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[How to] Multi monitor MFCD display export set-up guide - July 2023 (updated)


jonsky7

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So I got my 2 MFD's exported in the A-10C and then discovered, as others have, that the kneeboard was stuffed on the far right MFD. So I applied the OB .lua edits in the Kneeboard.zip along with the NP++ find/replace for my other modules. Success! The kneeboard began showing up in the cockpit view... but now my mfds both in cockpit and on the exported view are completely black. I took your original monitor config .lua in my savedgames and deleted the kneeboard portion as recommended, but no joy. Any help would be appreciated!


Edited by FastNeatAverage
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6 hours ago, FastNeatAverage said:

So I got my 2 MFD's exported in the A-10C and then discovered, as others have, that the kneeboard was stuffed on the far right MFD. So I applied the OB .lua edits in the Kneeboard.zip along with the NP++ find/replace for my other modules. Success! The kneeboard began showing up in the cockpit view... but now my mfds both in cockpit and on the exported view are completely black. I took your original monitor config .lua in my savedgames and deleted the kneeboard portion as recommended, but no joy. Any help would be appreciated!

 

Hmm that's strange, something has obviously gone wrong there, a tiny mistake like leaving out a comma (,) can break the files.

My best suggestion is to do a DCS Repair https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/faq/repair/   and start again, I have just edited the Kneeboard move guide due to some minor findings.

If you take a screenshot of your display settings in widows, explain what resolution your monitors are etc, and include your config file. I can take a look for you.

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10 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

Hmm that's strange, something has obviously gone wrong there, a tiny mistake like leaving out a comma (,) can break the files.

My best suggestion is to do a DCS Repair https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/support/faq/repair/   and start again, I have just edited the Kneeboard move guide due to some minor findings.

If you take a screenshot of your display settings in widows, explain what resolution your monitors are etc, and include your config file. I can take a look for you.

image.png
Monitors are 3440x1440 & 2- 800x600 liliputs
I tried to do a straight copy paste everwhere except where a single numeral was being added (ex: file path in a '.lua' becoming 'xxx2.lua') to eliminate any transcription error 🤷‍♂️

 

MFCDs + CameraEDIT.lua

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16 minutes ago, FastNeatAverage said:


I tried to do a straight copy paste everwhere except where a single numeral was being added (ex: file path in a '.lua' becoming 'xxx2.lua') to eliminate any transcription error 🤷‍♂️

 

 

Ah, I think that is what has gone wrong, the files in the kneeboard.zip mod are to be added to the game files, and do not replace the originals. I've amended the guide to make that less ambiguous.

It's a workaround because altering the original files breaks the multiplayer integrity check. Only the kneeboard uses the modded files, but I'm sure the MFDs need the original files in place to function correctly. I didn't write the mod, I found it on Reddit.

So you need to run a repair to restore the 3 original files, and then follow the guide for the kneeboard again without changing any file names etc.  

 


Edited by jonsky7
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6 minutes ago, jonsky7 said:

Ah, I think that is what has gone wrong, the files in the kneeboard.zip mod are to be added to the game files, and do not replace the originals. I've amended the guide to make that less ambiguous.

It's a workaround because altering the original files breaks the multiplayer integrity check. Only the kneeboard uses the modded files, but I'm sure the MFDs need the original files in place to function correctly.

So you need to run a repair to restore the 3 original files, and then follow the guide for the kneeboard again without changing any file names etc.  

 

YES! I noticed this immediately after posting and having a second look at your guide. To be fair, I followed the instructions line for line, but in the readme file of the .zip. Mistake #1

Thankfully I kept the copies of the originals in a separate folder. I'll try adding those back in addition to the edits and see what result I get.


Edited by FastNeatAverage
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Hi I haven't got my setup in yet or my new PC but want to run 3 mfds along with my main screen.

I am trying to go ahead and make a LUA file to speed things up for when it arrives. I cant run it on my current PC cause my GPU died 😞  I have been going ahead and buying the modules I wanna play while the sales have been going though: AH-64D, FC3, A-10C II, F-16C, F/A-18C, AV-88, F-14, M-2000C

I notice most people only use two MFDs or another large monitor to put several things on but I wanna run 3 MFDs if possible with three thrustmaster cougar MFD. The screen will be 800x600. Anyway If I am understanding right this stuff right  is how my file should be? Through I probably royally screwed up trying to do it for the third MFD. Gotta figure out how to use (what to put) in the third MFD for aircraft with only two.

 

Boyer Cougar.lua


Edited by Sorata
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2 hours ago, Sorata said:

Hi I haven't got my setup in yet or my new PC but want to run 3 mfds along with my main screen.

I am trying to go ahead and make a LUA file to speed things up for when it arrives. I cant run it on my current PC cause my GPU died 😞  I have been going ahead and buying the modules I wanna play while the sales have been going though: AH-64D, FC3, A-10C II, F-16C, F/A-18C, AV-88, F-14, M-2000C

I notice most people only use two MFDs or another large monitor to put several things on but I wanna run 3 MFDs if possible with three thrustmaster cougar MFD. The screen will be 800x600. Anyway If I am understanding right this stuff right  is how my file should be? Through I probably royally screwed up trying to do it for the third MFD. Gotta figure out how to use (what to put) in the third MFD for aircraft with only two.

 

Boyer Cougar.lua 2.11 kB · 0 downloads

 

Yes that seems ok, just bear in mind that the names you have given to some of the MFDs are not the default, and some aircraft lua files need to modified to use those names.

For the F16 you could always have the EHSI in the centre screen
For the F14 you can actually display a RIO screen without the need to switch your front seat screen.

Just a couple of ideas.
 

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34 minutes ago, jonsky7 said:

Yes that seems ok, just bear in mind that the names you have given to some of the MFDs are not the default, and some aircraft lua files need to modified to use those names.

For the F16 you could always have the EHSI in the centre screen
For the F14 you can actually display a RIO screen without the need to switch your front seat screen.

Just a couple of ideas.
 

Interesting. So to add those to the third spot I would need to do like so with the F16 EHSI for example?

EHSI =
{
x = 3841;
y = 370;
width = 520;
height = 520;

I am taking wild guesses based on your LUA files for the width and height. Yeah Ill fix those names asap. I was basing it off a modified copy of your LUA with the Display Exports Folder to try to learn.

 

 


Edited by Sorata
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7 hours ago, Sorata said:

Interesting. So to add those to the third spot I would need to do like so with the F16 EHSI for example?

I am taking wild guesses based on your LUA files for the width and height. Yeah Ill fix those names asap. I was basing it off a modified copy of your LUA with the Display Exports Folder to try to learn.

My monitor config file may well be a bit overly complicated for most people, it's not 100% necessary to set it up like that.
Basically the reason behind it is that the screens in the FC3 planes are always called LEFT_MFCD and RIGHT_MFCD, and they can not be changed.
So in order to display the FC3 plane's screens in a different location from the other aircraft, I had to give all of the other aircraft screens unique names.
This was so I could have the SU-25 TV Screen large on my second monitor, but my MFDs are usually on my third monitor which has Cougars, if that makes sense. 

So for you, with one big screen for your cockpit view, and 3 little screens for MFDs you could probably get away with
LEFT_MFCD
CENTER_MFCD   (default name for F18 AMPCD)
EHSI                     (same coordinates as center)
RIGHT_MFCD       (M2000 screen default)
F14_VDI                (same coordinates as LEFT_MFCD)
F14_TID                (same coordinates as CENTER_MFCD)
F14_HSD              (same coordinates as RIGHT_MFCD)
and you wouldn't need to modify any of the aircraft lua files.

But if you want to, feel free to modify my monitor config file from the "Display Exports.zip" on page 1, make sure to use the modified aircraft files in there too.
I'm not sure if the files have had any updates since I posted them, so here's the latest ones I'm using. They don't change that often during updates.

Display Exports.zip

I think when you get all of your screens setup, especially if you have TM Cougars, you will need to do a bit of editing of the MFD coordinates.
This little program will come in handy for that... http://breakthrusoftware.com/html/onlinedocs/kb/installkb/ScreenCoordTool.html

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I have everything more or less sorted out, both MFCDs show pretty much where they are supposed to.

However, now everytime I bring up my kneeboard for the first time I have to resize it, and put it back into the corner of my main display.  It shows up much larger, and half on my main diosplay and half on my lower right MFCD.  Is there a file I can edit or a setting I can change to make this come up on the bottom right corner of my main display (same position if I was using a single display), and not as large?

Main display is 1920x1080 with 2 x 800x600 MFCDs below L and R corner

 

 

EDIT: Ok Darkdiz, READ THE THREAD!!!!!! 🤨


Edited by Darkdiz

Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can detect

AMD Ryzen 9 3900x CPU@4.5Ghz, ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero Motherboard, 64GB Corsair Venegence DDR 3200 RAM, MSI Rtx 3060 12GB Primary GPU, ASUS GTX 1650 4GB Secondary GPU, 40" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor, 32" 1360x768 Sony Monitor, 32" Dynex 1360x768 Monitor, 1TB Seagate Firecuda M2 PCIe 4 OS SSD, 2TB Western Digital Blue M2 PCIe 3 storage SSD, 8TB Samsung 870QVO storage SSD, Western Digital Blue 1TB storage SATA, 2x Thrustmaster T16000 (LH and RH), Warthog Joy/Throttle/TPRS, 6 x Cougar MFDs (4 with Generic VGA 800x600 displays), Track IR 5 with IR Trackstar V3, Logitech G910 Tactile Keyboard, Logitech G604 Lightspeed Mouse, Logitech F310 Gamepad, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Soul: None (sold long ago to the MGOMU, also known as Princess)

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/11/2021 at 9:35 PM, Spger40 said:

Hello,

 

Inked7680_LI.jpg

 

Is there a way to move the upper left text to the middle? DCS 7680x2520 is currently running. So I want to display the text on the middle monitor. (2560x0)

 

Thanks

 

It's been quite a while @Spger40, but I think I may have a solution for you.

The entry UIMainView = Viewports.Center in the monitor config file, declares the position of the User interface. This controls the position of the Main Menu, the mission editor, and also the boundaries of the UI within the cockpit. So if we restrict those boundaries to your centre monitor, the comms messages should stay on your centre monitor too.

So we can replace  UIMainView = Viewports.Center
with


UIMainView =
{
x = 2560;
y = 0;
width = 2560;
height = 1440;
}

I think these values will be correct for your setup.

 


Edited by jonsky7
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On 2/26/2022 at 10:28 AM, jonsky7 said:

It's been quite a while @Spger40, but I think I may have a solution for you.

The entry UIMainView = Viewports.Center in the monitor config file, declares the position of the User interface. This controls the position of the Main Menu, the mission editor, and also the boundaries of the UI within the cockpit. So if we restrict those boundaries to your centre monitor, the comms messages should stay on your centre monitor too.

So we can replace  UIMainView = Viewports.Center
with


UIMainView =
{
x = 2560;
y = 0;
width = 2560;
height = 1440;
}

I think these values will be correct for your setup.

 

 

I've spent a few hours lua editing but can't for my life get the mfd exports to work for this setup. Screen 1 is 1920x1080, 2 is 800x600 and 3 is 800x600. I don't know where I'm going wrong / starting to rip my hair out 

monsetup.JPG

MATT.lua

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On 2/26/2021 at 1:12 PM, minar said:

 

It seems to be working with the default .lua file which clearly states monitor on leftside so thts clearly not a problem anymore, I just would like to tweak it to get a f10 moving map on that 2nd screen.

 

Did you ever get this working? I'm using 3 screens, my main screen is in the middle, all you need to do is change the settings of the main screen settings

My 1st screen, Windows sees it as Screen 2 is 1920x1080 so you just off-set your Center Screen like this

_ = function(p) return p; end;
name = _('MySetup');
Description = 'Two monitor configuration';
Viewports =
{
Center =
{
x = 1920;
y = 0;

width = 2560;
height = 1440;
viewDx = 0;
viewDy = 0;
aspect = 2560/1440;
}
}

10 minutes ago, mattjonesgr9 said:

I've spent a few hours lua editing but can't for my life get the mfd exports to work for this setup. Screen 1 is 1920x1080, 2 is 800x600 and 3 is 800x600. I don't know where I'm going wrong / starting to rip my hair out 

monsetup.JPG

MATT.lua 680 B · 0 downloads

Try this, you had your X locations wrong - I just edited the file ADD 300 to the RIGHT Screen X location, I only did it for 600x600, so to get it centered you may need to play with the X numbers.

MATT.lua


Edited by menace
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18 minutes ago, mattjonesgr9 said:

For anyone using a 1920x108p monitor and 800x600 Lilliput screens for MFD's this is my Lua file for those struggling with configuring it 🙂

Huge thanks to those on here and Discord who helped !

monsetup.JPG

MATT (1).lua 611 B · 0 downloads

Was just about to help out but you beat me to it. That one looks much better 👌 

Just be aware of the undisplayable space under your lilliput screens, as described in the guide known issues on page 1.


Edited by jonsky7
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4 hours ago, menace said:

Did you ever get this working? I'm using 3 screens, my main screen is in the middle, all you need to do is change the settings of the main screen settings

My 1st screen, Windows sees it as Screen 2 is 1920x1080 so you just off-set your Center Screen like this

_ = function(p) return p; end;
name = _('MySetup');
Description = 'Two monitor configuration';
Viewports =
{
Center =
{
x = 1920;
y = 0;

width = 2560;
height = 1440;
viewDx = 0;
viewDy = 0;
aspect = 2560/1440;
}
}

I've personally never been able to do this. It seems that my DCS always counts my main monitor as x=0 y=0 no matter where my main screen is in Windows. But I have seen that other people have managed to do it. I wonder what the difference is?

What graphics card are you using? 

Are all of your screens plugged into the graphics card?

Do you run fullscreen?

Do you have eyefinity nvidia surround or whatever its called enabled in gfx card settings for DCS?

Thanks


Edited by jonsky7
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8 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

I've personally never been able to do this. It seems that my DCS always counts my main monitor as x=0 y=0 no matter where my main screen is in Windows. But I have seen that other people have managed to do it. I wonder what the difference is?

What graphics card are you using? 

Are all of your screens plugged into the graphics card?

Do you run fullscreen?

Do you have eyefinity nvidia surround or whatever its called enabled in gfx card settings for DCS?

Thanks

 

 

I'll try to help out.

 

1 - What are the resolution of ALL the monitors you want to use; as an example mine are 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 800x600

2 - What location(s) are your monitors lied out in; my monitors are configures as follows

          Monitor 1 (1920x1080) then Monitor 2 2560x1440, then the MFD 800x600

3 - In Windows Config -> System Display, how are your monitors aligned. Mine are all aligned so the bottom of the monitors are aligned

What aircraft are you trying to use? A-10a, F15C, etc

I'm using a AMD Radeon 6700 XT, however, it shouldn't matter

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6 hours ago, menace said:

 

I'll try to help out.

 

1 - What are the resolution of ALL the monitors you want to use; as an example mine are 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 800x600

2 - What location(s) are your monitors lied out in; my monitors are configures as follows

          Monitor 1 (1920x1080) then Monitor 2 2560x1440, then the MFD 800x600

3 - In Windows Config -> System Display, how are your monitors aligned. Mine are all aligned so the bottom of the monitors are aligned

What aircraft are you trying to use? A-10a, F15C, etc

I'm using a AMD Radeon 6700 XT, however, it shouldn't matter

Oh I know how to set up multi-monitor MFD, I wrote the guide at the start of this thread 😋

I was trying to figure out why some people can have a display left of their main, and myself and others have not been able too.

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Monitors.png

Here is my lua file for the above setup, note I only use the center monitor (5) and the 2 monitors below (4 and 3). DCS ignores monitors 1 and 2 (both 1360x780) The center is 1920x1080 and the 2 below are 800x600.  In the lua file as remarks (--) is the explanation of the pixel selection.  If you want to activate a particular output (F-14 HSI, VDI or TID) simply remove the -- so that part of the script can be executed.

It is still a WIP 🙂

1_Screen+2xMFCDs_below.lua

Talent hits a target no one else can hit, genius hits a target no one else can detect

AMD Ryzen 9 3900x CPU@4.5Ghz, ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero Motherboard, 64GB Corsair Venegence DDR 3200 RAM, MSI Rtx 3060 12GB Primary GPU, ASUS GTX 1650 4GB Secondary GPU, 40" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor, 32" 1360x768 Sony Monitor, 32" Dynex 1360x768 Monitor, 1TB Seagate Firecuda M2 PCIe 4 OS SSD, 2TB Western Digital Blue M2 PCIe 3 storage SSD, 8TB Samsung 870QVO storage SSD, Western Digital Blue 1TB storage SATA, 2x Thrustmaster T16000 (LH and RH), Warthog Joy/Throttle/TPRS, 6 x Cougar MFDs (4 with Generic VGA 800x600 displays), Track IR 5 with IR Trackstar V3, Logitech G910 Tactile Keyboard, Logitech G604 Lightspeed Mouse, Logitech F310 Gamepad, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Soul: None (sold long ago to the MGOMU, also known as Princess)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm having trouble with MFCDs not working properly in non-cockpit views, e.g. F2.
I recalled something about placing a 1x1 version on the main view monitor, so I did that, but Helios wants the names to be different.
What I have below kind of works.
In F2 view:
The left MFCD TAD screen map moves and the overlay data changes.
The right MFCD TGP overlay data changes, but the underlying video doesn't update.

Any ideas?

Helios.lua

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On 5/22/2022 at 3:08 AM, No1sonuk said:

I'm having trouble with MFCDs not working properly in non-cockpit views, e.g. F2.
I recalled something about placing a 1x1 version on the main view monitor, so I did that, but Helios wants the names to be different.
What I have below kind of works.
In F2 view:
The left MFCD TAD screen map moves and the overlay data changes.
The right MFCD TGP overlay data changes, but the underlying video doesn't update.

Any ideas?

Helios.lua 701 B · 2 downloads

 

That's the same for me. I don't know how the 1x1 version would work, because you can only export each display once.

The displays working in external view differs between aircraft and sometimes patches.

You could probably raise the TGP video pausing in external view on the exported display as a bug/issue.

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On 2/26/2022 at 11:28 AM, jonsky7 said:

It's been quite a while @Spger40, but I think I may have a solution for you.

The entry UIMainView = Viewports.Center in the monitor config file, declares the position of the User interface. This controls the position of the Main Menu, the mission editor, and also the boundaries of the UI within the cockpit. So if we restrict those boundaries to your centre monitor, the comms messages should stay on your centre monitor too.

So we can replace  UIMainView = Viewports.Center
with


UIMainView =
{
x = 2560;
y = 0;
width = 2560;
height = 1440;
}

I think these values will be correct for your setup.

 

 

Hi, Saw it a little late. It works fine so far.

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