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

[Bigity]

Appreciate it!

[Sindar]

Give me a hint. In which file can I change the default brightness and contrast of MFCD?

[FastNeatAverage]

@jonsky7Please forgive the repeat (assuming it's been asked), but I can't find the topic in this thread anywhere. After applying the kneeboard relocation fix quite some time ago I'm now failing IC check in MP servers. It appears to be associated with the mod of the device-init.lua

Is there a work around for this or do you have to choose between seeing your kneeboards and playing on an MP server with IC check enabled?

Edited January 2 by FastNeatAverage

[jonsky7]

17 hours ago, FastNeatAverage said:

@jonsky7Please forgive the repeat (assuming it's been asked), but I can't find the topic in this thread anywhere. After applying the kneeboard relocation fix quite some time ago I'm now failing IC check in MP servers. It appears to be associated with the mod of the device-init.lua

Is there a work around for this or do you have to choose between seeing your kneeboards and playing on an MP server with IC check enabled?

 

After having a brief look through the multiplayer server list, it looks like a few more servers have the option for "Require pure scripts" set to yes lately.

Unfortunately when a server has this option set to yes, there is very little in the way of allowed modifications, if any at all.

You should be able to still play on any multiplayer server where this option is set to "no", you may get an IC failed notification when you leave the servers, if this is still the case you need to restart DCS to reset the IC check.

[Sindar]

Give me a hint. In which file can I change the default brightness and contrast of MFCD?

[Floydii]

On 1/12/2024 at 5:01 AM, Sindar said:

Give me a hint. In which file can I change the default brightness and contrast of MFCD?

You may not be able to, but I believe you  can use Reshade to brighten certain parts of your screen/s. Do that over the top of MFDs and it may help.

  

[rob10]

1 hour ago, Floydii said:

You may not be able to, but I believe you  can use Reshade to brighten certain parts of your screen/s. Do that over the top of MFDs and it may help.

This.  ED has stated it's a complex issue and while they are looking at it there is no easy fix so don't expect it to be fixed in the near future.  Until then using Reshade is really your only good option.

[Floydii]

On 1/12/2024 at 5:01 AM, Sindar said:

Give me a hint. In which file can I change the default brightness and contrast of MFCD?

There is a bit of chit chat about the WinWing setup - disregard that and pay attention to the bit where he establishes the black and white zone to tell reshade to brighten the screens that MFDs are on.

[Bigity]

I guess we still have the issue with pilot seat and WSO seat MFDs having the issue of bleeding over onto each other?  With the only 'fix' to rename viewports and such?

[Darkdiz]

7 hours ago, Bigity said:

I guess we still have the issue with pilot seat and WSO seat MFDs having the issue of bleeding over onto each other?  With the only 'fix' to rename viewports and such?

Not sure what you mean here. My WSO and pilot seat MFDs work as advertized.  I'll attach my monitor lua.

1_Screen+4xMFCDs_above.lua

[Bigity]

Ahhhh, OUTER is the ticket.  I could only get the middle two screens exported vs one of each.   Thanks much!

Edited February 14 by Bigity

[NoLegalMoves]

Hey, I'm a noob here and trying to follow all the advice but after 3 weeks of trying everything i was told i'm starting to think what i m trying to do is not possible. Any help would be a godsend...

My setup is 3 - 4k TVs

I also have 3 independent monitors for the MFCDs

I don't understand what i m doing wrong but MFCDs are not showing up on my screens, the main view is ex-centered, the field of view seems zoomed in too far (pictured is max wide angle 140 degrees). And yes, I tried Helios, with and without Nvidia screen spanning  and every combination i could think of.

Here is my predicament (see attached files)

JF_Manual_Monitor_Config.lua

[jonsky7]

12 hours ago, NoLegalMoves said:

Hey, I'm a noob here and trying to follow all the advice but after 3 weeks of trying everything i was told i'm starting to think what i m trying to do is not possible. Any help would be a godsend...

My setup is 3 - 4k TVs

I also have 3 independent monitors for the MFCDs

I don't understand what i m doing wrong but MFCDs are not showing up on my screens, the main view is ex-centered, the field of view seems zoomed in too far (pictured is max wide angle 140 degrees). And yes, I tried Helios, with and without Nvidia screen spanning  and every combination i could think of.

Here is my predicament (see attached files)

JF_Manual_Monitor_Config.lua 607 B · 0 downloads

 

 

Are you using Helios?

The default names for those MFD exports are

LEFT_MFCD

CENTER_MFCD

RIGHT_MFCD

I think I've heard Helios changes the names sometimes. If you are NOT using Helios, use the names as above.

 

 

Otherwise. you may be exceeding the limits of your graphics card in 3D applications, are you running your TV's at 4K? More than 1 graphics card?

The Max resolution of most graphics cards is
7680x4320

 

[NoLegalMoves]

ha.. thanks for the info. I was afraid of such a limit.

I am no longer using Helios (uninstalled after incessant failures).

I changed the names of the MFCD calls by reference to a previous post in the thread.. I'll change it back  ( but i've tried these names before)

Do you know if the rendering limit is in total pixels or just exceeding the x or y or both limits?? 

If the limit is total pixels, 7680*4320 is 33,177,600

My 3* 4k + MFCDs translates to 12320*2160 = 26,611,200 so well within max

 

IF on the other hand I'm exceeding the max x limit, couldn't i just move the MFCD to the bottom? 

11520*2706=31,173,120 (should still be within max pixels) and the width of 11520 seems to work when i just select the option 3 screens in DCS.

I'll try that and report back...

 

[NoLegalMoves]

Marginal improvement..

The view is now centered, but

-MFCDs are not working (in menu they display portions of the menu, so I don't think i m hitting a rendering limit)

-The whole view seems super zoomed in (I have to put field of view to the max)

-The HUD info is blurry

[NoLegalMoves]

I also tried changing the resolution of the main TVs to 2560x1440 (7680x1440 total)

No difference in the result

JF_Manual_Monitor_Config.lua

[jonsky7]

Edit, Just looked at both your files again, you were missing the first _ in the first line
_ = function(p) return p; end;

I have no idea how important that is mind.

 

And on your later post with pictures, your CFG name doesn't match the one you have selected in DCS settings.

 

1. You have a very large display, but you have selected "1 screen" effectively

I'm not super knowledgeable on how to set up a 3 screen properly but you probably want something like the below. That should fix the super zoomed in view.
That is setting up 3 views, instead of 1 view stretched out over 3 displays.

For 2560x1440 resolution x3, setting a resolution of 7680x2040 in the DCS setting page

2K.lua

The viewDx and viewDy, are offsets to looking straight ahead. 
You'll notice the Left view has a viewDx of -1, and the right is 1

You may need to adjust these, I'm not sure what measurement they use (probably radians or something), so it will take a bit of fine tuning, or a bit more research into multiple display cockpit view.
Needless to say that a more negative value of "viewDx" moves the camera left, and a more positive one moves it right.

 

2. The blurriness of the HUD in your picture simply looks like the HUD brightness is set too high, if you use the knob on the UFC, that should fix that problem.

 

3. I've looked to see what the Max Resolution actually means, most answers point to the amount of VRAM the GPU has that limits the amount of Pixels it can generate. When I've seen other people have an issue, part of the screen goes black, or has no output. So if you have the menu displaying on your MFD monitors, I agree that you are probably not hitting a limit. As far as I can tell, the Menu screen is rendering as 3D application, judging by GPU usage and power draw when sitting in the menu screen. 

I'm not sure why they are displaying a plain blue screen though.
 

 

4. You can absolutely try dragging you MFD monitors to under your "TVs" in windows and reconfigure the setup file. ( I can see you've already done that )

 

5. Is your monitor "3" set as the Main Display in windows?

 

For 4K Tv's 

11520x2760

4K.lua

Edited February 24 by jonsky7

[NoLegalMoves]

Hey Jonsky7,

Big thanks for all the help.

I used your 4k file and had to make a minor correction. I think the x coordinates for center and right are off. But aside from that BIG thanks. it's good to start clean on how it should be configured!!

I had to do a couple of edits on my end because bizarrely, my system insisted on a 4096x2160 resolution for the main screens. When going back to 3840x2160, it failed to scale properly and I was left with big black bars on each side of the main screen even after reboot.

I also changed back the position of the MFCDs to the top right corner to optimize total rendered pixels.

There were some major improvements with your file from what I've experienced before

-FOV is corrected

-HUD is sharp

-Cockpit view is centered

-Frame rate is greatly improved (i really don't get that one, but will take the win)

On the negative, the MFCDs are not working. (they just show windows desktop view). I'm starting to think it might be a hardware issue.. cables?? 

Again, thanks so much for all the help. I'm going to continue experimenting this week end.. If anything, these improvements raised my spirit and motivation a bit.

Let me know if you have other ideas.

4K_JF.lua

[Darkdiz]

So idiot-boy here went in and changed the resolution on his monitors, now DCS starts up with the settings icon unreachable (off-screen). How do I reset this? Pretty sure its a lua file somewhere

[jonsky7]

24 minutes ago, Darkdiz said:

So idiot-boy here went in and changed the resolution on his monitors, now DCS starts up with the settings icon unreachable (off-screen). How do I reset this? Pretty sure its a lua file somewhere

You can delete the file:-

Saved games > DCS > Config > options.lua

or around line 65 is the graphics options

2 hours ago, NoLegalMoves said:

Hey Jonsky7,

Big thanks for all the help.

I used your 4k file and had to make a minor correction. I think the x coordinates for center and right are off. But aside from that BIG thanks. it's good to start clean on how it should be configured!!

I had to do a couple of edits on my end because bizarrely, my system insisted on a 4096x2160 resolution for the main screens. When going back to 3840x2160, it failed to scale properly and I was left with big black bars on each side of the main screen even after reboot.

I also changed back the position of the MFCDs to the top right corner to optimize total rendered pixels.

There were some major improvements with your file from what I've experienced before

-FOV is corrected

-HUD is sharp

-Cockpit view is centered

-Frame rate is greatly improved (i really don't get that one, but will take the win)

On the negative, the MFCDs are not working. (they just show windows desktop view). I'm starting to think it might be a hardware issue.. cables?? 

Again, thanks so much for all the help. I'm going to continue experimenting this week end.. If anything, these improvements raised my spirit and motivation a bit.

Let me know if you have other ideas.

4K_JF.lua 1014 B · 0 downloads

Hmmm, in DCS settings have you set the resolution to 13088x2160?

4096+4096+4096+800

Edited February 24 by jonsky7

[NoLegalMoves]

Hey Jonsky,

Yep that was my mistake, just figured it out before your reply!

I configured resolution to 13088 instead of 12288 and boom! IT WORKS!!!

wow.. i almost feel as emotional as when I finished my first marathon! lol

Downside is a massive framerate hit, but should be able to fix adjusting settings

YAAAAAY!!!!

Hey Jonsky thanks a lot for your time. means a lot. Very generous of you.

 

[jonsky7]

29 minutes ago, NoLegalMoves said:

Hey Jonsky,

Yep that was my mistake, just figured it out before your reply!

I configured resolution to 13088 instead of 12288 and boom! IT WORKS!!!

wow.. i almost feel as emotional as when I finished my first marathon! lol

Downside is a massive framerate hit, but should be able to fix adjusting settings

YAAAAAY!!!!

Hey Jonsky thanks a lot for your time. means a lot. Very generous of you.

 

Awesome!! Glad you got it working in the end! 

[NoLegalMoves]

Final result after adjustments.. for those that might benefit..

4K_JF.lua

[jonsky7]

6 hours ago, NoLegalMoves said:

Final result after adjustments.. for those that might benefit..

4K_JF.lua 1.04 kB · 0 downloads

Dammmmnnnnnn, that looks nice

Edited February 25 by jonsky7

[Red_Pilot]

Does anyone know if there is a "MFCD" for MiG 21? Can we see radar screen in the "MPCD" area? 

Edited February 25 by Red_Pilot