Prepar3d with a....monitor is amazing!

[sanh 823]

I have been using a 4 year old 22 inch Asus Monitor at 1920x1080 for a few years and thought about upgrading. The choice was a VR headset or a 32inch Acer Predator IPS G-Sync monitor. Both are roughly the same price. I chose the monitor and wow its amazing. I can now fly my jetliners without having to zoom in to read the instruments at all. At 4k or even 2k on a 32inch screen even the tiniest digit on the Cockpit display screen is easily readable for me and sharp (e.g. the engine exhaust temperature in the Aerosoft A320)  even when zoomed out. Makes a real difference and I started noticing details I did not notice before. Programming the FMC also does not need a zoom in anymore.

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Looking out of the window I can see every single autogen building in the distance clearly rather than a jaggy blurry grey mess in the distance. At night the lights look amazing  (with ORBX FTX Global/LC) since every bit of detail is magnified on the screen and at first I struggled with my approaches as there was too much eye candy distracting me. I notice things I did not before since they were too small to really notice on a smaller screen. G-Sync is good but you really need high FPS (higher than 30fps - preferably 40fps) and its amazingly smooth (no stutters at all) but any less FPS (which is most of the time on take-off and landing in big cities) and it does not help much. I find it useful though for other games. I need more processing power!

 

It also makes me appreciate how optimised Prepar3d actually is. I am running 4k with all sliders around 3/4 to the right, with FTX Global/Vector/LC and getting between 25-40fps in the Aerosoft A320. I have a i5 3570K OC 4.2ghz with a Geforce 970. Minus the GC card its a fairly mid-range system at best and 4 years old now. I saw at Overclockers a i7 7700k OC to 5ghz with mobo + ram is now available and boy I reckon I could crank all the sliders to the right with that..can't afford that yet!

 

Overall I am delighted. This is not a post to put down VR - I think that is the future for Prepar3d. Its just that right now at this minute, a 4k big monitor can also kick butt with Prepar3d and a VR route is not the only way to upgrade the visual experience.