Cougar MFD with Lilliput UM-80 8" USB Monitors

[KLUTCH]

I've seen a few youtube clips on using these two as a nice little setup and so I ordered a some and I have to say I'm not disappointed :)

 

I'll go through my process and give you some tips and the problems I had and how to fix them.

(here is the full album)

Lilliput UM-80/C/T - 8"

I got mine of amazon I think, they were around £80 each and came to £200 with tax/p&p.

No CD was inside and I use Win7 x64, turn on windows update and it will download the drivers and install something called 'DisplayLink manager', windows should automatically detect them and you can move them around with the 'Screen Resolution' desktop right click.

When setting them up do not check 'Optimize for Video' as this will give you low res mfds

 

Note: These require 2 USB slots EACH. so buy yourself a cheep USB hub (I got a 7 port hub of ebay for £4)

 

 

Thrustmaster Cougar MFD Pack

I waited 3 weeks for an amazon seller to ship these, and I gave up as they said they still hadn't sent them, I then ordered them from the actual thrustmaster amazon and they arrived the next day!

 

The CD didn't work so you should download the drivers/software from the link below.

http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=view_files&gid=1&fid=3&pid=298&cid=1

 

Unscrew the bracket with a philips screwdriver and remove the thumbscrew. I then used sellotape to make double sided tape and went around the edges, for a nice finish use a stanley knife and tidy the tape so it doesn't overflow (I made that mistake at first).

 

 

 

Attaching them like so... they are very sturdy!

 

USB HUB

4 Monitors (2 each)

2 MFDs

1 TrackIR

 

 

At this point is a good time to measure your screens and edit your monitor config.

In my case I edited from here:

H:DCS WorldConfigMonitorSetup

 

And here is my .lua

 

_ = function(p) return p; end;

name = _('MFD SETUP');

Description = 'USB MON'

Viewports =

{

Center =

{

x = 0;

y = 0;

width = 1920;

height = 1080;

viewDx = 0;

viewDy = 0;

aspect = 1.7;

}

}

 

GUI=

{

x = 0;

y = 0;

width = 1920;

height = 1080;

}

 

LEFT_MFCD =

{

x = 242;

y = 1112;

width = 560;

height = 560;

}

 

RIGHT_MFCD =

{

x = 805;

y = 1117;

width = 560;

height = 560;

}

 

UIMainView = GUI

 

 

In doing so the MFD dimentions is 560px this fills up the entire mfd, I might size this down by 5/10px.

To measure where you want the mfds to go I used PixelWindowApp

Download Here

 

Then when everything was setup I took a screencap with PrtScn and pasted into Photoshop.

 

Turn rulers on and drag out to edges then zoom in on the top corners and read the pixel count on the rulers (right click on the rulers and change units to pixels)

 

That should give you everything you need for your .lua.

Once I tested it out in the game you might need to move it around a bit but that is pretty standard up/down stuff. Finally I just cut out some black card and covered the rest of the screen to tidy it up.

 

 

Result

 

Final tip: Uncheck disable aero and use an aero theme in windows.

 

Also if anyone wants the wallpaper I got it from the US Army flickr I think (tried looking can not find it anymore)

http://i.imgur.com/46imx.jpg

[cichlidfan]

Why did you use the touchscreen version if you have the Cougar MFDs? The touchscreen part is probably the only reason for that second usb connection so you likely only need two usb ports (the display does not care if the touchscreen is not hooked up). The difference in price here (Amazon US) is enough to pay for the MFDs.

 

Nicely done though! :thumbup:

Edited August 25, 2012 by cichlidfan

[RoaringBones]

can these be used for any plane? or just A-10 only?

[cichlidfan]

can these be used for any plane? or just A-10 only?

 

They can be used to display anything that is exported as a viewport.

 

Currently the A-10 is the only flyable plane with displays to export. What plane were you thinking about?

[KLUTCH]

Why did you use the touchscreen version if you have the Cougar MFDs? The touchscreen part is probably the only reason for that second usb connection so you likely only need two usb ports (the display does not care if the touchscreen is not hooked up). The difference in price here (Amazon US) is enough to pay for the MFDs.

 

Nicely done though! :thumbup:

 

I thought all the 8" are touchscreen, I know the 7" isn't and I want to fill the whole space.

It needs the second to power the screen, one is for the graphics and the other is just power, I'm sure the non touch versions still need two plugs

[cichlidfan]

I thought all the 8" are touchscreen, I know the 7" isn't and I want to fill the whole space.

It needs the second to power the screen, one is for the graphics and the other is just power, I'm sure the non touch versions still need two plugs

 

You might be right about the power, the description on Amazon does not specify. This is the non touch model.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lilliput-Monitor-non-touch-Screen-Viviteq/dp/B003LS95SG/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1345915307&sr=1-2&keywords=lilliput+um-80

[MTFDarkEagle]

Currently the A-10 is the only flyable plane with displays to export. What plane were you thinking about?

Ka-50 has got exportable displays ;)

[cichlidfan]

Ka-50 has got exportable displays ;)

 

It is not an airplane. ;)

 

can these be used for any plane? or just A-10 only?

[MTFDarkEagle]

It is not an airplane. ;)

Pffffffffffffff......... Wiseguy :D

[PlainSight]

Does your computer boot normally even with USB hub plugged in?

[Jordan4]

So awesome. I wish I had the technical expertise to do something like this.

[cichlidfan]

@PlainSight

Why would your computer not boot normally with a hub plugged in? I have four or five plugged into my game machine 24/7.

 

@Jordan4

It isn't that difficult. Off the shelf parts and some file editting. There are plenty of good how-to threads as well.

[PeterP]

Maybe he has attached some sort of drive to it and has a "Try to boot from USB" setting in the BIOS or something like this.

[KLUTCH]

Does your computer boot normally even with USB hub plugged in?

yeah man its fine

[Fuzzysham]

I ordered two of those monitors last night solely based on this thread. Clear instructions, minimalistic setup and I already had the cougar MFD's. I can't wait to get them. In this game and Falcon BMS, the mfd's have always been the thing I wanted on an external display. TrackIR is a bit irritating. Thanks for the instructions.

[Cali]

I have bought that same HUB and only 2 USB ports would work at a time. I put it on the shelf and got a better one. I'm running 2 USB HUB's a 4 port D-Link and 7 port Belkin.

[Slayer]

They can be used to display anything that is exported as a viewport.

 

Currently the A-10 is the only flyable plane with displays to export. What plane were you thinking about?

 

The P-51 has a pilots kneeboard that can be used as a map and I've seen people using it as an export so thats not 100% true.

[snafup]

Hi i was wondering if this could be done with to android 7 inch tablets? I can get 2 for about 100 bucks and was wondering if i could use them as those displays?

[Masterplus]

My solution...

1 x monitor 4:3 19", res. 1280x1024 (€40) & in the central position ADI & HSI with Helios... Why spend more with the lilliput monitors?

 

[cichlidfan]

Hi i was wondering if this could be done with to android 7 inch tablets? I can get 2 for about 100 bucks and was wondering if i could use them as those displays?

 

The short answer is no. You may have seen iPads in use doing similar things but that is an iPad app.

 

There isn't going to be a quick easy way to convince an Android device that it is a monitor AFAIK.

[snafup]

Thanks i wasn't sure if it was possible.

[Slayer]

My solution...

1 x monitor 4:3 19", res. 1280x1024 (€40) & in the central position ADI & HSI with Helios... Why spend more with the lilliput monitors?

 

 

Nice touch using the additional wasted space for more gauges. My GF has an old 19" 4:3 LCD gathering dust in a corner. I will make it mine ;P

[SV_huMMer]

Just got mine (a pair of UM-80/c and Cougar MFD Pack), will use them in my "light frame cockpit" (sorry the link is in Russian, but pics are self-explanatory. The good thing about these lilliputs is that they have 75mm VESA mount, which was critical for my planned use.

 

BTW, in responce to using a single 4:3 19" and "why spend more on these" - in my case a single screen would not work, as I need 2 MFDs apart on both sides.

 

P.S. does any one of you UM-80 owners know what the secont USB port is used for? (the full-size A-type one behind the little hinged cover on the back)

Edited September 6, 2012 by SV_huMMer

[redvirus]

Hi i was wondering if this could be done with to android 7 inch tablets? I can get 2 for about 100 bucks and was wondering if i could use them as those displays?

 

Yes you can. I tried this with app Air Display. Its working but there is little delay.

[tintifaxl]

Yes you can. I tried this with app Air Display. Its working but there is little delay.

 

My experience with Air Display:

 

This solution is horribly slow and you lose Aero when you activate the virtual screen. The provided beta driver (here you keep Areo) is very unstable, but at least Helios works then. Tested on my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (quadcore, 2 GB RAM). Not recomended at all.