Commanders in M1 and M2 tank vehicles have the capability to open the hatch to a protected open position, or "popped" position. In the commander's popped hatch (CPH) position the commander has a 360 degree view of the surrounding environment. The CCTT tank simulators require a display that simulates this popped hatch view.

A CPH display approach, which provides a 360 degree horizontal field of view, is a monitor-based, non-collimated display which uses a continuous single-piece acrylic beamsplitter. Ten 26-inch, high-resolution, monitors surround the beamsplitter. Five of the monitors are located directly behind the beamsplitter, in a horizontal orientation, and are viewed directly through the beamsplitter. The remaining five monitors are located above the beamsplitter, in a vertical orientation, and the monitor image is viewed as a reflection in the beamsplitter. The resulting display appears as ten horizontally juxtaposed monitors, with only a 0.5 degree gap between adjacent images.

The single-piece beamsplitter is composed of two types of regions or panels. Five flat, trapezoidal shaped, reflective panels are located directly beneath the vertical monitors to reflect the image back to the eyepoint. Curved direct view panels are located between the reflective panels to provide a smooth transition and to eliminate spurious reflections. The beamsplitter is fabricated from a single piece of molded acrylic. A vacuum deposited chrome coating is applied to the formed acrylic to create the beamsplitter mirror surface.

The 26-inch monitors are supported by an aluminum structure. The inside corners of the vertically oriented monitors are located within 1/8 inch of each other, requiring monitor ear repositioning.

The CPH display provides a 360 degree horizontal by 27.4 degree vertical field of view. The display resolution exceeds 6.5 arcmins/OLP. The brightness exceeds 8 ftL and the contrast ratio exceeds 15:1.

David Richins

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Monitor-Based, Non-Collimated CPH Display for CCTT Tank Trainers