A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/582777
discussion. A test is run on a separate training string at the tech center and th e washout was confirmed. NATCA wasn't present for this test. o Thursday 10/1: NATCAs Phase 1 rep, alternate John Kerr, and alternate Bill Spence (Seg 2) participated in an MDM demo of A90 washout demo. NATCA agrees there is a wash out, but can be miti gated by raising map and range ring brightness. § The question is, should a controller have to change their pref sets to compensate for the monitors performance. Controllers, prior to working with the MDMs, should've been educated on the MDM pros and cons. § Being that the MDM is LCD technology and the Sony 2K is CRT technology, they perform differently in all l ight settings. The Sony 2K will always have a deep black background in a dark TRACON and washout as the lights are raised. And in this case, you will have to increase brightness on all settings to read what's on the screen. § The MDM is opposite in th at, in a dark TRACON there will be some washout or greying of the background. As the lights are raised, the background gets increasingly darker as the Sony 2K in a dark TRACON. With the MDM, controllers are needed to adjust their brightness settings to c ompensate for the differences in the monitors. This should occur at equipment delivery, but this is not always communicated effectively. This is a failure of the program as a whole. § The goal is to reach an acceptable level of comfort with the contro llers at A90, without making them have to change their pref sets. Only time and testing will tell, whether we will be successful in a solution for A90. § TSLE believes this is the fault/design of the G4 filter that overlays the MDM. The filter is like a shaded glass plate, that fits over the face of the monitor and prevents most reflections from other lighting in a TRACON. § So while you move from side to side of the display, items such as maps and range rings come in and out of focus. TSLE describ es this as the shutter effect. Picture a shutter while opening or closing. Objects on the other side of the shutter will move in and out of view depending on your viewing angle. § Controllers at A90 are witnessing a washout while directing in