The preparations have been finalised. We have bought three new projectors. Optoma with 4K resolution. You have to realise that we have a very special installation situation in Bottrop. Like many others, we have space problems in the showroom. That's why our screen only has a diameter of 3.16 metres. What's more, we had to shorten the screen at the sides. Because it interferes with the sloping roof.
Why are we mentioning this? The characteristics of the projectors have to match the screen. As a rule, the ceiling height also plays a role. We will discuss this topic in more detail in another blog post. The important thing at this point is that you should never buy projectors based on a gut feeling.
Our current full HD visual system is more than seven years old. It really is time for something new. Why did we put off the upgrade for so long? Essentially for two reasons. On the one hand, the showroom is usually used every week. A downtime like this doesn't really fit in well with business operations. On the other hand, this has really only ever been an excuse. We were simply too lazy and had a lot of respect for the effort involved.
To do this, we have to dismantle parts of the simulator. The good news is that the cockpit is very modular. To get to the projectors through the ceiling of the simulator, the overhead has to be removed. In addition, the pedestal has to be temporarily removed, otherwise we won't be able to set up the ladder.
We initially feared that the cockpit seats would also have to be removed. Fortunately, this was not necessary. My personal thanks at this point go to our engineer, who kindly made the door of the rear wall wide enough for the pedestal and overhead to fit through as a complete module without any problems.
Now the old projectors can be dismantled. Including a lot of dust. We leave the cables in place. We'll need them later .
If you can, paint the simulator room in a matt dark colour. This is very important for immersion. Of course, the viewing area should always be covered by the screen. However, experience shows that this is not always possible. If you then look outside the screen onto a white surface or even heating pipes or rafters, this noticeably impairs the quality of the experience.