear about them. FeelThere, RFP, PSS, PT, others?Not that I can't do all the searching myself but, let's say, I'm a totally fresh WS noob

Eaglesoft has offered dual-resolution support for every release for years now. The owner has a choice to use the 4:3 ratio 2d panel, or the 16:9 ratio 2d panel. :(

Eaglesoft has offered dual-resolution support for every release for years now. The owner has a choice to use the 4:3 ratio 2d panel, or the 16:9 ratio 2d panel. :(

Top marks go to Eaglesoft........ zero marks to LCD monitor manufacturers. :(edit* oh and top marks to the IPad. :(

I have to say I like Alex's solution the best. However, I am sticking with my old fashioned 4x3 panels as long as possible. And only the 2D panels on the 4th monitor.