October 9, 201411 yr Just curious . . . Anybody know what size of high-def flat screen TV would show actual size panel gauges in a forward view of the windscreen using a 0.7-0.8 zoom? Elmo Acio Quote It's hard to replace the gray matter that is inherent in every human being. No computer can do it quite that well yet. — General John P. Jumper, USAF Chief of Staff, 'Air Line Pilot' magazine, April 2007
October 9, 201411 yr hi, it is highly dependent, i think, on head position in the VC so it's hard to make a really accurate number but i tried it on the dash8. first i took a screenshot of the cockpit view at 0.7 and positioned my head to see the instruments and runway without much trouble.. according to the black/white alignment nub things (sorry i forget the official term) my head was a few inches back from where it should be but the view is decent. the screen shot was 1419x820 in my windowed mode setup. i measured the pixels and the centered PFD was 200x246. according to one of the dash 8 marketing sites those lcds are 6inches x 8inches, i don't know how accurate that is like if it's actually 5.9 or 6.2 or whatever, i measured just on the part that looks glass. if you do the math from there, 200/1419=0.1409 and then 6"/0.1409 = 42" horizontal needed. the vertical is 246/820 = 0.3 and 8"/0.3 = 26.67" vertical needed. checking the sizes, a 50" tv is around 43.5"x24.5" so that is in the ball park, maybe an inch or two smaller or bigger maybe depending on how far the camera is away from the panel... it would be interesting to hear from someone who has tried flying with a setup like that. cheers -andy crosby
October 9, 201411 yr Like Andy says, it's highly dependent on the type of aircraft you normally fly. I use a 42" HDTV, and for most general aviation planes, the gauges are fairly close to the actual size. For larger aircraft, where you would normally sit farther away from the instrument panel, the gauges are a bit smaller than actual size. One thing you want to be aware of if planning on using a 1080p HDTV, the larger the screen, the more pixelated the image is (unless you sit back at a greater distance from the screen). For me, the 42" diagonal screen was the best compromise - I get nearly actual size gauges (I fly mostly general aviation aircraft), without the image appearing too pixelated (where individual pixels becomes visible). Gerald
October 10, 201411 yr Author Thank you for your comments. These are helpful! All I need to do now is find room for a 42" or 50" LED HDTV Regards! Elmo Acio Quote It's hard to replace the gray matter that is inherent in every human being. No computer can do it quite that well yet. — General John P. Jumper, USAF Chief of Staff, 'Air Line Pilot' magazine, April 2007
October 10, 201411 yr Save up a little more for the bigger screen (assuming you'll be sitting at the appropriate distance). I went from a 47" to a 60" and the difference in immersion tremendous. Nature Boy
Create an account or sign in to comment