BARCO’s Conduction-Cooled Video Mixers and Flat Panels Selected for U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser
KORTRIJK, BELGIUM, 28 June, 1999 -- BARCO Display Systems has been selected by Raytheon Computer Products, Marlborough, Massachusetts, to supply conduction-cooled digital video mixer subsystems for the U.S. Air Force Airborne Laser (ABL) program. BARCO’s FlexiVision video windowing subsystem will be embedded in a Raytheon Model 960 Computer. BARCO has also been chosen by The Boeing Company in Seattle to supply 20.1" color flat panel displays for the ABL program. Boeing will integrate both the Raytheon 960 Computer with the embedded BARCO FlexiVision subsystem and the BARCO FD 251 color LCD into the modular console for the ABL surveillance, battle management, command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (BMC4I) system.
ABL operates at altitudes above the clouds where it will autonomously detect and track missiles as they are launched, using an onboard surveillance system. A Beam Control/Fire Control system, developed by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space, Sunnyvale, California, will acquire the missile then accurately point and fire the laser with such energy that the missile is destroyed before it can do any harm. The U.S. Air Force program will mount the chemical laser system aboard a modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft. The system generates a laser beam that is fired at launching missiles from a rotating turret in the nose of the aircraft.BARCO’s FlexiVision video windowing subsystem and FD 251 color flat panel displays will enable the BMC4I system to display the following functions: infrared surveillance, detection and tracking of multiple targets, target typing and prioritization, distributed predictive avoidance, mission planning, military communications, crew/system interface and theater interoperability.
BARCO’s FlexiVision video mixer is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) conduction-cooled 6U VME card set which is capable of simultaneously embedding the outputs of up to 10 video sources into any master RGB video source from 640 x 480 at 60 Hz to 1600 x 1200 at 60 Hz non-interlaced resolution. The sources may be totally asynchronous to the master RGB source and are displayed without any synchronization artifacts. The video sources are displayed in windows that can be seamlessly positioned, scaled, and merged with high- resolution graphics video.
Both the BARCO FlexiVision subsystem and FD 251 color flat panel display will also be integrated into the first 8 Modular Consoles utilized for the ABL demonstrator system.
About BarcoView:
BarcoView with operation facilities in Kortrijk (Belgium), Toulouse (France), Atlanta, Georgia and Portland, Oregon (USA) designs and manufactures high-resolution display systems, displays, graphics controllers and display subsystems for highly demanding niche markets such as C4I, avionics, vessel and air traffic control, vehicle electronics, and medical imaging applications.
Alongside Barco Projection Systems and BarcoVision, BarcoView is one of the three strategic activities of the BARCO Group, which are all active in Image Processing. Barco Projection is in various markets of large screen visualization, whereas BarcoVision develops systems for visual inspection and quality control. In 2000, the entire BARCO group delivered a turnover of euro 751 million. BARCO has a network of subsidiaries, distributors and agents in 97 countries throughout the world. BARCO has been quoted on the Brussels Stock Exchange since 1986, and is now quoted on Brussels/Euronext. BARCO is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company and is member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.
