Hi all,

 

There was another thread on someone else doing this yesterday but I couldn't find it to add to it so I thought I'd start my own.

So, yesterday my center monitor died and, to make a long story short, I opted to replace my 3x21" monitors and TH2Go with an older 1080P 42" HDTV 60hz.  I'd had the 3 monitor setup for many years and was very happy with it.  Here are the highlights:

 

• I always ran my sim in windowed mode, with all of the middle screen and half of each of the right and left so I was using about 2400 pixels by 1024.  With the new monitor I would have 1920x1280...less pixels horizontal and more vertical...and all of the pixels would be a lot bigger.
• The first look of my sim on 42" was mind bending.  First, the cockpit made me feel like I was in a cockpit.  The gauges were life-sized and the dash was big in front of my face.  Flying the Turbine Duke and looking at the left engine I had a real sense for how big that sucker is...it is big.  On the other hand I lost a bit of peripheral vision (about 10%) on both sides.
• Looking outside was horror.  The graphics stunk bad.  While it was fine on 21" displays, on the much taller display it was all readily apparent...lots of shimmer, blurries, colors all wrong...it was ugly and I quickly became worried that this just might not work.
• I changed to a different ENB Palette and spent some time tuning the color of the monitor.  The TV was a good 5-6 years old and it had been set up to be a TV.  Got that fixed.  Better. 
• I then applied some settings from this thread ( http://forum.avsim.net/topic/411015-the-dreaded-blurries/ ) and began tweaking and tuning as I tried out the Duke, Flight1 Mustang and PMDG J41 at Orbx KSEA, FlyTampa Tampa, FlightBeam KIAD and Megascenery SoCal...tough tests but realistic.
• At the end of it the graphics were far better, not quite as sharp as they were on the smaller screens but, as I said, the pixels were bigger.

Here's what my impression of flying with this kind of setup is

 

• As mentioned, I do get much more of a feel for being in a cockpit.  It's the right size and it's easy to imagine the rest of the cockpit around me.
• I get a better feel for the width of the runway and my speed going down the runway.  Taking off at Tampa in the Duke, I can see the cars going down the freeway (never really saw them before) as I climb and get a sense of my speed relative to them...very, very cool.
• I see things...ground features, etc that I didn't know were there despite the fact that I've flown over these same areas tons and tons of times. 
• I get better visibility in turns in the closed traffic patterns.  When I am rolling out toward the runway I can look up higher and get a glimpse of where I am, quicker.  Also, after working on my graphics settings I pick up on visual navigation spots quicker.
• Weather looks bigger and more real.
• After all the tweaking I can run full screen and get 30 fps in all my testing.  Running windowed full screen I get about 24-25.  If I pull the top down on the window 1 inch, I get back up to 28-29 (go figure that).  I do want to use windowed so that I can use one of the old monitors I cannibalized to see my flight path, airport information and approach plates.  If I run full screen (not windowed) that side screen goes black.

Bottom line:  It's going to take some getting used to...but I think it's going to work.  It's only been a day. Not sure it's for everyone.  The bigger screen with bigger pixels is less forgiving than smaller displays.  The realistic size of everything is amazing.  I'm hoping I can do some more tweaking to get a few more FPS and run full screen windowed.

 

Gregg

I also just switched to a 42 inch TV.  At very first it didn't seem as crisp, but after tuning a bit and perhaps just getting used to it, it looks fine now.

 

I also just discovered a little program/app called windowedborderlessgaming (all one word) that allows you to run full screen while still in windowed mode.  That in combo with the windowed VSYNC tweak allows for very smooth full screen flying. 

 

The only issue I had was if I tried to change settings in the P3D menu while in simulated full screen it would crash P3D, so I just have to remember to alt-tab out before making changes to settings.

I also just switched to a 42 inch TV.  At very first it didn't seem as crisp, but after tuning a bit and perhaps just getting used to it, it looks fine now.

 

I also just discovered a little program/app called windowedborderlessgaming (all one word) that allows you to run full screen while still in windowed mode.  That in combo with the windowed VSYNC tweak allows for very smooth full screen flying. 

 

The only issue I had was if I tried to change settings in the P3D menu while in simulated full screen it would crash P3D, so I just have to remember to alt-tab out before making changes to settings.

 

I really don't care about whether it has a border or not...I would like to get those 5-6 FPS though.

I don't get any better FPS from Full Screen over Windowed...  If you are using 1/2 Vsync in NVIDIA Inspector then it can cost you FPS in WIndowed mode.

 

 

I don't get any better FPS from Full Screen over Windowed... If you are using 1/2 Vsync in NVIDIA Inspector then it can cost you FPS in WIndowed mode.

 

Hmmm.  I am running 1/2 Vsync.  I'll turn it off and see what happens.

i just purchased this http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/product/benq-w1080st/  the first 1080p short throw projector in the market, i have been flying using a projector for over 12months now and will never go back to a monitor, however the reason for me buying the above projector is that the resolution is not good on the dell S300 the current projector i have so hopefully in a couple of days i will get a better image with the benq

 

my current set up is this

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk47UN0Pt90

here is another vid

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksBmBwl-jhE

From my 777 real world measurements from what I recall, the windows were around 37".  I'm still thinking of someday getting  37" screens for the outside views.   Though I start to cringe at the idea of how much power that would use.

I have a 42 inch HDTV as a monitor and agree - VC seems very close to actual size.

 

I too run in windowed mode and (like others in my group) found that nudging the window just a bit away from the edges of the screen gives you a few FPS more - very odd phenomenon but reproduced by me and others.

 

My TV has a 'computer' mode that automatically sets everything correctly - tried a previous older (and much cheaper) TV that did not have this and the graphics were pretty bad.  Not sure what to do if you do not have this but take a look and see if you do and try it if you're not currently using that mode.  I also did the usual things on the TV itself - brightness, contrast, etc. adjustments.

 

I prefer the perspective I get by setting WideViewAspect=True in the main FSX.cfg file (the one in C:\Users\[name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX) in the [Display] section (at the bottom of the section, just above [Main]).  If you are not using this setting give it a try.

here is another vid

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksBmBwl-jhE

Looks pretty nice.  Does it have adjustments to make the picture a rectangle since it's a short throw?

i just purchased this http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/product/benq-w1080st/  the first 1080p short throw projector in the market, i have been flying using a projector for over 12months now and will never go back to a monitor, however the reason for me buying the above projector is that the resolution is not good on the dell S300 the current projector i have so hopefully in a couple of days i will get a better image with the benq

 

my current set up is this

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk47UN0Pt90

 

Are you planning to do a 180 degree screen warp ? I am also looking to purchase the w1080st. 

 

 

I prefer the perspective I get by setting WideViewAspect=True in the main FSX.cfg file (the one in C:\Users\[name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX) in the [Display] section (at the bottom of the section, just above [Main]). If you are not using this setting give it a try.

 

I already had that on because of my TH2Go.  Interesting that others are seeing the same framerate anomaly from bringing the edges in a bit.

Hmmm.  I am running 1/2 Vsync.  I'll turn it off and see what happens.

I turned off the 1/2 Vsync and did, indeed, get the frames back.  Still some room for improvement.  I noticed that the J41 at KSEA has low frames and there's a weird shaking to the scenery.  Odd.  Also, I do see some slight shimmering.  Is there anything I can do about that?

Day 2:

 

After much more tuning today...experimenting with various adjustments, I've got it to the point where the display is probably close to as good as it can get which, at times today, was pretty awesome.  I took some flights in various places and at times, especially over the northern mountains in MegasceneryX SoCal, that it looked very close to real.  The TV has various brightness settings and I can easily get it to full bright daylight and it looks good!

 

To get the graphics to that point has cost some frames.  I can fly the Turbine Duke anywhere with framerates between 25-30 (I'm limited at 30).  I can fly the Flight1 Mustang at KTPA, KIAD and KSNA at a little less...still very smooth.  I did one test with the 737NGX at KLAS and that wasn't a problem, as usual, it's not that bad on frames (the cockpit looked wow!).  The J41 is the toughest right now. So, I'll be looking for some more tweaks until I replace my non-overclockable i7. 

 

It's surprising to me how useful that extra real estate is when I'm looking up in a turn.  Also, looking down at the scenery...buildings, churches, trees, it is much more like flying in real life and gives me better immersion...makes up for the loss of some of the side view.  BTW, if I did want more side-view I could shrink the window vertically at the expense of the real size of things.  I'll pass. 

 

The negatives are

• the loss of some sharpness due to the size of the pixels.
• You see all the 'sins'.  In the Duke the switches look really nice.  The switches in the Mustang and J41...not so much.  Really tiny fonts are blurry some.  I'm not sure how much of that font thing is due to the texture chosen by the developer and how much the bigger pixels.

The next question is, when this old TV goes, whether to get a 3D TV or a projector.

I'll have to experiment with bringing the edges in, I've never tried that.  I prefer full screen though via the windowed borderless app, to me it's more immersion without the border.

 

The problem is that when you turn off 1/2 vsync then you get tearing.  As I mentioned above I highly recommend the 1/2 vsync tweak for ultra smooth flying in windowed mode, which will allow you to implement the Vsync, avoid tearing, and not loose FPS.  I've really gotten excellent FPS and smoothness in almost all areas outside of heavy ORBX areas like KSEA with sliders nearly full right, OPUS, REX, My Traffic etc...  I can get a huge FPS boost in heavy areas by setting frames to unlimited, but then I get the blurries in ORBX land.  Outside of ORBX I can go unlimited, get a huge FPS boost and pay no price.  Within ORBX I have to use the P3D FPS limiter or else the blurries set it.  Using an external limiter doesn't work, I still get the blurries if I set the internal to unlimited.

 

I've tried flying using my projector, which has a humungous display.  But I didn't like it at all.  First off you have to have a very dark room, and it's just too big.  I much prefer a big TV.