Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination Achieving FAA / JAA Level D with current, low cost digital projection technology Contact:

Objectives To discuss the objectives of visual simulation To explain the need for Raster Calligraphic replacement To explain why this replacement is challenging To provide a summary of the competing technologies Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Visual Fidelity It ‘Feels’ inherently right that the higher the visual fidelity (resolution etc), the higher the pilot training value Where do we draw the line in terms of cost / performance ? The FAA / JAA criteria provide the metric which must be adhered to Exceeding these criteria is possible but expensive What is the Actual value of doing so ? Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

JAA / FAA Standards Specifically focus on the requirements for Visual Characteristics – ACJ STD 1A … Touch upon the requirements for Latency - ACJ STD 1A r (2) Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Visual Characteristics Specific requirements Field of View:180 0 x 40 0 Collimated Resolution:2 Arc-minutes Light point size:5 Arc-minutes Surface contrast:5:1 Brightness:6 foot-lamberts Light point contrast:10:1 (day) 25:1 (night) Total light points: 6000 (day – 60Hz) (night – 40Hz) Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Visual Characteristics In the vast majority of existing Level C / D simulators, these criteria are met by Raster / Calligraphic CRT projectors Operationally unique High intensity ‘Calligraphic’ light points Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Calligraphic Light Points What’s the big deal ? – Highly intense light points !! Scan is continuous, each pixel is illuminated for an equal amount of time (10 ns at 1280 – 1024) Raster complete, before next scan light points are drawn. Since only 2000 light points are drawn (at 60hz), each point may be focused on for an extended period allowing for very high point intensity 1 frame (16ms at 60Hz) Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Light Point Generation Light point generation is problematic, due to fundamental differences in the projection devices. Light points drawn calligraphically in CRT projection Competing technology is ‘Raster’ only This clearly results in the need to draw light points within the raster itself for non CRT based projectors. Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Why Replace CRT’s ? The desire to move away from Raster Calligraphic CRT projectors is largely cost driven High initial cost CRT Tube lifespan Require highly skilled maintenance Require hundreds of hours PA on maintenance & alignment But also.. Obsolescence concerns Prone to expensive failure Very heavy – potential logistical problems Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

What’s Required ? In order to match CRT in terms of level D criteria, the projector must Have a high resolution Produce an ‘Artefact’ free image Have uniform colour between projectors Be able to produce light points within the raster Very high brightness Very high contrast Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

About Resolution The Level D Criteria specify 2 Arc Minutes per pixel Therefore 30 pixels per degree For a 180 x 40 display, 3 channels are an ideal 180 degrees ÷ 3 channels = 60 degrees per channel 30 pixels x 60 = 1800 pixels wide 30 pixels x 40 = 1200 pixels high Therefore we can see that to achieve Level D in 3 projectors we need a resolution of at least 1800 x 1200 Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Alternative Technologies Light Valve projectors LCD- Liquid Crystal Display LCoS-Liquid Crystal on Silicon DLP-Digital Light Processor Others… Laser Emerging, developmental technology. Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Laser Emerging technology Potential for extremely high resolution Potential for extremely high brightness and contrast More efficient use of power Very high cost Prone to ‘Speckling’ and other artefacts Unproven in the field Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

LCoS Image is produced by passing light through an LCD substrate, and reflecting it from an underlying mirror Typically utilise 3 LCoS panels to produce colour Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

LCoS A relatively young technology Reflective technology Very High Resolution – up to native QXGA (2048 x 1536) High Brightness Potentially High Contrast – in high end units No Frame Delay Requires analogue control over LCD substrate Complex High Cost Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

DLP (single chip) Image is produced by an array of ‘Micro Mirrors’, one for each pixel. Colour is created via a rotating colour wheel Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

DLP A highly mature technology Reflective technology High Resolution – up to native 1080p and beyond….. High Brightness High Contrast Low Cost Pure, digital technology ‘Rainbow’ effect caused by colour wheel now countered 1 frame delay (16ms at 60hz) Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Latency ACJ STD 1A r (2) specifies an over all latency of 150ms Specifically the time between a Pilot control input and the Simulator responding – both visual and motion Motion base must respond before the visual therefore some latency is desirable !! 1 Frame delay introduced by DLP (16ms) is in no way problematic In fact is equivalent to Raster Calligraphic projectors, since these ‘Scan’ 1 pixel at a time giving a 1 frame ‘delay’ between pilot Input and display of a Complete frame… Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

DLP vs. LCoS LCoS offers Very high resolution and potentially very high contrast DLP offers Very high resolution and high contrast Both LCoS and DLP offer resolutions high enough to meet the Level D surface resolution requirement (2 arc minutes per pixel), and both offer contrast ratios that potentially enable the generation of compliant light points, directly within the raster. Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination

Cost Benefits Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination With Civil airlines under increasing economic pressure, the underpinning goal should be to provide compliant systems at the lowest price point. While both LCoS and DLP are able to meet the Level D criteria, DLP is a more mature technology that offers significant cost benefits

Level D with DLP Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination Equipe Simulation has successfully designed and installed a number of Collimated DLP systems, both military and civil, compliant with both JAA and FAA Level D criteria. In these systems the use of DLP has enabled a cost reduction of up to 50% compared to competing technologies.

Equipe TXGA Patent Pending Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination TXGA is a new resolution specifically designed to meet Level D requirements !! Based on Proven DLP technology Low Cost Stable colour Very high brightness Very high contrast 1920 x 1400 resolution Enables JAA / FAA Level D for fixed and rotary wing aircraft within a very low channel count TM

Equipe Simulation Visualising Your Imagination Thank You