How to setup Laptop & Beamer for FSX

Question

Dear X-plane colleagues,

I'm trying to use my Dell gaming laptop to show the cockpit and I would like to use the HDMI port on this computer to show 'the world' on a beamer. The laptop has a 4K/touchscreen, of which I decrease the resolution to standard HD in order to be able to read the menus in X-plane. The beamer has HD resolution. The laptop has no other ways to put out video. Theoretically, I should be able to use the laptop screen as a 'glass cockpit' and manipulate the buttons/switches directly on the screen and see 'outside of the aircraft' when I look at the beamer projection.

If needed to make this work, I still have a 5yr old Dell desktop that I could use if needed. (I would then just need to buy a 2nd X-Plane 10 version probably): Studio XPS 7100 : AMD Phenom II X6 1045T(2.70GHz,512kx6); Graphics : 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card with Vision Black label.

 I went for hours through forums/Q&A, but was unable to figure it out.Any help/suggestions you could provide are highly appreciated.

Kind regards, Maarten

Answer 1

Hi Maarten,

With only one computer running one copy of X-Plane, the only options for two monitors are the cockpit and the instructor operating station (IOS).

If you have a second computer you can network the two so that you can show different views on each computer. Here is more information from the manual.

You can use the same copy of X-Plane on each computer, but if you have DVDs only, one will be in demo mode because it won't have the disc to unlock it.

Comments

Thank you for your answer. I played around a bit with the setup and did it as follows: I lifted the 28"screen with a box; lifted the laptop by building a simple 'table' over the Saitek Yoke and connected all the wires as much as possible in the back.When I'm in XPlane, I drag down the screen and since the laptop screen is smaller it's possible to have the cockpit on the laptop screen and the outside view on the main screen. It works really well! :-)