Micro Nav selects Barco for Royal Netherlands Air Force 360° air traffic control simulator

Barco, world leader in advanced digital visualization for the training and simulation industry, has been contracted by Micro Nav to develop and install a 360° air traffic control (ATC) tower display. The Royal Netherlands Air Force will be using the system to train its future ground personnel. The contract is the second one with Barco’s longtime partner Micro Nav this month.

Micro Nav Ltd is a specialist in developing ATC simulators and won the contract for the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) with its Barco-equipped projection system, because it met the right requirements for brightness and resolution. In turn, this helps fulfilling the most important criteria in the simulation world: detection, orientation, recognition and identification, which enable pilots and traffic controllers-in-training to realistically determine the type of aircraft in the sky.

“The Barco simulation projectors deliver some of the highest resolutions and brightest light outputs currently known in the simulation world,” says Mike Male, CEO of Micro Nav Ltd, “this has always put them on another level compared to competing systems, and continues to make them a crucial factor in deciding what visualization our customers want.”

Micro Nav decided to use a rear-projected eight-channel ATC display with Barco projectors designed specifically for simulation applications. Together with special Barco software, remote controls and cylindrical screen technology, the composite 360° image guarantees pristine image quality at all times. This is achieved through the projectors’ native multi-channel features that not only eliminate blurry overlap zones where projections converge, but also ensure that the composite image has the same high color and brightness quality throughout.

An added asset of Barco’s multi-channel simulation projectors is their ability to ensure correct projection across spherical surfaces, as will be the case for the RNLAF’s ATC simulator. This enhances the feeling of overall realism, and increases immersion in the simulated reality.

The ATC simulator will be enhanced by Barco-engineered DarkScreen technology. This prevents internal reflections of the image, increases image sharpness and also helps raise the dynamic contrast level.

Delivery of the system is scheduled for Q4 of 2008.

About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3600 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of euro 747 million in 2007.

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