Barco has announced two technology breakthroughs at the I/ITSEC exhibition of 2010. From 29 November to 2 December, visitors can see Barco's new, dedicated 10 megapixel projector, and get a full insight into the system it pilots: a rear-projected, high-contrast 360° training dome.

Building on the expertise gained with liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display technology, Barco took the next step up in projection to remain at the forefront of simulation technology in terms of projecting the most realistic imagery available. This resulted in the SIM 10 projector, which offers a 10 megapixel (4096x2400) resolution, making it the only projector of its kind currently in the market for flight training.

“Like its established cousin, the SIM 7, the SIM 10 carries all necessary features for system setups in a training environment,” comments Peter De Meerleer, Director Products & Solutions Management at Barco, “These naturally include color and brightness equalization and geometry correction for curved screens, but also offer smearing reduction for fast-moving images. In addition, the SIM 10's extended 10 million to 1 contrast and increased infrared option make it the platform of choice for night simulation and stimulated NVG training.”

The SIM 10 projector is the imaging heart of another Barco innovation, the 360° rear-projected dome. Designed from the ground up by Barco, including all mechanical components and screens, the dome offers a contrast of 25:1 and an average resolution that is always better than 4 arcmin/OLP. It is a customizable design, and fits into rooms as low as 14 feet high.

“We've known for a long time that rear projection would allow us to create a full 360° environment for pilots,” says Mr. De Meerleer, “But until now, the resolution of projectors was a limiting factor for the realism. A system with too many projectors would become needlessly complex. With the SIM 10, however, the rear-projection dome suddenly became a reality – much easier to control, and much easier to guarantee a long uptime.”

Barco will demonstrate parts of the structure at I/ITSEC, though it showed a beta version of the dome to a select number of partners at demo facilities. “Understandably, we can't say who said it because of confidentiality issues, but even to the beta version, the responses were overwhelmingly positive,” continues Mr. De Meerleer. “One partner remarked that this system would make pilots 'sweat and curse' just as badly as in an actual cockpit. This makes us really confident that our dome is going to rock the simulation world.”