Panoramiic Cockpiit Displayys for Taactical Military

M
C
Cockpits
M
Mark
Fletcheer and Davidd Huffman
L-33 Communiccations Displlay Systems
1355 Blueegrass Lakess Pkwy, Alphharetta, GA 30004
AB
BSTRACT
The F-35 Jooint Strike Fig
ghter (JSF) inccorporates the latest technollogy for aerial combat. To support this aircraft's
a
mission and to provide the pilot with thhe increased siituational awarreness needed in today's batttlespace, a pannoramic
AMLCD waas developed an
nd is being depployed for the first
f
time. Thiss 20" by 8" dispplay is the larggest fielded to date
d in a
tactical fightter. Key system
m innovationss had to be em
mployed to alloow this technoology to functiion in this dem
manding
environmentt. Certain olderr generation aiircraft are now
w considering incorporating
i
a panoramic diisplay to proviide their
crews with thhis level of inccreased capabillity.
Key design issues
i
that had
d to be overcom
me dealt with sunlight
s
readabbility, vibrationn resistance, toouch-screen opperation,
and reliabilitty concerns to
o avoid single--point failures. A completelyy redundant syystem design had
h to be emplloyed to
ensure that thhe pilot would always have access
a
to criticaal mission and flight data.

1. INT
TRODUCTIO
ON
As mission demands on th
he fighter piloots have increaased through the
t years, the demands on thhe display techhnology
required to accomplish
a
thee mission has also increasedd. With the advent
a
of the usage
u
of activee-matrix liquidd-crystal
displays (AM
MLCDs) in thee early 1990s, succeeding
s
gennerations of figghter cockpit designs
d
have soought to give thhe pilots
greater capabbility and increeased situational awareness, while
w
at the sam
me time allowiing higher leveels of readabilitty.
One way thaat cockpit systeem designers have
h
sought too relieve the pillots increasingg workload in the face of inccreasing
mission com
mplexity is by combining thhe functions of numerous gaauges and inddicators into coonsolidated inntegrated
displays. Thhroughout the 1990s and 2000s, this consoolidation resullted in most figghters embraciing the conceppt of the
glass cockppit, where functions were grouped onto dissplays of typicaally 10.4-inch diagonal sizess or similar. Now with
access to cusstom glass sizees for military applications, this
t consolidatiion takes the next
n
step to grooup all functionns into a
single panoramic display th
hat spans the entire width of the
t cockpit as shown in Figuure 1 below.

Figurre 1: Simplified
d cockpit design
n is enabled by the use of panooramic displays..

Three-Dimensional Imaging, Visualization, and Display 2010 and Display Technologies and Applications for Defense,
Security, and Avionics IV, edited by Bahram Javidi, Jung-Young Son, John Tudor Thomas, Daniel D. Desjardins,
Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7690, 769016 2010 SPIE CCC code: 0277-786X/10/$18 doi: 10.1117/12.853032
Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7690 769016-1
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This paper will highlight certain characteristics of a panoramic display produced by L-3 Display Systems with its initial
application in the F-35 strike fighter. This display has an active viewing area of eight-inches high by twenty-inches
wide, and represents the largest single display used today in a tactical fighter cockpit.

2. DESIRABLE ATTRIBUTES OF A PANORAMIC DISPLAY

Perhaps the most important attribute of a cockpit panoramic display (or any cockpit display) is its readability under any
and all conditions. This includes all ambient luminance levels from full sunlight impinging on the display surface to the
ability to operate under night flying conditions and compatibility with night-vision imaging goggles. A display with an
integrated touch interface has the additional requirement to have a touch technology that performs under these same
conditions.
The reliability of the panoramic display is even more critical than smaller displays as a result of its multifunctional
usage. In the F-35 fighter, the L-3 panoramic display, shown in Figure 2, is the pilots most critical means for
accomplishing the mission. Any failures of the display will severely compromise if not eliminate the pilots ability to
achieve success. For this reason, system designers generally elect to incorporate a high level of redundancy into the
display system from the display surface and touch screen, through the driving electronics and processing system, and
even into the power supply. No single failure will cause the display to be completely blank.

Figure 2: The panoramic cockpit display with touch-screen developed for the F-35.

In addition to electrical redundancy, it is important that the display surface be designed in a redundant fashion. The L-3
panoramic display consists of a single piece of glass that is partitioned into two separate halves. By incorporating this
redundancy into the design of the AMLCD glass itself, the display can achieve the seamless operation necessary to take
full advantage of the twenty-inch wide screen. The backlight is partitioned into two independently controlled circuits,
so that it does not represent a single-point failure.

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A panoramicc cockpit displlay must proviide for both a day mode annd a night mode,
m
with the night mode opperation
allowing thee display to fun
nction at low light levels for the pilots nigght-adapted eyes or for operaation while thee pilot is
wearing nigght-vision gogg
gles. The dispplay must alsoo be compatibble with the aircrafts leveels of electrom
magnetic
compatibilityy with respect to radiated em
missions and sussceptibility to other
o
equipmennts emanationns.
The display must be mech
hanically robusst for operation over all specified environm
ments. In ordder to confirm that the
design is cappable of this operation,
o
enviironmental quaalification testiing must be coonducted per the
t applicable military
testing speciifications. These tests will typically
t
incluude testing oveer the full operational tempeerature range, altitude,
explosive deecompression, operation in explosive
e
atmoosphere, randoom vibration, shock
s
and crassh shock, acceeleration
forces, humiidity, rain expo
osure, and corrrosive salt-fog testing. It is no
n trivial matteer to design a display
d
ruggedd enough
to pass thesee stringent testss.
.

3. KEY PERFORMA
P
ANCE CHAR
RACTERIST
TICS
me consideratioons for every major
m
cockpit display in usee in the militaryy today.
There are foour main factorrs that are prim
These factorrs are performaance, reliabilityy, system safetyy, and of coursse, cost. This section will adddress some off the key
performancee drivers that had
h to be considered in the deesign of the paanoramic display and how thheir solutions im
mpacted
overall display quality. Figure 3 show
ws a typical cockpit displaay format whiich could be used in a pannoramic
application.

Figure 3: Go
ood display optical performancce is key to rapiid information transferral
t
for the
t pilot.

Opticcal Performance
For many ussers, a displays optical perfo
formance may be the most im
mportant perfoormance featurre. The displayy image
quality mustt be as good or better than thee quality of youur home television, but must also achieve thhis performancce under
any conditioons of temperaature, altitude,, and under fuull sunlight coonditions. Thhe pilots misssion effectivenness and
personal safe
fety can be inflluenced by their ability to quuickly glance at
a his display and
a receive upddated informattion in a
timely mannner, even underr conditions off extreme stresss. For this reason, high contrrast and high resolution
r
are essential
e

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characteristics. A display that achieves very high contrast ratio with high resolution will be perceived as having a good
quality image.
Key factors in achieving high contrast ratio are:

Very low optical system specular reflectance;

Very low optical system diffuse reflectance;
Very high display brightness (use of light-emitting diodes versus fluorescent bulbs in backlight);
Very high AMLCD intrinsic contrast ratio.

Other system design factors which contribute to good optical performance are:

Wide backlight daytime dimming ratio (greater than 400:1)

Wide backlight nighttime dimming ratio (greater than 1000:1)
Large area uniformity better than 80% over the entire viewing area
Fast AMLCD response time to reduce image blur in fast moving graphics or video

One factor in good optical performance which must be considered especially in the tactical fighter application is the
effect of display luminance on canopy reflections. The display and its corresponding backlight system must be
designed to reduce the effects of stray light which might reflect off of the glass canopy and cause viewing problems for
the pilot in his forward field of view. This may be done with special films or coatings, similar to commercial privacy
filters for laptop uses.
Finally, good color saturation is key to providing a quality display capable of communicating necessary information to
the pilot quickly. As shown in Figure 4, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with separate red, green, and blue components
yield the best color saturation and color gamut for the display. LEDs have in general resulted in much better quality
displays than the earlier generation displays which utilized cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) for their
illumination.

Figure 4: RGB LEDs give best color quality for AMLCD.

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Another keyy performance characteristic that is cruciaal in certain military

m
applicaations, includinng the tacticall fighter
cockpit, is thhe ability of th
he display to be
b compatible with the userrs night-visionn enhancementt equipment inncluding
goggles. Allthough in operration, the piloot may look below
b
their googgles to view information thhat is presentedd on the
displays in their
t
night-mo
ode of operatioon, the displayy has the requuirement that no
n colors or display formatss can be
presented thaat might interffere or bloom the night-vision goggles (N
NVG). This requirement cauuses the displayy system
designers to carefully speccify the allowaable frequencyy spectrum of backlight
b
emisssions. The coolor filters useed in the
AMLCD maay have to bee specified to be compatiblee with the NV
VG, or else a filter may neeed to be emplloyed in
conjunction with the colorr filters to achiieve the necesssary emission spectrum.
s
In the
t case of L-33s panoramic display,
the display optical system
m was designedd to be compaatible with Geen III, Class B night-vision goggles. A Class
C
A
requirement extends to the integrally lighht switch panells located just below
b
the mainn display area of the cockpit display.
Figure 5 shoows the typical spectrum neceessary to achievve the requiredd level of comppatibility.

Figure 5: Typial night-viision compliancce emission specctrum

Toucch-Screen Systtem Design andd Performancee

d
way for
f the pilot too control the modes
m
of
For a panoraamic display, a touch-screenn user interfacee is the most desirable
operation deepicted on the display surfacce. Due to thee panoramic displays
d
width which spans the
t entire cockkpit, the
normal methhod of placing pushbuttons arround the perim
meter of the dissplay would noot be acceptablle due to the exxcessive
reach and opperator fatigue that would ressult from havinng to press butttons located over a twenty-innch span. Insttead, the
user can usee their finger to
o virtually puush software-pprogrammable buttons presennted on-screenn, as well as drrag-anddrop cursorss, text, and graaphics. The toouch screen intterface can alsoo be used to siize windows on-screen
o
and to
t move
and order thee precedence of
o windows in an
a intuitive maanner.

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There are several touch-screen technologies in current use for the display system designer to select from. The selection
process for the proper touch screen technology for a panoramic cockpit application, must consider the following
requirements:

No impact to display contrast;

No visible artifacts embedded within the screen (spacer balls, internal conductors);
No impact to night-vision compatibility performance;
No impact to EMI performance;
Must work with a gloved finger or any stylus;
Must perform flawlessly under all environmental conditions;
Much have sufficient touch resolution to correctly follow the users activation;

From a mechanical standpoint, the choice of touch-screen technology should result in as narrow a border as possible and
should have little impact on the display system mechanical envelope and overall power dissipation.
Each touch technology involves a measurement when a touch event occurs. Different technologies are designed to react
to the touch event via a change in the normal condition as shown in the Table I below.
Table I: Touch Technologies and Their Method of Measurement
Measurement Parameter

Touch Technology

Charge/Current

Surface Capacitive

Change in capacitance

Projective Capacitive

Time delay or delta

Surface Acoustic Wave

Absence of IR light

Optical, Infrared, Vision

Voltage

Resistive

Mechanical bending waves

Acoustic Pulse Recognition, Dispersive Signal

Mechanical Force

Force Sensing

Presence of light (AMLCD Backlight) or capacitance or

voltage

AMLCD in cell

Unfortunately, there is no single optimal touch-screen technology solution for a military cockpit display. All touch
technologies have particular strengths and weaknesses. The requirements for each military system must be reviewed
and compared with the known strengths and weakness of the candidate touch-screen technology with the knowledge
that inevitably compromises will have to be made. These trade studies must be conducted early in the display
development.
In the case of a panoramic cockpit display, despite its inherent disadvantages, infrared technology seems to offer the
very best in optical qualities, and in general, provides the best overall performance when measured against all system
requirements.

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Other Performance Attributes and Trade Studies

The ultimate display design will result in a display designed to look great under all conditions and still will meet all of
the other system requirements. Many times these requirements may have conflicting attributes which require the
designer to compromise on one requirement in order to obtain a good blend of specification performance.
Examples of performance attributes which may be mutually exclusive or conflicting include:

AMLCD response time vs. AMLCD clearing point temperature

Large area uniformity vs. canopy reflection reduction
Low specular reflectance vs. EMI front shield attenuation (low resistance)
AMLCD transmission vs. AMLCD color saturation
High luminance levels vs. low power dissipation
Mechanical robustness vs. low system weight.

Design for reliability requires a display design that is made for a twenty to thirty year life expectancy. Unfortunately,
typical electronic component life-cycles are significantly shorter than this time period, so a robust components
obsolescence plan must be developed early in the product life.
System safety considerations will typically require that all software and firmware be certified in accordance with strict
development standards. For firmware embedded in field-programmable-gate-arrays (FPGAs), certification to standard
DO-254 may be required. Operational software must be written, tested, and certified to the requirements of DO-178.
This firmware or software includes that which controls display functionality such as backlight control, heater control,
touch-screen operation, and display built-in-test.
While all of these performance trade-offs require compromises, no display can be designed which is not affordable for
the ultimate customer. Cost is often in direct conflict with performance. Military systems typically have very low rates
of production with a relatively small number of units produced over a long period of years.
These high performance expectations offer constant opportunity for cost reduction and engineering value improvement
trade studies. Programs such as the F-35 fighter display program are always exploring cutting edge technologies which
have the ability to maintain or increase performance while offsetting costs.

4. CONCLUSION
As can be seen, performance expectations for new generation tactical fighter displays are very high. There are many
requirements whose individual solutions present conflicts that need to be evaluated through trade-off analyses.
Fortunately, these technical challenges are the impetus that forces innovation which yields better displays.
A new level of performance has been created in the design of the panoramic cockpit display. Its size and versatility
have given the aircraft system-level engineers new ways to give the ultimate user, the airborne warfighter, more tools to
complete their mission and greater situational awareness to ensure a safe return from the mission.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank and acknowledge our technology teammates and system design experts at Lockheed Martin
Fort Worth Aeronautics System Division for their support in the development of the panoramic cockpit display for the
F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.

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