Barco AutoAlign Brochure - page 6
Barco SimCAD™: the all-in-one design and installation tool
Design analysis and prediction
Using S
IM
CAD™, Barco's proprietary simulator design and
optimization tool, all display parameters and customer
requirements are easily translated into a highly detailed ray-
tracing based model. SimCAD™ offers auto-optimization of
projector placement and orientation (including obstruction
analysis) and yields accurate real-time predictions of
brightness, contrast and resolution, including Mercator and
Aitoff plots of the channel coverage for even the most complex
tiled layouts. S
IM
CAD™ designs can be exported to common
CAD/CAM packages.
Installation and calibration
At the installation site, a computer-driven laser theodolite and
distance measuring tool automatically creates a 3D model of
the display system, including coordinates for the theodolite
and eye points. Next, it marks reference points on the
display surface that are subsequently fixed using Barco's
patented Laser Diode Array Tool (LDAT™). The projectors
are then carefully calibrated to these geometric references
using test patterns generated by P
OLARIS
™, through the fast
and accurate alignment capabilities offered by xRACU™ and
A
UTO
A
LIGN
™.
Configuration and optimization
S
IM
CAD™’s ray-tracing accurately calculates the geometry
distortion and edge blending required for each projector
channel. These parameters can be downloaded into the
WARP™ processor of the projectors through the intermediate
xRACU™ communication capabilities, automatically and
accurately pre-aligning them for use in the designed display
position.
Aitoff plot of the pilot’s view in the simulator
generated by S
IM
CAD™