Almost ever since I started my cockpit project I have been using projectors as the visuals. One reason was the sheer size of image the projector can produce.

Some years ago I was able to get 3 projectors for free which pivoted me in to a curved screen set-up. But over the last months I have been experimenting with TVs instead of projectors.

tl;dr : I prefer TVs over projectors. TVs are easier to work with the image quality is better unless you really go that extra mile, however the immersive feeling is better with projectors. And if you really invest time and money in projectors you can get a top-notch result.

The video is quite long – there is quite a lot to cover.

My current set-up

My curved screen projector setup contained: 3x ultra short projectors. I got them for free many years ago. But ultra short throw is now really suitable for a simulator setup.

In order to use projectors you need some sort of immersive software. I bought “FlyElise Immersive Pro” many years ago in a pc-locked version. Pc-locked means that when you change hardware in you computer you need a new activation key from the company. Annoying, and that is why. recommend you buy the USB-dongle version. At one point FlyElise limited its support to 2 years from thereon a yearly subscription must be paid. I found out of this years later. So in order for me to upgrade my hardware in the sim-rig I had to pay for multiple years subscription – almost costing the same as a new license. That is the reason I have been on rather old hardware for some years.

I never really was satisfied with the image quality in my projector setup. In fact the image was so blurry that I not able to read taxi signs when cruising around. Both frustrating and annoying when not able to find your way around the airport.

Projectors Pros and cons

First of all: Overall if you invest time and money in projectors it can be absolutely stunning!
The immersive feeling is fantastic and looking at a 180 degree seemless picture is just second to none. When you take off or bank the aircraft your inner ear is tricked and you get the sensation that the horizon is tilting making your stomach tickle.

Unfortunately I find the downsides with projectors bigger than the advantage mentioned above. The set-up is time-consuming and the psychical setup is very requiring in order to make it perfect. Once perfect aligned you need to work with the software in order to warp the picture and blend the images.

The required software sets your back €400-500 on top of 3 FullHD or 4K short throw projectors.

A curved screen requires space. My room is 4.5 meters across making the curved screen having a similar diameter. From my research I read that I curved screen smaller that 4 meters in diameter (2 meter radius) not will be able to provide a good warped image. So you need a big room for the curved screen.

TVs pros and cons

TVs are much easier to set up. 10 minutes in Microsoft Flight Simulator and you are done (Prepar3d is a bit more difficult). No additional software is required.

And the image quality is better. More details and a sharper image.

But there are also some pretty significant down sides using TVs. Most important the bezels. You will always want an odd number of TVs. Having a bezel down the centerline is always going to be annoying.

Further more you need pretty large TVs – in fact at least 75″ is required in order to cover the width of the B737-cockpit which is 1,5 meter wide.
I was lucky and get a free 65″ TV for the center and for the sides I am using a 60″ and a 48″. Not the ideal TVs for a multiple set-up. But an advantage with TVs is that you can find some used cheap.

Overall conclusion

There are more aspects to both projectors and TVs some of these are covered in the half hour video.

The overall conclusion is that if you want to invest time and energy (and money) in projectors you can get amazing results.
But if you are going for something less complex and giving you a sharp image right out-of-the-box TVs can get you a long way for smaller effort.

That is why I overall recommend TVs if you are moving from a single monitor-setup to something with multiple views.