Florida Marine Simulator Center Goes Digital

Jul 14, 2005 8:00 AM

Electric Picture replaced the 12 older, maintenance-intensive CRT projectors in the Star Center’s 360-degree bridge simulator with Christie 1280DX projectors. Photo courtesy of Electric Picture Display Systems.

Since the Exxon Valdez oil spill catastrophe in March of 1989, interest and funding for marine simulators has grown tremendously. Using sophisticated Image Generators (IG) that provide highly realistic computer graphics, marine simulators enable virtual navigational training for ship captains and crew on a wide variety of vessels and nautical environments.

The RTM STAR Center in Dania Beach, Fla., is a leading training center for professional mariners and a home to two highly advanced marine simulators. In early 2004, STAR Center awarded Electric Picture Display Systems, a high-tech simulation integration company based in Rockledge, Fla., the task of giving its simulators a technology upgrade.

In April 2004, Electric Picture upgraded the displays for STAR Center’s 360-degree bridge simulator from XGA to SXGA resolution and replaced the 12 older, maintenance-intensive CRT projectors with Christie 1280DX projectors. These projectors were chosen because of the stable color maintenance of three-chip DLP projectors, proven reliability, and excellent technical support provided by Christie.

“Christie’s technical support in mission-critical applications such as this is the industry’s finest,” says R.P. Higgins, president of Electric Picture. 3D Perception’s UTM processors installed with the projectors corrected the geometry for dome projection and blended the images together seamlessly.

The RTM Star Center marine training center chose Electric Picture Display Systems to upgrade its two simulators. Photo courtesy of Electric Picture Display Systems.

In October 2004, these same projectors were put into the 265-degree docking bridge simulator in seven forward channels on a spherical screen. The old CRT Retro unit was replaced with three 61in. Clarity Visual Bengal displays, increasing the rear field of view by more than 50 degrees while freeing up much needed physical space.

During the course of the project, Electric Picture ran into a problem with preserving image quality over long cable runs. It turned out the VGA-to-Cat-5 cable system they had selected would not provide the needed signal quality. These Cat-5 cables were up to 100ft. in length, and the image quality suffered from serious artifacts.

To solve the problem, 3D Perception suggested using digital-only (DVI) signals from the IG to minimize noise and deliver consistent signal levels. To ensure the digital DVI signals were delivered with pristine quality, Electric Picture chose DVIGear’s DVI fiber-optic cables.

“We found these cables were the best solution for delivering long-distance DVI signals, and our customer was amazed at the improvement in picture quality,” says Higgins. “DVIGear delivered excellent technical support and got us the product we needed, fast.”

Converting from analog to digital signals resulted in picture quality that surpassed STAR Center’s expectations. The improvement was also well appreciated by the center’s students, who commented that the improved clarity created a more realistic virtual environment.

STAR Center chose to use DVIGear’s fiber-optic DVI cables for its 265-degree docking bridge simulator, but for budgetary reasons stayed with analog signals for the 360-degree bridge simulator. To get the best performance with its analog system, the company used DVIGear’s high-performance, long-length VGA cables.

“We were very pleased with the final outcome,” says Bruce Fuchs, head of STAR Center’s Department of Modeling and Research. “However, we spent so much time researching the projectors and image generators at the beginning that when we got to the wiring, we realized we hadn’t done enough. The digital cables definitely gave a higher-quality signal."

For more information, visit www.star-center.com or www.electricpicture.com.