Ivandrov

I like its overall functionality better. So I wish to use the Sniper over the LITENING.

I don't find it unfortunate. It's typically how I use these dual mode pods, is that IR is for finding hotspots, and TV is for figuring out what that hotspot is. So, wide IR to find spots, and I zoom in with the TV mode. Which means for me the PiP mode is lovely.

These look about the same to me, with the Sniper actually having more magnification in it's standard narrow mode without digital zoom.

But you definitely would be able to tell if you digital zoomed it in by 9x and started looking at a 57x57 image instead. Digital zoom of that degree makes a massive difference at this lower end of resolutions. I'm quite used to how bad even the 2x digital zoom on the -14 and the -15E LANTIRN pods are.

Don't forget the display resolution of the actual screen you are viewing it on. 256x256 was the number I heard last for the DCS pod but that might have been for the Spanish LITENING II that the Hornet has which is where the 29x29 final digital zoomed at 9x comes from. There's a thesis paper floating around on the forums here somewhere that explains that the AT does in fact incorporate some techniques to help with the image degradation of the digital zoom, so. Naturally as these techniques improve, the digital zoom becomes more useable. But there is no upper limit to how much digital zoom you could apply to anything really. (I guess at the most extreme you can have it zoom all the way down to one pixel, just because you wanted to.) If you want you can ask Northrop engineers whether they were bumping the digital zoom levels just because they could to get sales and the people writing the paycheck don't know any better other than "number bigger therefore better"

You don't really "improve" digital zoom. You can process the zoomed image to get back lost detail, or you can increase the base resolution of whatever you are applying the digital zoom too. The later pods have a higher display resolution which makes higher levels of digital zoom more useful. Modern consumer cameras can have available digital zooms well above even that as the base image they take is so high resolution that even the zoomed in image is still HD. For the pod that we have, the 9x zoom means a final pixel width and height of about 29x29.

I don't agree with points 2 and 3 here. The Aliasing does not look like intentional ailasing in the pod image rather it just looks like game engine Ailasing. I.E. something you are not fixing without increasing performance requirements even more. I can't see what you mean by the thickness changing between the PiP images. I'm looking at the water tower legs in the DCS image and it looks about the same thickness as it crosses from the tv to the thermal image.

The level of detail is in fact higher in the TV portion. The TV modes of these pods have always been my goto for actually identifying details beyond just hotspots. Vehicle type and even the specific vehicle. So this seems very useful in centering yourself on the surrounding hotspots and then have the center object be examined in the higher detail TV mode. Or you can look at it as focusing on the center while having more obvious spots on things moving into the outside frame or even moving within it that you are not necessarily focusing on.

Track would be helpful. Possible you are in a 1 bar search pattern in close. Perhaps in a dogfight mode or something else. Just guessing. Check to make sure there are no keybind conflicts or startup issues.

If you have something other than "logic" to describe how the Sniper should be operating than feel free to share. Otherwise, it's working as expected.

XR mode is not just digital zoom. It is also an image processing technique as evidenced by the unique way it interacts with slewing of the pod and time it takes for the clearer picture to come in. Again, the level of digital zoom available is completely up to whoever programs the software in the pod or aircraft. It has nothing to do with the capabilities of the pods themselves. IRL, the 4x-9x range in the LITENING would be mostly useless as the pixelation would be terrible. Even the 4x in the Sniper also seems pretty useless from the one screenshot I have seen of it.

It's just software zoom. The Sniper is more powerful as far as Analog optics, and it's XR mode. The digital zoom is just a number that's programmed into the pod and/or aircraft software with some max ceiling. If you really want to compare them properly, it would be with the LITENING at the same 1x level in its narrow mode.

The LITENING has always not suffered from any image degradation from the digital zoom in-game. In reality, the 9x digital zoom would allow you to count the pixels almost on your hands. It's incredibly bad. I believe ED still plans to downgrade the LITENING on the -16 to the LANTIRN and this visual fidelity will disappear.

Some people are, as seen above. Anyway, I took it for a spin. Was able to identify vehicle types well before getting into Maverick range using the TV Narrow XR mode. So, as far as in-game utility goes, seems fine to me. Will be taking it instead of the LITENING if I'm flying the -16 from now on.

I don't get it, there was a bunch of talk about how the LITENING has had unrealistically clear overall image but especially the digital zoom for years. The new ATP implements the digital zoom realistically, and people are upset that it isn't as good as the LITENING?

Yes, that is exactly what the 2nd part of my reply says. Mods not functioning correctly is just a standard reply, as it is usually correct. There is also the added potential caveat as mentioned before that since the Longbow Radar attempts to classify targets rather than display raw returns that the small Shahed drones is pushing the expected use case of the radar.

PAL: Usually, my first choice. Most versatile general use acquisition mode. As it has, the largest search area and range of 15nm. Has some downsides including sometimes fighting with exactly what you are locking onto and also can take some time in waiting for the radar cone to actually reach the target depending on the exact situation and where it starts in its pattern. VSL LO or HI: All about either turn fights or sometimes can be used in a pinch if you know that the bandit is somewhere above your HUD area visually. PLM: Simple point and lock. Useful in discriminating exactly what target you want to lock but with more limited range. Take some time to practice using them all. They will all have their strengths that become obvious to you in certain situations. Edit: I didn't even realize. Necro post.

Well, the standard reply is that it being a mod is likely an issue. I would also hazard a guess on the backend the Longbow Radar does not pick up things classed as munitions by the code.

Yes, you can absolutely carry Paveways without a pod and have them buddy lased or use them as dumb bombs.

So, yeah. That's kind of what I said. The thing is that for the AWG-9, all of the Pulse Doppler modes are HPRF only. It makes me skeptical that moving ground vehicles is the main reason for such a large MLC filter if you're saying that is not as much of an issue for HPRF modes. As a reminder the filter encompasses a region of +-133 knots. Which is far more than you can reasonably expect ground vehicles in a combat zone to be moving.

Niche stick that at least started to fall in sales. Like typical market stuff. No reason to believe it would not be compatible with the FFB base. The Virpil sticks all use the same connector to connect to their current bases.

Yeah, it is not accurate at all. Probably due to the unique drop profile of the Durandal. You would have to workaround it, designate anywhere from near the middle to the end of the runway for best effect and forget about hitting your interval.

Works for me using your settings. Whenever you can get that track posted that would be helpful.

The manual states that it is not possible for targets with no doppler shift to become contacts in the Pulse Doppler modes. That and it being described as a hardware limitation implies that it is a drawback of the technique itself, possibly in combination with the radar components.

If you are having to "work around it" sounds like it is affected too.