Noted on the front page of AVSIM:http://www.reality-xp.com/products/ST3400/index.htmI imagine there are going to be some early adopters of this new gauge here in the near future and would like to hear your comments on it. How smooth is it? Is it a resource hog?

Check out the Reality XP forums over at www.simforums.com. The initial feedback seems great. Come to think of it, have they ever released a bad gage? I know some folks have had trouble with the 16bit Garmin trainer needed for the Garmin 430/530's, but most users have been very happy with their products.Tony=http://www.flightsim-bevs.com]

Just installed it in a few of my GA aircraft last night. I've loaded it in three aircraft so far: F1 Cessna 441 Conquest F1 Cessna 421 Golden Eagle FSD Piaggio AvantiOnly had a chance to do one full test flight. Flew the 441 Conquest from Omak to Bellingham across the Cascades. I could not perceive any performance impact from adding this gauge. I was astounded as I had expected that rendering terrain would require significant resources. I am very satisfied. Greatly improves situational awareness in poor weather (particularly in mountainous terrain).Jeff Williams (KDCA)

If I had not got so many parking fines this month I would have bought it already! :-lol( .I for one cannot wait! :9

regardsEd

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Thanks for sharing your experience! :)I take it the gauge rotates smoothly too? None of this "limited to 18 frames per second and 1 degrees of rotation" we're used to in normal gauges, right? If my FS2004 runs at 60 FPS, the gauge will run at 60 FPS too?Also, I know this particular gauge does not require the Garmins (which don't work in XP x64), but does it require .NET?

Hi Janne,As for .NET, I would assume it makes no sense making a .NET gauge if at the same time you want it running fast and with none to little impact on the framce rates. Is there any product out there that require .NET for their gauge? is the performance good? Have you been let down with the performance of a .NET gauge? I sure would like to know about this!As for your other question, like I've answered in another thread with similar questions:Smoothness is a factor of subpixel precision, antialiasing and refresh rate.First, you often see products with GDI+ EFIS screens promoted as "smooth gauges". Altough GDI+ do render lines and polygons with antialised edges, it is not a subpixel rendering engine. The most noticeable effect of this is on rotating compass rose: when the rose rotates, the cardinal numbers are "dancing" while rotating. You can clearly see in any FS product that say the '1' and the '2' in the 120 degrees cardinal number are not maintaining relative distance and position while the rose rotates. This is a side effect of GDI+ not being a sub pixel rendering engine with sub pixel precision coordinate system.Then, there is the refresh rate. GDI+ is designed to render your Windows XP windows elements (edges, buttons, corner, gradient fill in the top bar, shadow under the menus etc...). It is in no way designed for real time game oriented graphics. What happens is that when using a fast and powerfull computer, a gauge using GDI+ with moderately low number of elements will not show any major/significant performance issue in FS. However, try to popup an increasing number of EFIS screen, or simply start to enlarge an EFIS screen beyond the size the vendor designed the gauge for, and most likely you see an exponential hit in the frame rate as the size grows. Sure enough: all these product offer a slider to adjust the refresh rate of the gauge. This is not because it is inhenrently heavy, it is because the technology (GDI+) does impact performance. In this respect, with any slider setting below the Flight Simulator gauge refresh rate of 18Hz (18 times a second is the hard coded FS maximum gauge refresh rate) you are loosing the other part of smoothness: refresh rate.TrueDisplay XP is a technology exclusively designed for rendering EFIS screens and does not suffer any of the aforementioned issues. There is no "refresh rate slider" in Jet Line and the SN3308 products for example (they render as often FS tell them to render), and it is a scalable sub-pixel precision rendering engine (it scales to any size without any significant frame rate hit, and maintains subpixel precision and relative distances to any drawn element).TrueGauge XP is a new technology offering the same high level of fidelity and precision EFIS screens benefit, for analogue gauges.Now, to better answer your question: these Reality XP technologies precision is exactly 0.00000006 degrees in rotation, translation, and it is the coordinate system lowest resolution. Besides these extra-precise mathematical considerations, what counts is that when banking your aircraft as low as 0.25 degrees, or pitching up as low as 0.25 degrees, both the EFIS and the TrueGauge XP product let you see the deviation. The same applies to the LOC/GS needles.In turn, it makes you feel more like being flying with a gauge, than looking at a computer generated animation.And at 18 times a second, since TrueDisplay XP is using is precise filter and maintains visual accuracy/ element relative sizes, you don't perceive any "jerkiness".Please note that the real ST3400 refreshes the display only ~ 3 times a second. The Reality XP ST3400 gives you the option to go further!Hope this helps!

JeanLuc,I believe I saw that explanation text in another thread - it's highly likely it was the same thread you talked about :) Thing is, I have never seen these "miracle" gauges live so it's really hard for me to imagine just how smooth they are (demonstration videos would be good). From the ST3400-specific bits of your reply, however, it sounds like there's a great deal of freedom in setting up just how smoothly the gauge operates.As for .NET, there is atleast one FS2004 add-on that requires it - the EagleSoft SR20 G2. I'm not entirely sure why it requires .NET, but back when the plane was released I was told that it does. In all honesty I'd like to avoid .NET as much as I can, but even if I didn't .NET isn't currently available in release form for Windows XP x64 (which I use).Since RXP gauges depending on the Garmin trainers can't be used in x64, I was wondering if the other ones can (ST3400, etc).

Janne, actually the current optimization work being done on our SR20 G2 ELIMINATES any use of .Net framework:-)The current requirement for .Net in our product is minimal and has been easily eliminated. We also appreciate the fact that the future will require all developers to meet 64 bit requirements in some fashion:-)

I don't have the new ST3400 yet, but the same display tech can be found in the new Dreamfleet Baron with the new Reality XP Bendix KI256 and KI525. It's hard to describe, but smooth is not the word I would use. It appears fluid. I believe they use the same technology as the ST3400. It's very impressive to see first hand.Tony=http://www.flightsim-bevs.com]

This is excellent news Ron!I imagine we'll be hearing more from you guys when these changes are done :)

RealityXP had from the beginning a different approach to the gauge construction. Usually developers use already made API (application program interface) it could be FS gauges SDK, GDI+. RealityXP began everything from the button by defining a new API. That is what makes the difference in the fluidity (sub pixel translation), Anti aliasing, and frame rate impact. Besides this there is a Frame rate concern in the code itself, Jean Luc sometimes doesn

For the TAWS device, be sure to check this : http://fswidgets.comIt seems very promising.Who's the guys behind ? John Hnidec. You remember SimSystems FSFlight Max and the Garmin GPS ? And Fermin Fernandez (Tweak FS)

It works very well on my system without an FPS hit. My initial impressions are that the gauge certainly meets the standards I have come to expect from RXP. I used it last night on a approach into KUNV and the situational awareness was great!I have a custom made Pilatus with RXP gauges by Bobp. :) I added the TAWS to the panel and it works very well. Finally, I am very aware that the Sandell gauge is larger than real life, but it is much easier to read. Since I own the Sandell company in my simulated world, I had super size one for me! Have fun!Bob...

>Noted on the front page of AVSIM:>>http://www.reality-xp.com/products/ST3400/index.htm>>I imagine there are going to be some early adopters of this>new gauge here in the near future and would like to hear your>comments on it. How smooth is it? Is it a resource hog? It's a master piece! Incredible aviation gauge and yes I do own it! [h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]AMD 64 4000+|ASUS K8V DELUXE Socket 939|SAPPHIRE ATI X800XT PE{AGP}|MUNCHKIN 3200|80 gig SATA|DELL 1905FP 19" LCD|TRACKir PRO|

I second you Randy.I just installed it on DF A36 and DF Baron.It's a fantastic gauge, no fps hit at all, very fast and accurate and soooooooo nice to use on IFR flights.Another "must have....."*:-* <<<<<< My Bank Manager's face tomorrowDavid