F14 lights on the side consoles and instrument panel just too dim

[dock999]

Have been flying F14 for a while  and I find the lights on the instrument panel and side consoles are too dim although the  brightness of those lights have been set to the maximal level.

for example . warning lights on the instrument panels and digits of the radio panel on the side console are just barely visible in the daylight time.

Anything can be done to improve the situation ?

[G.J.S]

Not in sim (or even close to it right now), but - have you tried turning panel lights off?
Night time panel illumination levels are in no way bright enough for adequate daytime visibility, it may be that the levels you are setting are for night use. Not day. 

[RustBelt]

Warnings are intentionally terrible because Heatblur says they’re “supposed” to be like that. 
 

radios have their own brightness knobs. So check that, but they should get washed out in direct sunlight. Which in real life is easily solved by cupping your hand over it.

Same old fidelity vs utility struggle as ever.

[dock999]

Hi I have tried the suggestions that you guys gave to me and I still can not see these letters and digits clearly on the penal in the daylight  . Currently I have been trying to memorize them and  I hope that HB can do something about this since in reality those pilots should be able to do something to make these letters and digits more visible .

[RustBelt]

Be sure your monitor and dcs are set to Heatblurs Gama benchmark. Which presumably means you need to replicate their office lighting as well? 
 

Providing a screen capture would also help.

Edited August 12, 2022 by RustBelt

[dock999]

No sure what the heatblurs gama bench is  but my in game gama is between around 2.2-2.4.  Managed to take some photos today.

null

no sure what the  heatblurs gama benchmark is  but my in-game gama is between 2.2-2.4, I  can not see these warning messages and those digits on the radio panel. This is not real situation . right ?

[RustBelt]

These pictures look blown out. The GAME gama is one thing, but what is your Video Card and Display doing? 
 

Gama is only an actual thing in relation to the environment the display is in.  “Gama” in the game is not really Gama. I believe Heatblur is working off a calibrated 2.2 for their equipment in their office. 
 

It almost looks like you have a monitor setting but in a VR headset. VR headsets are always tuned too damn washed out so they seem bright because your face in in an unlit box an inch from the screen.

Also on the radio panel, that little nub Right of the display is a separate brightness knob. Make sure that’s cranked all the way up especially at what appears to be high noon.

Edited August 17, 2022 by RustBelt

[lunaticfringe]

Wanted to take a moment to illustrate the problem with some of the complaints people have regarding this issue, using an actual F-14 5v bulb backlit panel.

The images are from in front of my kitchen window about an hour to sunset.  First is with illumination off, second, on, full brightness.  You'll note that illumination isn't helping you with panel legibility during the day, as the only place you can see rhe light is where the paint is either covered up by mounting equipment (mounting holes) or scratched away. Thus, if you saw red during the day through one of these panels text in daylight in DCS, it'd be wrong. 

Second, the micro mount bulb sandwiched inside these panels are of the same output and draw as those found in Korry switches (Gun Rate/Missile Prep/Norm-Bore, etc) as well as the warning annunciator panel.  Look at those illuminated (red) mounting holes.  Now add a transparent panel over the top, but with a material that isn't perfectly transparent, crazes, clouds, and yellows over time.  Then add a couple years worth of dirt and grime.  

That's all of your panel illumination warnings and lit buttons.  They aren't easy to see from the start, and any time in service is going to make it worse. 

Lastly, consider the amount of cast illumation from the light outside.  Scale that up from just a window, to that provided through a massive bubble canopy.  And now compound this issue as a whole by far too wide of FoV values from those on monitors, and too low illumination, pixel densities, contrast, and shallow FoV for those in VR headsets.  

Those photos were taken at 10-12" from the camera.  Looking at them from an FoV that puts you where the DID glare shield is, or through a pair of glass Coke bottles, isn't making it any clearer.  

Edited August 17, 2022 by lunaticfringe

[dock999]

I wonder if there is a possibility for Heatblur for allow the DCS players to have an option in the special section in F14, that is , " Authentic "  and " Practical in sim"  From my side of the story ,  I feel  If I can not read these panels in the simulator  , maximizing " authentic " is meaningless.

[RustBelt]

Wish they would, but they built some of this in weird ass ways due to how the DCS engine works. I remember just the light change with one of the big 2.5 updates was a whole ordeal for them because it involved a bunch of “animation layers” or some such. 
 

DCS is not running a modern style graphics engine. You’d never build a game this way if you were starting from 0. 

Edited August 18, 2022 by RustBelt

[JupiterJoe]

12 hours ago, RustBelt said:

Wish they would, but they built some of this in weird ass ways due to how the DCS engine works. I remember just the light change with one of the big 2.5 updates was a whole ordeal for them because it involved a bunch of “animation layers” or some such. 
 

DCS is not running a modern style graphics engine. You’d never build a game this way if you were starting from 0. 

 

Is this the reason why light blooms seem so difficult to implement on the F-14?  Just as one example, the formation lights (green slimers) on the F-18 look glorious as they shimmer at night.  Why aren't ED helping HB get the F-14 to where it should be?  After all, the F-14 is one of the finest modules and will have helped bring a lot of attention to DCS. 

[RustBelt]

Probably, Light Bloom has been a whole thing for a couple years now. 

ED isn't "helping" because it's not ED's product. Presumably third parties are expected to hold up their own end, with or without API/SDK/or thorough documentation. 

[dock999]

that just more complicated than what I thought.