How Many Monitors?

[hitter439 4]

Hi all,

I am a RW private pilot and currently use FS9 for both GA flying/ IFR practice and the occasional for fun airliner flight, however I will be purchasing a new PC and most likely transitioning to P3D very soon.  I have always used 1 monitor for flight sim but find that when trying to fly a simple traffic pattern (i.e. VFR or on a circle-to-land IFR approach), switching back and forth between front and side views on a single monitor to maintain airport / runway positional awareness and aircraft control can be difficult. 

 

At this point I do not wish to invest in TrackIR, but would rather try and solve this issue with an additional monitor or two (preferably one).  My thought is to purchase a 23" - 24" main monitor and and use a spare 19" for the side view when desired and / or to show a particular instrument or display, i.e. GPS, etc. 

 

I would appreciate any information regarding whether I can relatively easily utilize two monitors in the manner described above, or if not, suggestions on how I can accomplish same.  Almost forgot to mention that in the new PC build I will most likely select a 3GB Nvidia 780 GTX card as the video card (my understanding is that P3D currently does not officially support 2 video cards).

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

[jbcallender 53]

I have one 23" and one 22" that I use.  I use one main monitor for the main virtual cockpit view and one for a right seat view or spot view for approach/landing.  I recently bought a GTX660 2gb card that works very well for me in either FS or P3D.  I will say that I have not gotten P3D to work in multi monitor mode, though, but every indication is that it does - I just haven't found the right set up for it yet - then again, I'm not a huge P3d user yet.

 

At the price of monitors, there is very little reason not to have at least two.  I would have three, but my wife would have a fit. 

[clayton4115 56]

I only use one (a projector)

 

[hitter439 4]

Thank you jbcallender.....will probably try utilizing two monitors as you are currently doing.  Disappointed to hear though that you are not able to use both monitors in P3D. 

 

clayton4115 - awesome projector...wish I had the space / budget to give that a try!

[clayton4115 56]

thanks, but the space i am using is not that big, that room where i have the projector is only 3 feet by 2.6 feet.

[ncngrr 8]

Not sure how helpful this will be...

 

I recently had two monitors, one above the other.  The upper monitor was dedicated to the outside view, the lower monitor was dedicated to the 2D instrument panel.  I added Track IR and it was a big improvement as I was able to move my head, in a natural manner, to look around.  That helped with 3D positional awareness and was much better than trying to use the hat switch on my controller. 

 

Having said that, I added more two more 24" monitors.  Now, I have three monitors for the outside view (front left, front, front right) and one dedicated to the instrument panel.  I ditched the Track IR, at least temporarily.  Flying in, and around Bowerman, Washington (KHQM), the difference is spectacular.  I have the front/left and front/right monitors rotated approximately 45 degrees from the front.  The positional awareness is absolutely wonderful!  I can actually see the runway in my peripheral vision while looking out the front.  I was pert-near giddy (okay, I was giddy!). 

 

I built a cockpit to use 5 outside view monitors.  Once I confirmed my suspicions with three outside views, I immediately ordered the final two outside view monitors; I should receive them this week.  With these, I will add the view out the left and right windows.  I can't wait!

 

By the way, I originally figured I'd put the monitors at 45 degrees from the adjoining monitor, but, at 24" each, there wasn't much room to get to the permanently positioned (bolted to the cockpit base) pilot seat.  Consequently, I put the side monitors at 30 degrees from each other with the angle between the front and the two adjoining monitors somewhat more than 30 degrees (could be closer to 45, I don't really know and I'm not at a place right now to confirm).  Anyway, I'm thrilled with the results.  My wife seems to be warming up to the whole cockpit in my office, and has even started offering suggestions on how I can improve upon it.  I love her so much!

 

Scott

[clayton4115 56]

forgot to mention, the visual display with monitor is 12 feet diagonal

[GundamWZero 8]

You want something like this?

[hitter439 4]

What fantastic displays!  Thanks for all your replies.  I think at the moment my budget / space will dictate at most 2 or 3 monitors....hopefully can upgrade in the future.  Ncngrr,  are you utilizing 3 monitors with P3D or with FSX / FS9? 

[clayton4115 56]

I did have 3 monitors once upon a time, using triplehead2go, did not really like it as i always having to pan with the jstick to see the pfd and ecias etc, so that is why i went one projector setup, i even had a 27" dell that helped for a while but i eventually went the projector route.

[N1125Y 22]

Hey Scott ... when u done with the set up can u post some pix

 

How did you set up  Front  left & front right

 

I assume that you are flying heavy's, no VC ...  cuz flying GA with outside view only, is ,kind of, not realistic since you do not get see the nose and the propeller in front of you, feel like Ultralight       B)

 

Yair

[gboz 157]

 

 

Almost forgot to mention that in the new PC build I will most likely select a 3GB Nvidia 780 GTX card as the video card (my understanding is that P3D currently does not officially support 2 video cards).

 

P3D certainly supports multiple video cards.

What is does not fully support is multiple cards running in SLI mode.

With two GTX780s you could theoretically run eight monitors.

 

I don't see why jbcallender above had trouble setting up multiple views in P3D.

You just open a new view and drag it to the next monitor.

 

I cannot see two monitors solving the situational awareness issue.

I agree with ncrgrr above, three monitors with independent left/right views (not Surround) is the way to go.

It's a bit of a hit on frame rates though.

I'd also go for Track IR over a two monitor set-up.

 

gb.

[ncngrr 8]

Sorry for not responding sooner.

 

I'm using only FSX at the moment.

 

I installed the final two monitors for the left and right windows.

 

I also have my second Nvidia GTX 760 video card, but haven't yet installed it.

 

Each of my window monitors is mounted into its own MDF window frame, then all window frames are mounted into the cockpit, caulked, and painted (actually, I haven't yet painted, but I hope to soon, once I finish the instrument panel).

 

The monitors are installed in the following order, from left to right:  4 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 5.  The plan is to use the Nvidia Surround for monitors 1, 2, and 3, using bezel correction to account for the window frames.  Monitors 4 and 5 will have a separate panel view, perhaps including the wing/door, etc.  I haven't gotten that far yet. 

 

As far as looking like I'm flying an ultralight... the window frames provide structure to the view, although, admittedly, it doesn't look like any GA, commercial, or military aircraft.  With the VC view in the Front Right and Front Left views, I'm not really happy with how it looks (see photo).  I'm way okay with letting my homemade windows provide that structure. 

 

My two cents.

 

I have a couple photos to share, but I don't know how to post them here.  Any assistance in that regard would be appreciated.

 

Scott

[KJConlon 17]

I too have my private certificate and I run 3x24" monitors in surround mode using EZDoc and TrackIR. It is much more realistic when you can look left and spot mid-field when on the down wing leg.

 

My 2¢ worth.

 

Kevin.

[gboz 157]

 

 

I have a couple photos to share, but I don't know how to post them here. Any assistance in that regard would be appreciated.

 

Posting of photos is now not usually allowed here.

You need to post a link to an online storage site like dropbox etc.

Be interested in how it looks and what frame rates you are getting.

 

gb.