One of the advantages of the DLP projector with the LED is that we don’t have to change lamps every three months, and also they maintain balance across all channels.
Simon Axby, Engineering Team Leader, British Airways
After British Airways’ last successful upgrade with projectiondesign’s FL32 LED DLP projectors in their Full Flight Level D qualified Boeing 747 simulator at Heathrow, it was no surprise that they chose projectiondesign for their new upgrade of the Airbus A320 #3 simulator. Having experienced and tested first-hand the consistency of the light output and the zero maintenance of the LED DLP projectors, three of projectiondesign’s new FL35 wqxga, 4 Mega pixel resolution LED projectors, were upgraded in their Level D qualified Airbus A320 simulator.
Simon Axby, Engineering Team Leader at British Airways, explains: “One of the advantages of the DLP projector with the LED is that we don’t have to change lamps every three months, and they also maintain balance across all channels. We have less maintenance activities at night on these projectors because we don’t have to do the calibration and the colour balance checks, and they are maintaining the brightness at currently over 6 fL, actually, just shy of 7 fL, so it is exceeding what we are actually trying to achieve.”
“We’ve had the FL32 projectors fitted to some of our other simulators, which we’ve had on in excess of 12 months now. We’ve been checking the brightness levels and they have been very consistent, exceeding 6 fL, and the good cross cockpit balance has also been maintained. So, we are very pleased with the result.”
The high resolution projectors allowed for an even wider field of view than the B747, projecting on to a 200 degree horizontal by 45 degree vertical collimated display. The visual result was no less than impressive, and the high resolution FL35 LED projectors allowed for a doubling of the pixel density to 12 Mega pixels without increasing channel count. The high resolution, together with the considerably increased light output, gave amazing detail to the visual solution provided by RSI’s XT4 Image Generator, far exceeding the regulatory requirements in the critical areas of Vertical Field of View, Light Point Resolution, and Brightness. The whole experience takes realism a step further for the pilots in zero flight time training.
British Airways has today five simulators updated with projectiondesign DLP/LED projectors, including B737, B747, and A320 simulators.
