Over the past year, I’ve noticed more cockpit builders using square LCD displays instead of traditional widescreen panels for MFDs and avionics screens.
At first, this seemed unusual since most displays today are designed around 16:9 formats. However, when looking at modern military aircraft, the trend starts to make sense.
Aircraft such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet, A-10 Thunderbolt II, and AH-64 Apache all rely heavily on square or near-square multifunction displays. These screens are surrounded by physical buttons and occupy a compact area within the cockpit. Trying to recreate these layouts with a standard widescreen display often results in unused screen space and less accurate proportions.
Another factor is the continued growth of high-fidelity combat flight simulation. More enthusiasts are moving beyond simple desktop setups and building dedicated panels with exported MFDs, radar pages, engine instruments, and navigation displays. As realism becomes a higher priority, builders are looking for hardware that more closely matches the dimensions of the real aircraft.
The rapid growth of affordable 3D printing has also contributed to this trend. Creating custom MFD bezels and instrument panels is now much easier than it was a few years ago. Instead of adapting a widescreen display to fit a square opening, builders can design the panel around a display that already matches the intended shape.
What’s interesting is that this isn’t just happening among hobbyists. I’ve recently seen a flight simulator cockpit display project where a simulator manufacturer adopted a 720×720 square display specifically to better match modern military avionics layouts. The build showed how a square format could simplify panel integration while improving visual accuracy.
Square displays also make more efficient use of space. Since most MFD pages are naturally square, there is less wasted screen area compared with using a widescreen monitor where large sections may remain hidden behind a bezel.
It seems that the growing popularity of aircraft like the F-16, F/A-18, and Apache, combined with the rise of DIY cockpit projects, is creating renewed interest in square display formats.
I’m curious to hear what others think. If you’re building a home cockpit, have you tried using square displays for MFDs or instrument panels? Do they provide a noticeable advantage over traditional widescreen displays?
