I am in the UK using a new laptop that I configured for DCS. It more than cleaned out the pennies my wife will allow me to spend, acerbated after purchase by not having been able to work for two months with another month of lock down still ahead. I find the laptop screen is generally excellent but tends to make me over control despite curving the controls axis. AAR is impossible as however much I minimise control movements I end up being heavy handed. I think the problem is that the small screen is representing a large area so a tiny movement that can be detected or initiated on the laptop comes across as a large movement in DCS World. We found the same problem flying ILS on the King Air using the back up. Only air gods could fly smoothly using this tiny screen (under the registration, tiny square display)
I have found that hooking the laptop to my TV with its larger screen makes life much easier - I can actually see the ball on the Stennis for the first time. However I am of course not allowed to move the TV into the study or set up DCS in the lounge. I therefore need to get a monitor.
My question: What is the minimum size and quality of monitor that I could get to enhance DCS sufficiently for in flight refueling and carrier landings given that I will have to offset performance against cash - my income is zero due to C19 lock down. I anticipate a probable delay in purchase until I have some cash flow again.
I fly with an old cheap end 24” “gaming” screen. Could be better but I can do AAR so at least that size works and doesn’t break the bank. I’m eyeing bigger fancier screens but like anything the high end stuff isn’t cheap.
Your welcome anytime as always VicktorK2. I have adjusted my HOTAS so the stick position is more like the setup in your den. I also have a large TV running (poor graphics quality) behind my laptop hoping that this would help. Sadly not. I do not look at the basket while attempting refueling and minimise all control movements.
For the last 8 years or so I have been using an old 32 inch 1080p LCD TV as my monitor. It might not be the greatest, but I have not seen a great need to throw money at a more expensive replacement. Something else to maybe consider would be a VR headset if your new laptop can handle it.
I will say don’t go too large on the screen as while I enjoyed using my 50” TV, the result is that most things were “larger than life” in size and trying to mount a TrackIR was a bit awkward.
40” is probably the maximum, and if anything an ultrawide might be better than plain larger (which I have yet to try).
My take: The inch-megalomania is causing a lot of good 24“/144hz/1440p monitors to be very cheap. So when on a budget this might be worth a try. If your desk space is not very big and your eyes are still good, it might fit you just nicely.
This. At one point I had a 50" TV as my primary screen, but simply found it to big. 42" 16:9 seemed to be the sweet spot for my setup, regarding size and scale of the sim.
Since then switched to a LG 21:9 34" monitor, as I now primarily sim in VR. However the ekstra wide view sure is nice, for the times I don’t feel like putting on the VR set.
LG have some really nice wide screens for reasonable $, especially if you keep the resolution at 1080p ie 2560x1080.
I have a 24" 1080p that has Gsync and I think it’s great. I could probably fit a 27" on my desk, but then the res would go to 1440p which means some frame rate drop.
In other words, I’m used to what I have and if I make the screen better it will make me dissatisfied with my performance and…vicious circle! Besides, I like being able to see the entire screen without turning my head while my eyes are fixed front. A bigger screen and I wouldn’t be able to do that.
I would actually like a wider screen so I can use more head motion. Right now I have my TrackIR profile setup such that my opposite side eye can see the screen still when I have my head turned to look over my shoulder in game (as with 1:1, I wouldn’t be looking at the screen). Using an ultrawide, I could theoretically bring the ratio closer to 1:1 which would improve spatial awareness (still not the same as VR of course).
This is interesting and ties in a bit with what JediMaster stated about performance - I figure with a higher vertical pixel count we could reduce the MSAA and get some performance back?
I use MSAA as without it, DCS looks like how I ran FSX in 2006 for distant planes. 1080p on my 50” TV was also poor for reading small text as there isn’t enough pixel density to make it appear smooth.
Can anyone with a 1440+ vertical resolution state if they can get away without MSAA?
Yes, the higher the res the lower the FSAA you need for the same apparent level of fidelity.
That said, I find the appearance at 1440p vs 1080p is largely the same to my eyes and I can’t really cut back on the FSAA much.
Another problem which varies by title is text scaling. If done right, things on the screen always appear the same. However, it’s not uncommon for games to suddenly have much smaller text at higher res so you get a headache trying to read it! Especially menus, although in game UIs have been known to have the same issue. I cannot say about DCS.
Hmm, surprising with 1440 vs. 1080 - perhaps it needs to double before it’s well apparent - or at least a larger display.
My main gripe on text was less with games but other applications as my primary display remains the same - sim or general PC use. Window’s scaling feature is off the table as it doesn’t play nice with many apps.
Been so long since I used the TV as my display but you are right - reading the AWACS calls or other radio text etc, and tool tips would become tedious.
Games that support UI scaling I use if needed. Blizzard was always good with that.
