Hanover Airport bets on Sony 3LCD laser projectors for its flight simulator

The flight simulator featuring the exhibition dedicated to the aviation world of Hanover Airport has replaced its old projection system and installed two Sony VPL-FHZ55 3LCD laser equipment, getting a better resolution, a greater field of view and a lower TCO.

Hanover Airport, also known as Hannover-Langenhagen, is the largest in Lower Saxony and manages air traffic of more than five million passengers a year. Located between Terminals A and B is the exhibition 'The World of Aviation', which offers amateur pilots the opportunity to drive virtual reproductions of the Airbus A320 or Boeing B737 with two flight simulators.

From the pilot's seat, in a fully equipped and functional cabin, Aircraft lovers can virtually control these devices for an hour. In addition to the general public, Flight simulators can also be used for corporate events and training courses, as well as for doctors and managers to improve their decision-making skills in stressful situations by playing the role of a pilot.

The first simulator was acquired by Hannover Airport in 2008, a system that used images from three projectors to display the virtual view from the booth, this represented significant maintenance costs as the lamps on all three devices had to be replaced frequently and the brightness of the image was not guaranteed..

Faced with this situation, the airport considered replacing the projection system with one that could keep pace with the long periods of operation of the simulator. It was also necessary to simultaneously reproduce every detail of the track and the sky with sharpness and high contrast, to give greater realism to the feeling of flying.

For the panoramic view, the operators installed a concave screen of 6,15 meters wide and 1,80 meters high at the front of the cabin windows. therefore, the projectors they were looking for had to be able to generate a correct image geometrically on a curved surface.

To respond to the requirements required by the exhibition, the Sony 3LCD VPL-FHZ55 projectors were chosen and supplied by the service provider AVI Studio and collaborated with the manufacturer to carry out the installation of the two equipments..

Sony 3LCD laser projectors combine a highly efficient laser light source with the latest Sony BrightEra 3LCD panel technology. Whether in Las Vegas at night, Chicago with snow or Hanover with high visibility, Simulation pilots can make their decisions based on extremely bright, high-contrast projections with high color accuracy.

In addition, Sony has developed the constant brightness feature for the VPL-FHZ55, that allows it to remain at the same time. 3.000 Constant lumens throughout the life cycle of the laser light source. Thanks to the distortion-free image quality of the concave display, Test pilots enjoy 130 degrees of panoramic views and, therefore, they are considerably close to reality in the cockpit.

Determinants

Several factors determined that Hanover Airport decided to choose Sony's VPL-FHZ55 projectors. First of all, the total cost of operation (TCO) It turned out to be more advantageous than that of a conventional light projector. While conventional projector lamps must be replaced after a maximum of a thousand hours, the laser light source of the VPL-FHZ55 can reach the 20 000 hours.

Also decisive was the high resolution WUXGA of 1920 X 1200 pixels, as it allows Full HD images to be reproduced in an area of 6,15 meters wide and 1,80 meters high with only two projectors instead of the previous three.

In combination with a light output of 3000 Lumens, Very bright images are produced without individual pixels, despite the width of the screen. The edge blending process allows the individual projections of the two VPL-FHZ55 projectors to be combined seamlessly and with precise colour matching to create an image of stunning realism.

Thanks to this technology, the surfaces of both projections can overlap with balanced lighting and, unlike systems placed next to each other, Create an integrated image across the entire width of the screen. Thanks to image deformation, Its geometry on concave surfaces can be easily corrected to generate a completely natural projection.

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