Widescreen monitors

[ggi]

I've recently upgraded to widescreen and I'm finding (surprise :doho:) that I'm mainly using aircraft with a VC, probably because the pulled effect in 2D, with oval instrument guages something I don't like to look at. Is it just me or are other widescreen users doing the same, or do you get used to it after a while? Some of my favourite aircraft come with a 2D only panel, which leads me to ask - does making a 2D panel especially for widescreen give an unrealistic view from the pilot seat? I would be interested in your comments or ideas with this one. Thanks

[Garry Russell]

I can never understand widescreen :think:

Real vision is not a long slot so normal proportion monitors are nearer to the mark.

A real cockpit is in an oval, circular or perhaps sqaure.ish fuse not wide and shallow. Sitting one side of that give an image that needs to be really taller than it is wide, so widescreen is going the wrong way.

VC scanning left to right would be a wider image but straight across which is why I never use VC at the moment because going from left to right in a straight line when it should be scribing a left right arc does my head in and I get an almost instant headache as my already poor eyesight struggles to follow things movng in an un realistic manner.

If anything like 2D was made for widescreen then the call would be for more top and bottom so it would demand a more square view..back to where we are now

The only advantage of wide sceen would be if it was semi circular and wrapped arround you from ear to ear to give a look arround view.

But for straight ahead it's like looking through a gunslot.

Garry

[AndyG]

ggi, I agree, since I switched to a widescreen monitor I do a lot more flying from the vc, and only partly down to the stretched 2D panels. It just seems to give a better experience.

With a few 2D-only aircraft I've adopted a method I found on a widescreen gaming forum; I 'drag' the panel .bmp until the gauges are the correct shape, which then leaves a gap on the righthand side which is just right for a GPS screen - I then save the flight and voila!

BTW, you should see the improvement it makes to CFS3 (if anybody other than me is still using it here ), especially the new MAW expansion! :yipeee:

Andy

[Sl4yer]

I've done a lot of flying with the 2D Trident panel. If I'm honest, I didn't notice the oval gauges at all after the first few minutes.

I now rarely use a 2D panel at all, especially since I got a TrackIR, although I THINK the widescreen might restrict my view of the imstruments. I've never tried with a conventional screen, and it's hard to explain, but I have to centre a bit further up the screen than I would ideally like. There are undoubtably settings in the TrackIR software to alter it, but it doesn't bother me that much!

James

[johnhinson]

I don't use widescreen in wide form because you get a heck of a lot more FPS windowed so the oval gauges issue doesn't bother me. But then I suffer another side effect, these wretched modern screens go all boxy when not at the default super-tiny setting. So apart from having to modify the font sizes in every piece of software that allows it (and some don't*) for my less-than-perfect eyesight, I have a substantially inferior view of Flight Simulator against my old monitor in terms of sharpness because windowed is not at the defined resolution.

They also emit more radiation than the old type, I gather.

So what is really so good about these ruddy wide screens and flat screens?

John

* like Mozilla Firefox displaying this site in tiny print which i can enlarge but it will be tiny again next time I visit because it doesn't save settings.

[Garry Russell]

I have a TFT John

I hate them but CRT's are not availiable anymore.

If I try to fun FS windowed there is no anti alias :@

Garry

[ggi]

Hi AndyG

Thanks for the brilliant suggestion, I never thought of resizing and filling the gap!!! Anyway I've downloaded the VC10 again and run it for the first time in ages, I've posted a picture at http://www.pentlandweb.co.uk/img/VC10.jpg.
Now to get the Viscount - BTW ..errr...Rick can I get the fixed scottish airways texture again please....??
Thanks GaryG

[johnhinson]

[quote="Garry Russell"]I have a TFT John

I hate them but CRT's are not availiable anymore.

If I try to fun FS windowed there is no anti alias :@

Garry[/quote]

I think you have my problem in a nutshell there - the lesser quality is almost certainly the lack of anti-aliasing (but I think there are other factors on these new screens too). And that would also account for the improved frame rates when windowed.

I like Andy G's idea, I shall perhaps do that at places where frame rates aren't a problem. Easy to switch, anyway.

Best wishes,

John