investigating Fuselage Light "DIM" mode is too bright

[Wolf4Pm]

Hi Viper Pilots,

According to video's, picture's and a BAF mecanic, the fuselage light in "DIM" mode is too bright in DCS, compared to real life whether by day or night.

You will find attached to this message three comparisons in different lightning environments between reference pictures and DCS Fuselage light OFF, DIM and BRT.

IRL by day, it's realy hard to know if the fuselage light is "OFF" or "DIM" just by looking at the vertical stabiliser lightning. The best hint to find if it is on or off is to check the fuselage light bulb state. Whether morning or day light, the vertical stabilizer is not illuminated at all with the fuslage light in "DIM" mode, however in "BRT" it is well illuminated.

IRL by night it's realy realy hard to notice, it s just like a very faint/dim glow that illuminates the vertical stabilzer, not a spotlight.

IN DCS 2.8 : it is realy easy to identify when it's OFF or DIM because the "DIM" lights up too brightly.

Conclusion : 
The "DIM" fuselage light must be reduced so that we can't see it during the day, and at night it must be adjusted to give a very faint glow to the VS.

 About the "BRT" mode,  it's already all good.  

Note: screenshots have been captured on DCS 2.8.6.41066.1 without any editing or shaders applied. 
Thanks for the reading, best regards Wolf.

You'll find links to videos and website sources below :
USAF - Early morning :https://youtu.be/z3uS65hDl-0?t=18
HAF - Late morning : https://youtu.be/aebLmMiF2DU?t=25
USAF - Night : https://youtu.be/PRLChQFbU1E?t=41
RNLAF - Night : https://www.runway28.nl/2017_11_30_EHVK_EN.php

Edited June 14, 2023 by Wolf4Pm

[Lord Vader]

Hi @Wolf4Pm

The external lights on the F-16 are still a subject for improvement in the near future, including the formation lights.

However, the comparison photos you are using are not all fair. Especially in low light, cameras use different shutter speeds, aperture and exposure, handling light in various different intensities. Sometimes, this creates the illusion of a brighter or dimmer light. 

Also, you must consider that not all fuselage lights are the same on every airframe, sometimes they are not even operating correctly.

That being said, however, I will show this to the team for consideration. 

Thanks. 

[Carbon715]

These pictures feature a mix of jets with incandescent and led bulbs, vastly different in brightnesses and lack thereof. For instance the spang jet is incandescent vs the dutch ones with LED. But yes a little work is needed on brightness, as well as AR lights on with the form and no nvis lights

[Wolf4Pm]

Hi @Lord Vader,

Thank you for considering the request.
I did my best to reproduce the same lighting conditions and point of view between the IRL videos/pictures and DCS screenshots (even the background is similar  ).
I understand you perfectly and i fully agree with you about cameras shutter speeds, aperture and exposure problems to faithfully represent reality.
That's part of the reason why I did my best to get different sources from different countries operating different versions of the F-16C. (like @Carbon715 said with incandescent and led bulbs versions) in order to have a variety of samples, which all together can highlight the reason why i made this topic.
If I can help you by providing more data/feedback/image/video analysis please let me know, I'll be happy to help.

Thank you for all.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Wolf4Pm