3D display system wins prize for engineering innovation

I'Jisplous news Pinpoint accuracy from digitizers IBustrating the fast-developing commercial applications for digitizers is the area of Geographical Information Systems. Pinpoint Analysis Ltd has a d o p t e d the TDS LC20 as its standard digitizer tablet, enhancing the company's role in d ev elo p i ng an e x t r e m e l y detailed graphical database of all postal a d d r e s s e s in the UK, achieved b y linking large-scale Ordnance Survey maps to the Post Office's postal a d d r e s s file. Working in conjunction with IBM compatible PCs, TDS digitizers are used to plot e v e r y identifiable a d d r es s on the OS maps into the database p r o g r a m - with pinpoint accuracy down to one m et r e on the ground, so claim the manufacturers. Customers such as Central Government, Local Authorities, the utilities, retailers and major financial institutions have the

TDS LC20 dJ~tizer tablet opportunity of using finely detailed information customised to their own specific requirements an invaluable aid to future planning of services and resources.

Terminal Display Systems Ltd, Lower Phillips Road, Whitebirk Industrial Estate, Blackburn, Lancashire BB1 5Ttt, UK. Tel: (02S4) 676 921

3D display s y s t e m wins prize for engineering innovation Three engineers from GEC Avionics' Rochester and Chatham sites will share this y e a r ' s covet ed Haskett Trophy for Engineering Achievement - and a £1 500 prize. 1988's winning entry is a Binocular Helmet Mounted Display System d e v e l o p e d b y Mike E w e r and Keith Harvey, who are b a s e d at New Road, Chatham and Alex Cameron, from the Main Airport Works, Rochester. Their innovative display system, one of the first of its kind d e v e l o p e d , offers the aircraft pilot a high quality display in three dimensions b y day and b y night. This allows the pilot to j udge distance accurately. Unlike earlier monocular and biocular equipment, the new system enables the pilot to make accurate j udge m ent of distance. Although the pilot can still r e a d his instrument panel whilst using the display, vital in-flight data can b e p r o jected onto his field of view,

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ensuring rapid response in the event of e m e r g e n c y . The system is already being actively marketed by the comparty's Airborne Display Division and is soon to b e evaluated in the United States and the UK. The award of £500 for the outstanding runner-up went to Stewart Barlow who works at the Company's Nailsea site near Bristol. This prize was a w a r d e d for the d e v e l o p m e n t of a high-density digital r e c o r d i n g system which

offers the reliability associated with digital systems with the storage capacity only usually provi ded b y v i d e o - b a s e d r e c o r d e r s . The adjudicating panel compri sed Dr B J O'Kane, former Chairman of GEC Avionics, Mr P B Rayner, and Mr P W Smith, Mr D W Hussey and Mr G C Howell, Director of Research of the Civil Aviation Authority.

G E C Avionics Ltd, Airport Works, Rochester, Kent ME1 2XX, UK. Tel: (0634) ~A.A.OO

High-resolution graphics board for IBM PC XT A high-resolution colour graphics adaptor board, for the IBM PC AT and XT and compatibles, as well as the IBM PS[2 model 30, has b e e n launched which provi des full colour graphics capabilities. Citizen have identified as their target b u y e r s existing users of the IBM PC who r e q u i r e a v e r y high-

resolution quality display. They believe that, at least initially, a high proportion of interest will come from medium to large organizations who use PCs for vertical applications such as CAD, DTP, computer graphics for video and digitized video images. The board's 256 k m e m o r y

DISPLAYS, OCTOBER 1988