Remote panel display - on the cheap?

Hi,

I'm not sure if this will be of interest but I came across this software recently which allows display of undocked FS panels on a remote PC. I did a search for the software in the forum but couldn't find any reference - apologies if it's already common knowledge.

I was looking for an inexpensive glass cockpit so that I could have a separate panel display in conjunction with a projected main image. My projector is fed with a long video cable as the 2nd display from my main PC's graphics card, and rather than interfering with my main PC monitor setup on my desk (it's also my main work PC) I wanted some way of displaying panels on a 2nd PC which is dedicated to the cockpit.

I thought glass cockpit software would be needed but after a bit of a search came across TightVNC.

http://www.tightvnc.com/

This is one flavour of VNC which is software that appears to be used by tech support providers where they can "take over" your desktop remotely. This particular version differs from others I came across however in that it can allow remote display of individual windows or selected areas of your desktop on another PC rather than just the full desktop.

It is quite easy to use. On your main PC you startup the TightVNC server, configure options for password, "polling" to detect changes in the display (poll the full screen), and display area settings (you can specify the undocked main panel for example). And on the remote PC you start the VNC viewer - it connects to the server running on the main PC and displays the main panel on the remote monitor. (I actually use a VNC viewer from another site - they seem to be compatible, see http://www.realvnc.com/)

I find it works fairly well so long as the network speed is reasonable. A particular advantage is that all the panel switches and dials can be operated using the remote PC's mouse - interesting for allowing dual control say in an instructor station type setup.

I haven't investigated it fully and there are some window size change issues when going from windowed to full mode on the main PC (resolution settings?), and I haven't figured out if the window surround on the remote display can be removed. However it might be worth playing with if someone is looking for a low cost alternative to glass panels.

Ian

http://buggies.builtforfun.co.uk/Sim/

I've never heard of htis one but I've used this one before;
http://www.maxivista.com/