This paper addresses the number, function and size of principal military displays and establishes a basis to determine the opportunities for technology insertion in the immediate future and into the next millennium. Principal military displays are defined as those occupying appreciable crewstation real-estate and/or those without which the platform could not carry out its intended mission. DoD 'office' applications are excluded from this study. The military displays market is specified by such parameters as active area and footprint size, and other characteristics such as luminance, gray scale, resolution, angle, color, video capability, and night vision imaging system compatibility. Funded, future acquisitions, planned and predicted crewstation modification kits, and form-fit upgrades are taken into account. This paper provides an overview of the DoD niche market, allowing both government and industry a necessary reference by which to meet DoD requirements for military displays in a timely and cost-effective manner. The aggregate DoD installed base for direct-view and large-area military displays is presently estimated to be in excess of 313,000. Miniature displays are those which must be magnified to be viewed, involve a significantly different manufacturing paradigm and are used in helmet mounted displays and thermal weapon sight applications. Some 114,000 miniature displays are presently included within future weapon system acquisition plans. For vendor production planning purposes it is noted that foreign military sales could substantially increase these quantities. The vanishing vendor syndrome (VVS) for older display technologies continues to be a growing, pervasive problem throughout DoD, which consequently must leverage the more modern, especially flat panel, display technologies being developed to replace older, especially cathode ray tube, technology for civil-commercial markets. Total DoD display needs (FPD, HMD) are some 427,000.

This paper describes the application of commercially available, active matrix liquid crystal panels to a wide variety of environments both commercial and military. Such environments include the dashboard of a city transportation bus and agricultural vehicle, the cockpit of a commercial jet airliner, and hard mounted on a howitzer field artillery piece. Each environment will be discussed and then a comparison will be made between the environments and how they relate to the display design. The application of finite element analysis to the design methodology will also be discussed. Test results will then be presented for the various applications as well as results of usage in the field. Design techniques of ruggedization for utilization of the same panels in other severe environments such as Army tanks will also be discussed.

On 18 September 1998, Optical Imaging Systems (OIS) of Northville, MI ceased production of Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display (AMLCD) modules due to financial losses and the lack of a clear and immediate path to making the company profitable. Lack of OIS AMLCD modules has threatened to delay production delivery of aircraft to the US Air Force, Navy and Army. Other vendors make similar modules, but in most cases there is no interchangeable module immediately available. Consequently, military Program Offices and their contractors are working to overcome the present shortage. This paper discusses the non-standard parts/diminishing manufacturing sources problem and assesses various strategies that might be needed to prevent programs from being so dependent on unique sole-source devices in the future. It also suggests a list of display sizes and types that are good candidates for wide application and are thus less sensitive to events like the closing of one component manufacturer.

This paper provides an overview of a major weapon system, the Abrams Main Battle Tank, as it relates to Flat Panel Display (FPD) technology. The Abrams pioneered FPD implementation in military ground vehicles in response to the integration of embedded computer systems into the tank. This major weapon system is poised to field the latest upgrade, the System Enhancement Package (SEP), with 2nd generation Flat Panel Displays. This has been accomplished by managing requirements, dynamic communication with FPD research and development programs, and aggressively leveraging those programs. The tank has progressed from implementing available FPDs to influencing the enabling of FPD technology. The experience gained offers valuable insight to following ground vehicle systems and to those diligently working to fully enable this critical technology.

The U.S. Army/Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow Attack Helicopter incorporates a new, highly integrated, avionics suite into the AH-64A airframe. The first 24 AH-64D Lot 1 production aircraft use monochrome cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays. Beginning in March 1998, all AH-64D aircraft have been delivered with color, active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs). This paper describes the avionics architecture alternative that were evaluated, and the selected architecture for the new flat panel display integration into the AH-64D aircraft.

To be successful, the implementation and mechanization of an infrared (IR) touchscreen display for military cockpit applications requires close attention to all aspects of integration, optics, display format design and system processing hardware and software. The F/A-18E/F program has incorporated a monochrome AMLCD touchscreen display into the cockpit to replace the mechanical pushbutton control panel. The new display provides the pilot with the versatility of a much more capable control panel and a new video display surface. This paper addresses the design considerations starting from concept development through integration and flight test, and finally to successful deployment of the Up- Front Control Display (UFCD) into production aircraft.

Litton Guidance & Control Systems (G&CS) is the developer and supplier of Smart Multi-Function Display (SMFD) Systems. These programs include the UH-60Q, the SH-2G, the SH-60R, the CH-60, the EH-101, and others. The SMFD meets the all-glass cockpit requirements for the SH-2G(A), the SH-60R, and the CH-60 helicopters. The basic architectures for all-glass cockpit display systems are the centralized (dumb display or video monitor) and the distributed (smart display). Litton's SMFD has the flexibility to support either of these architectures as well as others. Litton's advantage comes from deploying a display system that provides Open System Architecture (OSA) for both hardware and software. With the OSA design philosophy, Litton's SMFD is easily customized by using a set of basic hardware modules which can be configured to provide the different functionality required by each aircraft type. The OSA design philosophy also accommodates future expansion and technological developments. This paper, showing the easy adaptation of the SH-2G display to meet the SH-60R and CH-60 requirements, demonstrates the advantages of Litton's OSA design philosophy. OSA is the key to providing the mix-and- match/plug-and-play of the existing modules, which also permits future growth. It is the versatility of the OSA framework that meets the bipolar requirements of the two system architecture types.

Display technologies for the B-52 were selected some 40 years ago have become unsupportable. Electromechanical and old cathode ray tube technologies, including an exotic six-gun 13 in. tube, have become unsupportable due to the vanishing vendor syndrome. Thus, it is necessary to insert new technologies which will be available for the next 40 years to maintain the capability heretofore provided by those now out of favor with the commercial sector. With this paper we begin a look at the status of displays in the B-52H, which will remain in inventory until 2046 according to current plans. From a component electronics technology perspective, such as displays, the B-52H provides several 10-year life cycle cost (LCC) planning cycles to consider multiple upgrades. Three Productivity, Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (PRAM) projects are reviewed to replace 1950s CRTs in several sizes: 3, 9, and 13 in. A different display technology has been selected in each case. Additional display upgrades in may be anticipated and are discussed.

The Infrared Eye is a new concept of surveillance system that mimics human eye behavior to improve detection of small or low contrast target. In search and rescue operations (SAR), a wide field of view IR camera (WFOV) of approximately 20 degrees is used for detection of target and switched to a narrow field of view (NFOV) of approximately 5 degrees for a better target identification. In current SAR system, both FOVs cannot be used concurrently on the same display. The system presented in this paper fuses on the same high-resolution display the high- sensitivity WFOV image and the high-resolution NFOV image obtained from two IR cameras. The NFOV image movement within the WFOV image is slaved to the operator's eye movement by an eye-tracking device. The operator's central vision is always looking at the high-resolution IR image of the scene captured by the NFOV camera, while his peripheral vision is filled by the enhanced sensitivity (but low-resolution) image of the WFOV camera. This paper will describe the operation principle and implementation of the display, including its interface with an eye-tracking system and the opto-mechanical system used to steer the NFOV camera.

The active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) has become the preferred flight instrument technology in avionics multifunction display applications. Current bubble canopy fighter cockpit applications involve sizes up to 7.8 X 7.8 in. active display. Dual use avionics versions of AMLCD technology are now as large as 6.7 X 6.7 in. active display area in the ARINC D sized color multifunction display (MFD). This is the standard instrument in all new Boeing transport aircraft and is being retrofitted into the C-17A. A special design of the ARINC D instrument is used in the Space Shuttle cockpit upgrade. Larger sizes of AMLCD were desired when decisions were made in the early 1990s for the F-22. Commercial AMLCD technology has now produced monitors at 1280 X 1024 resolution (1.3 megapixels) in sizes of 16 to 21 in. diagonal. Each of these larger AMLCDs has more information carrying capacity than the entire F-22A cockpit instrument panel shipset, comprising six separate smaller AMLCDs (1.2 megapixels total). The larger AMLCDs are being integrated into airborne mission crewstations for use in dim ambient lighting conditions. It is now time to identify and address the technology challenges of upgrading these larger AMLCDs for sunlight readable application and of developing concepts for their integration into advanced bubble canopy fighter cockpits. The overall goals are to significantly increase the informational carrying capacity to bring both sensor and information fusion into the cockpit and, thereby, to enable a significant increase in warfighter situational awareness and effectiveness. A research cockpit was built using specialized versions of the IBM 16.1 in and two smaller 10 in. AMLCDs to examine human factors and display design issues associated with these next-generation AMLCD cockpit displays. This cockpit was later upgraded to allow greater reconfigurability and flexibility in the display hardware used to conduct part- task mission simulations. The objective optical characterization of the AMLCDs used in this simulator and the cockpit design are described. Display formats under consideration for test in this cockpit are described together with some of the basic human factors engineering issues involved. Studies conducted in this cockpit will be part of an ongoing joint effort of the hardware-focused aerospace displays team and the pilot-focused human factors team in the Air Force Research Laboratory's Crew System Interface Division. The objective of these studies is to ascertain the payoffs of the large AMLCD promise in combat cockpits.

The United States' Army Tank-automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) recently started a project entitled Crew integration and Automation Testbed (CAT). This paper will describe the project, which will utilize an unprecedented number of displays for an Army vehicle.

Military displays are subjected to rugged environments and are required to last for many years in service. Life cycle cost comparisons can be made between various display technologies that provide essential acquisition data. Reliability, maintainability and the support strategy influence the downstream costs to the government and the display supplier. Statistical simulation techniques can be used to predict life cycle cost components. Technical analyses of life cycle cost drivers early in the display development are critical to controlling life cycle cost.

Electromechanical flight instruments in military aircraft are being replaced by flat panels. One of the reasons often stated is to improve reliability. This paper discusses a project initiated several years ago to design, develop, qualify, manufacture and flight test an electromechanical Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) designed for high reliability for the F-15 aircraft. This indicator was to have a guaranteed Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of 10,000 hours minimum. This paper discuses the results of this project after completing development, qualification testing, manufacture and several years of operational flights on 2 squadrons of F-15 aircraft. The results will be compared to experience gained in flying flat panel displays in a commercial jet aircraft. The comparison shows that the electromechanical flight instrument as designed, demonstrates a reliability equal to or greatly exceeding that of current flat panel displays. Most electromechanical flight instruments in use today were designed and manufactured 25 to 30 years ago. Their intended useful life, by specification, was 10 years with an MTBF requirement of approximately 1,000 hours. It is shown that the specification requirements for useful life as well as reliability requirements can be greatly expanded for electromechanical flight instruments to equal or exceed that of flat panel displays. This paper describes some of the design techniques and test methods used which have achieved such high reliability of the electromechanical HSI in an F-15 environment. A case is thus presented for the continued application of high reliability electromechanical instruments in certain cockpit applications with many benefits to the user.

Three dimensional (3D) displays are critical for viewing complex multi-dimensional information and for viewing representations of the three dimensional real world. A teaming arrangement between Laser Power Corporation (LPC) and Specialty Devices, Inc. (SDI) has led to the feasibility demonstration of a directly-viewed three dimensional volumetric display. LPC has developed red, green, and blue (RGB) diode pumped solid state microlaser display technology for use as a high resolution, high brightness display engine for the three dimensional display. Concurrently, SDI has developed a unique technology for viewing high resolution three dimensional volumetric images without external viewing aids (eye wear). When coupled to LPC's display engine, the resultant all solid state three dimensional display presets a true, physical three dimensionality which is directly viewable from all angles by multiple viewers without additional viewing equipment (eye wear). The resultant volumetric display will further enable applications such as the 'virtual sandbox,' visualization of radar and sonar data, air traffic control, remote surgery and diagnostics, and CAD workstations.

Simple visual cues increase human awareness and perception and decrease reaction times. Humans are visual beings requiring visual cues to warn them of impending danger especially on combat aviation. The simplest cues are those that allow the individual to immerse themselves in the situations to which they must respond. Two-dimensional (2-D) display technology has real limits on what types of information and how much information it can present to the viewer without becoming disorienting or confusing. True situational awareness requires a transition from 2-D to three-dimensional (3-D) display technology.

We have carried out experiments and simulations to optimize the materials and processes for fabricating holographically formed polymer dispersed liquid crystal (HPDLC) devices. Bright reflective HPDLC displays with peak reflection above 60% have been achieved with fast, sub-millisecond (tau) _ON + (tau) _OFF switching speed. The switching voltage has been reduced by more than a factor of 2 by selecting appropriate liquid crystal and polymer materials and by the addition of surfactants. The viewing angle of HPDLCs has been extended by a novel fabrication technique. We have fabricated color HPDLC demonstration displays by stacking red, green, and blue HPDLC layers and have achieved the widest color gamut that has ever been reported for a reflective display. The methods for making these novel color reflective displays and the measured are presented.

Flat panel display devices today are manufactured almost exclusively using liquid crystal and active matrix liquid crystal technologies. Although these processes have been developed and continually refined for a number of years the manufactured panels still suffer problems with viewing angle, display brightness, and robustness. For these reasons and because of the overwhelming market demand, a number of alternative technological approaches are presently being developed. Amongst these new approaches, FEDT (Field Emission Display Technology) is one that could provide many improvements. In this paper we report on progress on individual steps towards development of a novel approach for the fabrication of nanometer size emitter array structures for field emission displays. These processes compatible with standard semiconductor processing techniques, provide the means to fabricate arrays with an aspect ratio of 100:1 without the use of sub-micron lithography. Test results to date have determined the field emission current density is approximately 30 mA/cm² for applied fields of 4.5 V/um and the emission site density is estimated at 10⁸/cm².

The thrust of this paper will be to trace some of the design decisions made during development of the M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP) Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) display. We will describe factors which determined the size, resolution, optical filtering, as well as packaging characteristics. The Commanders Thermal Viewer (CTV) display is a 16:9 aspect ratio, 9.2' diagonal, mirror electrode EL, providing a 1316 X 480 pixel resolution. These characteristics were determined through a combination of vehicle space limitations, human factors considerations and technology limitations. Packaging, both electrical and mechanical were determined by the environmental and physical constraints of confined space inside a main battle tank.

High performance electronic displays (CRT, AMLCD, TFEL, plasma, etc.) require wide bandwidth electrical drive signals to produce the desired display images. When the image generation and/or image processing circuitry is located within the same line replaceable unit (LRU) as the display media, the transmission of the display drive signals to the display media presents no unusual design problems. However, many aircraft cockpits are severely constrained for available space behind the instrument panel. This often forces the system designer to specify that only the display media and its immediate support circuitry are to be mounted in the instrument panel. A wide bandwidth interconnect system is then required to transfer image data from the display generation circuitry to the display unit. Image data transfer rates of nearly 1.5 Gbits/second may be required when displaying full motion video at a 60 Hz field rate. In addition to wide bandwidth, this interconnect system must exhibit several additional key characteristics: (1) Lossless transmission of image data; (2) High reliability and high integrity; (3) Ease of installation and field maintenance; (4) High immunity to HIRF and electrical noise; (5) Low EMI emissions; (6) Long term supportability; and (7) Low acquisition and maintenance cost. Rockwell Collins has developed an avionics grade remote display interconnect system based on the American National Standards Institute Fibre Channel standard which meets these requirements. Readily available low cost commercial off the shelf (COTS) components are utilized, and qualification tests have confirmed system performance.

Military sensors and crewstation displays are all moving to digital-based technologies, an epochal shift from the previous world of analog interfaces throughout the video chain. It is no longer possible to specify a sensor and display to the same interface specification such as the venerable RS-170 and RS- 343 standards without paying an unacceptable resolution penalty. Consequently a new standard is required to allow sensor and display manufacturers to easily design system interfaces without relying on cumbersome, costly and unique interface control documents. This paper presents one possible hardware and protocol standard based on FibreChannel technology, and solicits inputs into the standards setting process which is now in progress.

Information advantage is the key success factor in all conflicts. In a modern combat aircraft the amount of available information is continuously increasing with new and more sophisticated sensor systems. By incorporating an integrated mission recording system the vast amount of information captured in a modern combat aircraft is recorded. Evaluating this information, whether for aircraft development, pilot training or in combat, will maximize the experience from each flight and enhance the efficiency of the following missions. All Lot 3 of the Swedish fighter JAS39 Gripen as well as the export versions will be equipped with a digital mission recording system. The system is called DiRECT and is used for video, audio and data recording on a direct access, solid- state memory.

Displays typically are not able to deliver a viewable image in sunlight or environments with a high level of ambient light. The degradation of the image contrast is caused by reflection of ambient light from the display surface. Ambient light reflectivity from the display is an important measure of a display's ability to maintain image contrast. Projection displays are mostly used in low ambient light environments. Front projection screens have high reflectivity by design and are totally unsatisfactory for high ambient light applications. Commercially available rear projection screens use a variety of approaches to reduce ambient light reflections. Until now, their reduction was insufficient for daylight applications. An analysis of contrast deficiency in existing screen types is presented. Under DARPA sponsorship, the Max Levy Autograph and Sarnoff Corporations have combined to develop a rear projection screen technology with an improved suppression of ambient light reflections. Screen samples will be manufactured for use in daylight and high ambient environments. Other features of these screens include high resolution and the ability to match light distribution to the viewing requirements. The performance of this new technology is presented in this paper.

Recent advances in compact, air-cooled, diode-pumped solid- state visible microlasers have enabled the development of portable laser display systems. In addition to the added benefits of large color gamut, invariant color accuracy, image uniformity, high contrast, and large depth of focus inherent in the microlaser design, the reliability of these all-solid state red-green-blue (RGB) sources make them attractive for display applications. Compact, multi-watt laser modules have been demonstrated for use as a high brightness 'laser light engine' for replacing arc lamps in LCD/DMD type display configurations. Using this 'backlit' approach, a microlaser- based projector has been demonstrated, providing greater than 500 lumens at 1280 X 1024 resolution using reflective AMLCD light valves. Also being developed is an airborne tactical HMD system wherein the laser module is remotely coupled to a subtractive color LCD assembly through an optical fiber to provide a more than 24,000,000 (twenty-four million) cd/m² luminance for illuminating the LCD assembly. This technology could be applied to a variety of cockpit displays providing sunlight readable illumination for both head-down and head-up backlit display configurations. The advantages of the microlaser technology will enable further applications in other military platforms such as command and control centers, simulators and HMDs. Longer term potential includes high end CAD workstations, entertainment systems, and electronic cinema.

A compact and efficient laser source is required as an enabling technology for laser projection displays. We discuss a scalable green-pumped, non-critically phase-matched LBO optical parametric oscillator (OPO) which simultaneously generates red and blue wavelengths that are ideal for display applications. Pumping the OPO with 9.6 W of 523 nm green light from a frequency-doubled, diode-pumped Nd:YLF oscillator/amplifier laser system has resulted in a measured 3.6 W of 896 nm signal power and an estimated idler power of 2.6 W. The signal was extra-cavity frequency doubled to produce 0.65 W of blue light at 448 nm. Intra-cavity frequency doubling of the idler produced 1.66 W of red light at 628 nm.

Avionic engineers are increasingly replacing CRTs with LCDs in both head-up displays and head down displays. Indeed, LCDs have made considerable progress with regards to adequate brightness, dimmability and reliability. Image quality issues in terms of resolution, viewing angle, gray scale and color gamut have also been improved. However, much more progress is required and manufacturing cost cannot be ignored. Quantum Vision is actively developing an alternate approach, the resonant microcavity anode. This emissive component is based upon rugged thin film phosphors capable of generating high brightness and high resolution images. Current theoretical predictions indicate that resonant microcavities can lead to an order of magnitude increase in brightness while having a cost profile consistent with high volume products.

The information contained in this paper is derived from Technology Investigation (TI) Studies conducted by Lockheed Martin, Tactical Defense Systems as part of the U.S. Navy AN/UYQ-70 Contract for Graphics and Display Systems. The authors have revised and edited the information to develop this paper. The complete Technology Investigation Studies, subject to U.S. Navy distribution restrictions, may be requested from Naval Sea Systems Command, Code PMS440SE. This paper will present a brief overview of Graphics and Display Technologies as they exist today related to the Navy's AN/UYQ- 70 program. Discussion will be given on the basic components of a graphics system, as well as graphical application programming interfaces. We will then look briefly at some graphics technology implementations on VME and PCI, and discuss the new, emerging Accelerated Graphics Port Standard. Final discussions on the AN/UYQ-70 view of industry trends and where the AN/UYQ-70 is going relative to graphics technology are presented in the conclusion.

When considering the operating conditions of an aerospace flight deck, avionics displays have extremely stringent requirements. To comply with this environment, LCD Lighting, Inc. has recently introduced new fluorescent lamp technology that improves the overall performance of AMLCD backlights. This advancement, called Ultra-Bright^TM, permits AMLCDs to consistently meet the demanding standards of the avionics display industry. In this paper, we will review fluorescent lamp construction, operating principles and physics, and then describe our recent innovation that has notably enhanced fluorescent lamp performance.

Commercial display interfaces are currently transitioning from analog to digital. Although this transition is in the very early stages, the military needs to begin planning their own transition to digital. There are many problems with the analog interface in high-resolution display systems that are solved by changing to a digital interface. Also, display system cost can be lower with a digital interface to a high resolution display. Battelle is under contract with DARPA to develop an advanced Display Interface (ADI) to replace the analog RGB interfaces currently used in high definition workstation displays. The goal is to create a standard digital display interface for military applications that is based on emerging commercial standards. Support for military application- specific functionality is addressed, including display test and control. The main challenges to implementing a digital display interface are described, along with approaches to address the problems. Conceptual ADI architectures are described and contrasted. The current and emerging commercial standards for digital display interfaces are reviewed in detail. Finally, the tasks required to complete the ADI effort are outlined and described.

The information explosion has created a need for large, flat hang-on-the-wall displays to display the ever increasing quantity of information. Rapid advances in computing power and communication technology are outpacing the advances in display technology. Typical monitors have progressed from VGA with 0.3 M pixels, to SXGA with 1.3 M pixels. Top of the line displays are pushing 4 M pixels. Costs of displays with increased number of pixels have risen exponentially with pixel count. Display technology is limiting the exploitation of advances in information and communications technologies. A revolutionary new display technology is needed to enable practical use of the information and communications revolutions. The Sarnoff Corporation and Cambridge Display Technology Ltd. are developing a modular display approach for thin hang-on-the- wall displays that has a cost structure that is linear with pixel count. This approach is based on three display technology advances: smart block matrix addressing, light emitting polymers (LEP), and integrated packaging. Smart block matrix addressing enables the use of low cost addressing while at the same time decoupling the display performance from display size. LEP materials enable low manufacturing cost for bright emissive thin display modules. Integrated packaging enables the mass production of low cost display modules that can be assembled into large area, seamless displays. Together, these three technologies produce for the first time a thin scaleable display. The displays made using this technology have been named 'Array Displays.' Array Display size and shape are determined at assembly, not by the manufacturing line, Pixel densities of about one million pixels per square meter are possible with this low cost manufacturing approach. Array Displays provide the pathway to low cost scaleable displays to meet the needs for the information age.

Spherical panoramic virtual displays are a new environment for presenting high resolution visual information to an observer or observers within the display system. The spherical panoramic virtual display consists of a simple optical system and a unique LED scanning projector system. The image is collimated and is very high resolution over a very wide field of view. The image is generated by the projector forms a seamless image. The image has very high contrast ratio unlike many other projection based technologies. The technology of spherical panoramic virtual displays will be discussed with an emphasis for applications in flight simulation. Resolution, screen refresh rate, and modulation rate are calculated for compact fully immersive system. The design of the system with respect to contrast ratio, resolution, and aberrations will be analyzed with optical ray tracing calculations. Brightness and color gamut calculations will be presented for the system based on the commercially available LED components in the projector system.

The Mobile Modular Display for Advanced Research and Training (M2DART) was designed and fabricated at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Warfighter Training Research Facility. The M2DART is part of a long term development goal of AFRL to produce a display and imaging system combination with significantly improved visual acuity in a full field-of- view/field-of-regard environment. The M2DART is an eight- channel, state-of-the-art, real image, rear-projection visual display system. It is a full color, high resolution, wraparound display designed for use with single-seat cockpit simulators. Depending on the number of available image generator channels, the system allows for a wide instantaneous field-of-view, when used in conjunction with a magnetic head tracker and video router combination to provide a full field- of-regard. The display is designed to accommodate a variety of visual image generators and cockpit simulators. The system uses commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) BARCO CRT projectors to display the out-the-window (OTW) visual imagery to the pilot. The M2DART concept demonstrates that a rear-projected, real image approach is a viable means of providing full color imagery to flight simulators with improved brightness and resolution characteristics. The final design of the M2DART represents a balance between such considerations as training requirements, the number of available image generator channels, system resolution, field of view, brightness, image stability and maintainability. This paper will provide a system description, which includes design trade-off considerations, hardware configuration, screen geometry, field of view, and performance specifications.

This paper reviews the technical requirements for Out The Window (OTW) visual systems. Requirements for different modes of training and/or simulation will be stated. A new type of visual display will be described that provides improved, cost effective implementation and performance.

Advances in computing and optical modulation techniques now make it possible to anticipate the generation of near real- time, reconfigurable, high quality, three-dimensional images using holographic methods. Computer generated holography (CGH) is the only technique which holds promise of producing synthetic images having the full range of visual depth cues. These realistic images will be viewable by several users simultaneously, without the need for headtracking or special glasses. Such a data visualization tool will be key to speeding up the manufacture of new commercial and military equipment by negating the need for the production of physical 3D models in the design phase. DERA Malvern has been involved in designing and testing fixed CGH in order to understand the connection between the complexity of the CGH, the algorithms used to design them, the processes employed in their implementation and the quality of the images produced. This poster describes results from CGH containing up to 10⁸ pixels. The methods used to evaluate the reconstructed images are discussed and quantitative measures of image fidelity made. An understanding of the effect of the various system parameters upon final image quality enables a study of the possible system trade-offs to be carried out. Such an understanding of CGH production and resulting image quality is key to effective implementation of a reconfigurable CGH system currently under development at DERA.

We are all familiar with stories of problems with FPD insertion into military systems. Many of us are also sated with the negative side of this difficult endeavor. There is a lot of good news about the military and display industry partnership and successes, and this good news is increasing daily. This paper selectively offers some of this good news from the perspective of U.S. Navy platforms.

This paper reports on a highly unusual application of flat panel displays in a cockpit. The cockpit is found in a mini- submarine of the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS), a state-of-the-art military platform designed to deliver U.S. Navy SEALs, and other special forces, to their mission locations. For security reasons, the presentation details are intentionally kept minimal.

Flat-panel displays are basically of two types: light valve (needs an external source of light) and emissive type (generates light at the display surface). The light emitting diode (LED) display is of the emissive type. The inorganic LED displays have been in use for more than 25 years in one form or the other. Because of certain limitations of inorganic materials (such as luminous efficiency and color), LED applications have been limited. The recent discovery (over the past 15 years) of polymer and organic materials has changed LED prospects. It now may become possible to make LED displays that are inexpensive, bright, low-power, large size, and at the same time provide full color. If present research objectives are met, LEDs, especially organic LEDs (OLEDs), may have the potential to revolutionize a certain segment of flat- panel display market. This paper discusses various types of OLED technologies with particular reference to Small Molecule and Conjugated Polymer displays. Some unique versions of these displays such as transparent displays and flexible displays will also be discussed. A part of the discussion will be devoted to various driver circuitry and full color generation schemes. A comprehensive list of various research efforts in OLED technology all over the world will be presented with their differentiating features. The strength of the underlying technology and the challenges facing these types of displays will be discussed.

This paper proposes a framework for quantitatively balancing the costs, benefits, and risks of alternate upgrade strategies, with Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition of flat panel display as an example. A key issue in DoD Acquisition Reform is the rapid product turnover in commercial markets and the difficulties DoD has traditionally faced in adopting these advances in a timely manner. This paper aims to clarify when commercial technology represents 'best value' to DoD.

We demonstrate that the binocular perspective disparity generated by an interocular separation that is only a few percent of the nominal 65 mm human interocular separation is still enough to stimulate depth perception. This perception, which we call microstereopsis, has a 'kinder gentler' character than the stark and stressful stimulus presented by geometrically correct virtual reality displays. Microstereopsis stimulates 'just enough reality:' enough to resolve the depth ambiguity in flat images, but not so much reality that it hurts. We observe that whereas crosstalk between left and right image channels is normally perceived as ghosting, with microstereopsis it is perceived as blur in the foreground and background. Since ghosting is objectionable, whereas blur that looks like depth-of-focus in not objectionable, this relaxes the requirement for a high contrast ratio between on and off states of the stereo view multiplexer. This relaxation in turn suggest possibilities for zoneless autostereoscopic displays. We propose a realization based on an electronically toggled louvre filter using suspended particle display technology.

Two industry-government workshops on the topic of improving DoD display acquisition convened at SPIE AeroSense '99 on the evenings of April 6th and 7th. The discussions focussed primarily on three issue areas; (1) Requirements, standardization, and commonality; (2) life cycle cost; and (3) commercial technology and practices. Suggestions coming out of these discussions included the following: Developing families of specifications; creating more economic incentives for commonality; not interfering with industry competition; improving DoD's information base; bringing greater visibility to the LCC implications of display choices; and changing DoD behavior to obtain greater access to commercial suppliers.