Video displays are the conduit
for real-time alphanumeric and graphic measurands and processed data.
Local area networks and the Intranet
expand the domain of displays beyond the operator’s console so that each
user can view data of interest in a meaningful manner independent of
others.
Telemetry streams can produce too much data for a single person to comprehend
as alphanumeric information. Displays ease the task of interpreting raw
measurands faster than the eye can fathom, depict when measurands are
within safe and meaningful limits, show relationships between measurands,
and spot trends. To assist these efforts, telemetry ground systems developers
like L-3 developed a wide variety of customizable display objects, including
strip charts, bar charts, vertical meters, round gages, cross plots,
and
annunciators, as well as tabular displays, orientation displays, and
bit maps.
Each display type can easily be tailored with respect
to size, foreground and background colors, fonts, grids, time and data
format, etc. To speed comprehension, data can be presented in engineering
units, as opposed to raw transducer output. The attributes of the object
can change as the color of a curve or numeric value changes when a measurand
approaches or is out of limits. In addition to processing
algorithms, which detect changes, large
time scales make it easier to visualize trends. Dynamic 3-D models of
objects under test can be used to show orientation, as opposed to interpreting
a table of numeric orientation values. And multiple objects can be grouped
into a single window to form instrument panels.
Windows can be created for a test plan that is used over and over either
with the same measurands and processed parameters or with new ones as
required. Each version can be renamed and saved. Measurands and parameters
can be changed in real time. Similarly, attributes such as limits can
also be changed. Standard drawing and graphics tools are useful in creating
process diagrams and embellishing control panels. The detail and complexity
of displays is left entirely to your creativity.
Snapshots of events can be sent to color printers
or saved to disk for inclusion in reports. Features such as local disk
and ring buffers associated with video displays, and independent of system archiving, give operators the ability to recreate data leading to an event of interest.
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