FS9, FSX and Prepar3D – Display Configuration

‘home cockpit’ configuration

Date: 14 Decembre 2018

Version: 1.0
 Contents
1 Introduction

2 PC Hardware systems used by Rob van Dijk – 2018

3 Software used by Rob van Dijk – 2018

4 FS9 Display Configuration

4.1 Scenery
4.2 Aircraft
4.3 Weather
4.4 Hardware
4.5 ‘View’ settings in FS9

5 Nvidia Inspector Display Settings FS9, FSX and Prepar3D

5.1 Base install of Nvidia Inspector
5.2 Use of Nvidia Inspector
5.3 Profile Screen of Nvidia Inspector

6 fs9.cfg Configuration

1 - Introduction
Flickering Textures, flashing buildings or a blurry behavior in FS9, FSX or
Prepar3D?

This guide will cover setting up your display settings to have a good FS9, FSX or
Prepar3D experience.
We all know the stability problems, bad fps, blurry scenery’s specially in
populated areas.
If you have a recent PD (desktop) and that is a quad core or larger with a Nvidia
GPU this guide is for you! GTX 1070 – TI – 8GB

For those of you lucky enough to own an NVidia Graphics Card, there is a great program that allows you to force any
program to use whatever video settings you wish, rather than to be limited by the selections within the program.
This program is called NVidia Inspector. I highly recommend you download and install this program. I also highly
recommend you set up your Inspector using the following settings for Microsoft Flight Simulator or Prepar for the
best quality vs speed.
You can download the NVidia Inspector from website https://orbmu2k.de/

Important: uninstall other display tools because they can influence the operation of the Nvidia Inspector!
2 - PC Hardware systems used by Rob van Dijk – 2018

PC Hardware system ‘View’

PC kast: Fractal Design R4 Black Pearl

Motherboard: ASUS MB Z97K – DDR3 – LGA1150 – ATX – HDMI – DVI – VGA
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790 - 3,4GHz – 8MB – LGA1150 – Haswell Refresh
Memory: Transcend 8GB – DDR3/1600 – JM1600KLH-8GB – 2Rx8 = 16GB
Cooler: Cooler Master 750W PSU80+ BronzeModular
HDD: Samsung SSD 860 Evo Series 500GB - SATA600 – 2.5” – MZ-76E500B/EU
Samsung SSD 850 Evo Series 250GB - SATA600 – 2.5” – MZ-75E250B/EU
Videocards: 1x ASUS GeForce GTX1070-TI-AERO – 8GB – HDMI – DVI – VGA
1x ASUS GeForce GT740-OC-2GD5 – 2GB – HDMI – DVI – VGA
Serial Port Card - RS232 Card: Serial Port Expansion PCI Card
Monitor 1: Samsung 21” – System monitor
Monitor 2: Samsung 21” – used for Aerosoft FSC (FlightSim Commander)
Monitor 3: Beetronics 7” LCD (HDMI – VGA- RCA) used for lower EICAS instruments
HP USB Graphics Adapter: Model NL571AA to connect Beetronics 7” monitor
Beamer: Short-throw beamer Optoma GT740

PC Hardware system ‘Instruments’

PC kast: Fractal Design R4 Black Pearl

Motherboard: ASUS MB Z97K – DDR3 – LGA1150 – ATX – HDMI – DVI – VGA
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790 - 3,4GHz – 8MB – LGA1150 – Haswell Refresh
Memory: Transcend 8GB – DDR3/1600 – JM1600KLH-8GB – 2Rx8GB
Cooler: Cooler Master 750W PSU80+ BronzeModular
HDD: Samsung SSD 850 Evo Series 250GB - SATA600 – 2.5” – MZ-75E250B/EU
Videocards: 1x ASUS GeForce GT740-OC-2GD5 – 2GB – HDMI – DVI – VGA
Monitor 1: Samsung 21” – System monitor
Monitor 2: Samsung 21” – Monitor for CA MIP instruments
Monitor 3: Samsung 21” – Monitor for FO MIP instruments
Monitor 3: Samsung 15” – Monitor for CENTER MIP instruments

3 – Software used by Rob van Dijk – 2017/2018

PC Hardware system ‘View’

Operating system: Windows 10 Home Premium Version

Videocards: nVidia drivers configured with nVidia Inspector
Serial Port Card - RS232 Card: Prolific driver PL2303
HP USB Graphics Adapter: Driver HP USB Adapter - Version 8.2.2186.0 Rev.A

Flight Simulator:
Microsoft Flight Simulator:
FSuipc (Pete Dowson):
Instrument displays:
FlightSim Commander:
FSBUSmod:
Scenery:
FS9, update 9.1 and NoCD, also good experience with FSX.
FSuipc version 3.999z9 or FSuipc 4.xx
EFIS Panel Builder - www.simplugins.com
Aerosoft FDC9 – www.aerosoft.com
FSBUS - Modulair Version - www.rvdijk.nl
Aerosoft - www.aerosoft.com

PC Hardware system ‘View’

Operating system: Windows 10

Videocards: Nvidia drivers configured with Nvidia Inspector
Serial Port Card - RS232 Card: Prolific driver PL2303
HP USB Graphics Adapter: Driver HP USB Adapter - Version 8.2.2186.0 Rev.A

Flight Simulator:
Microsoft Flight Simulator:
FSuipc (Pete Dowson):
Instrument displays:
FlightSim Commander:
FSBUSmod:
Scenery:
FS9, update 9.1 and NoCD
FSuipc version 3.999z9
EFIS Panel Builder - www.simplugins.com
Aerosoft FDC9 – www.aerosoft.com
FSBUS - Modulair Version - www.rvdijk.nl
Aerosoft - www.aerosoft.com

4 - Display settings in FS9

Flight Simulator 2004 or FS9 offers customizable display settings and this allows us to adjust many of the visual
aspects of the simulation to attain a satisfactory balance between graphical clarity and smooth performance.
Not only the display settings of FS2004 are responsible for a perfect scenery view of our ‘home cockpit’, also the
configuration of our video cards is important. In this chapter you find our configuration with the necessary
explanation.
To configure the settings in FS2004 click on the ‘Settings’ option in the ‘Main’ menu. A screen reveals the numerous
configurable settings available in your simulator. Click on the ‘Display’ option to activate the display settings screen.
There are four sub-menus under Displays:

4.1 - Scenery
Terrain mesh complexity: 100
Terrain texture size: High
Terrain detail: Land and water
Water effects: Low
Dawn/dusk texture blending box: checked
Extended terrain textures box: checked
Special effects detail: High
Scenery complexity: Extremely dense
Autogen density: Extremely dense
Add-on dynamic scenery box: checked
Add-on dynamic scenery: Extremely dense
Ground scenery casts shadows box: checked
Sun glare box: checked
Lens flare box: unchecked
(pilot's sunglasses don't have lens flare)

4.2 - Aircraft
Global aircraft quality: Minimal
Virtual cockpit gauge quality: Low
Reflection box: unchecked
Aircraft cast shadows box: unchecked
Landing lights box: checked
4.3 - Weather
Sight distance: 100mi / 160km
(100 mi is the maximum view we can see)
Cloud draw distance: 50mi / 80km
3-D cloud percentage: 50
Simple clouds box: unchecked
Detailed clouds box: checked
Cloud coverage density: High

4.4 - Hardware
Target frame rate: 22 – 30
(normal cinema movie fps = 25)
Display resolution: 1280x800x32
(monitor/beamer native resolution)
Render to Texture box: checked
Transform and lighting box: checked
Anti-aliasing box: unchecked
(AA set by Nvidia Inspector)
Filtering: Trilinear
MIP mapping quality: 8
(It is generally accepted that setting the ‘mipmaps’ level
to the highest (8) will in most cases cause more blurred
textures than a setting of 4 or 5)
Hardware-rendered lights: 8
Global max texture size: Massive

4.5 - View Setting in FS9

To configure the ‘View’ settings in FS2004 click on
the ‘View’ option in the ‘Main’ menu. A screen
reveals the numerous configurable view settings
available in your simulator. To items are
important:

Full Screen mode box: not checked

(we use more monitors and a beamer and this
makes it impossible to project in ‘full screen’
mode)

View Option: pull back the ‘field of view’ in all

modes to 0.75/0.65 by pressing the ‘minus - ‘ key.
(This will immediately make all ground textures
appear much, much crisper. You will see the
letters "0.75" in red letters in the top right hand
of your screen to confirm your FOV has changed.
Default 100% zoom level is not realistic and will
make things appear far more blurred, which is
true in FS9 too. I usually run a .75 zoom or about
2 clicks back on the minus key from 100%)

I will indicate in this guide which values change positions of sliders in FS9/FSX settings. Be aware
that changes in FS9/FSX settings may overwrite your fs.cfg tweaks. In my opinion it’s best not to use
FS9/FSX display menu after you made the first display settings at all!
5 - Nvidia Display Settings FS9/FSX
Nvidia is the GO-TO video adapter for FS9/FSX.
Important: uninstall other display tools because they can influence the operation of the Nvidia Inspector!

5.1 - Base install of Nvidia Inspector

Download Nvidia Inspector.
(http://download.orbmu2k.de/download.)
Unzip it and place the folder anywhere you like on your system.
(Do not remove Nvidia Inspector.exe from the folder it was unzipped to without also
moving the XML file(s) that was included with the software!)
Optional: Open the folder and right click nvidiainspector.exe to place a shortcut on your
desktop.

After installing any Nvidia driver and a reboot, there is no need to open the Nvidia control panel for D3 and
game settings. If you change anything in the Nvidia control panel for 3D and FS9 games it will override
Nvidia Inspector.

5.2 - Use of Nvidia Inspector

Step 1 - Run nvidiaInspector.exe and after
opening of the window click the tab
shown beside!

5.3 - Profile Screen of Nvidia Inspector

Step 2 - On the profile screen, in the top box, start typing: MS FLIGHT SIMULATOR X and click the ARROW next to the
box (see below). It will take you to ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004’ listing and click on the Microsoft Flight
Simulator 2004 profile.

Step 3 - With to ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004’ displayed in the box, make the following changes as shown. Doing
so will not change any other profile and only set fs 2004. You can use the same method for the MS Flight Simulator X
profile too.

Step 4 - When finished, click APPLY PROFILE. The "gear ICONS" in the boxes shown above will appear AFTER
APPLY CHANGES is clicked!

In to ‘Microsoft FS9/FSX ‘Options/Settings/Display/Hardware’ settings make sure that Antialiasing (AA) is

unchecked and Filtering is set to Trilinear!
6 - fs9.cfg Configuration
Navigate to your fs.cfg location (PC/System/Users/Name/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/FS9) and make a backup
copy. Now you are ready to start tweaking and testing your FS9.
There are no settings that are always correct! Remember this. Use settings that are appropriate to your setup
(Hardware + FS9/FSX + Add-ons). Different add-ons (planes, sceneries, even weather settings) may require different
tweaks and different configuration.
All your tweaks and settings have to be adjusted to your personal preferences. Some people will be ok with 20
frames per second and better graphics. Others will settle with lower quality and constant 30 fps.
My personal preference is to keep the highest quality that will allow at least a stable 20 frames on approach to the
heaviest scenery that I use at the moment. It means that I have constant 30 frames inflight and I have no stutters in
this difficult part of flight.
You need to consider VAS (virtual address space). Too much scenery or autogen objects may cause OOM (out of
memory) error. The same may happen when loading a large number of high quality textures.

Test, test and once again – TEST!

It is a process of trial and error. Use this guide and set your FS2004. Then test it. Then tweak it again and
test. If you see improvement – use your new settings. If not – try something different.
Even if you have a ‘perfect’ set of tweaks – do a small change from time to time. And let it work for a few
days. Maybe it will be better.

I use for my first tests always the same situation: a final approach to EDDF runway 07L of the Aerosoft
scenery: AS_MEGA-AIRPORT-FRANKFURT-2.0_FS2004.

Do a long test
It is hard to test tweaks in a single flight. Even if you have a test flight (same weather, airport, plane, date,
time of day, traffic) – you may see different results with no change at all. You may see improvement even if
the long term change is for worse. So do not trust a single test unless the difference is obvious and very
strong.

FS9/FSX.cfg structure
The FS9/FSX.cfg is a simple configuration file that uses single line commands containing a name of the setting and
value with ‘=’ character in between.
Section headers are wrapped in square brackets. For example: [GRAPHICS].
Double slash ‘ // ‘ marks comment – a part of line (or the whole line) that will be ignored by FS2004.

The following setting in our FS2004 config ‘fs9.cfg’ deals with blurries and much else besides. My comments and/of
meaning will be place after comment mark ‘//’.

Editing your config?

First, save a copy of your FS9.cfg file for safe keeping!

[PANELS]
IMAGE_QUALITY=1
UNITS_OF_MEASURE=1
QUICKTIPS=0
PANEL_MASKING=1
PANEL_STRETCHING=1

[STARTUP]
DEMO=0
LOADSIM=1
LOADWINDOW=1
SHOW_OPENING_SCREEN=0
STARTUP_DEMO=0

[GRAPHICS]
FULL_SCREEN=0
// Full-Screen mode is impossible!
PERFORMANCE_MODE=0
DEF_PERF_MODE=7
TEXT_SCROLL=1
AUTO_LOD=0
DETAIL_TEXTURE=2
WATER_EFFECTS=1
TERRAIN_USE_VECTOR_MAP=1
TERRAIN_USE_VECTOR_OBJECTS=1
EFFECTS_QUALITY=2
GROUND_SHADOWS=1
SMOOTH_VIEW=1
IMAGE_SMOOTHING=1
TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=1024
COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=0
AIRCRAFT_SHADOWS=0
// We are sitting in our aircraft and can’t see the shadows
LANDING_LIGHTS=1
// Important!
IMAGE_QUALITY=0
TEXTURE_BLDG=1
TEXTURE_GND=1
TEXTURE_WATER=1
AIRCRAFT_TEXTURE=1
SEE_SELF=1
// Important! Otherwise landing lights are not visible in ‘cockpit’ view
TEXTURE_QUALITY=3
LOD_TARGET_FPS=21
NUM_LIGHTS=8

[SOUND]
SOUND=1
SOUND_FADER1=0.300000
SOUND_FADER2=0.400000
SOUND_FADER3=0.500000
SOUND_FADER4=0.700000
SOUND_FADER5=0.200000
SOUND_FADER6=0.900000
SOUND_QUALITY=2
SamplesPerSec=44100
BitsPerSample=16

[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce GT 740.0]

Mode=1280x800x32
TriLinear=1
MipBias=8

[DISPLAY]
UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=30
TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=400
TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=1024

[TERRAIN]
TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=100.000000
TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000
TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=400.000000
// Textures are loaded earlier
TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=21
TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8
TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=5
TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1
TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.900000
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.000000
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=4
// Load textures farther away to reduce blurries

[SCENERY]
IMAGE_COMPLEXITY=5
DYNAMIC_SCENERY=1
DYN_SCN_DENSITY=5
DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1
SUNGLARE=1
LENSFLARE=0

[RUNWAY]
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_SURFACE_SCALAR=0.7
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_VASI_SCALAR=0.7
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_APPROACH_SCALAR=1.0
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_STROBE_SCALAR=1.0
// Tweak the airport and other lights by adding these entries. They are not strictly performance related but it will
// look more realistic and won't dominate approaches

[JOYSTICK_MAIN]
// device numbers depends on your joystick
AXIS_EVENT_00=AXIS_LEFT_BRAKE_SET
AXIS_SCALE_00=-127
AXIS_NULL_00=1
STICK_SENSITIVITY_MODE=0
// Add this line: this makes FS treat the raw joystick readings in a linear fashion.
AXIS_EVENT_01=AXIS_RIGHT_BRAKE_SET
AXIS_SCALE_01=-127
AXIS_NULL_01=1
STICK_SENSITIVITY_MODE=0
// Add this line: this makes FS treat the raw joystick readings in a linear fashion.
AXIS_EVENT_05=AXIS_RUDDER_SET
AXIS_SCALE_05=127
AXIS_NULL_05=1
STICK_SENSITIVITY_MODE=0
// Add this line: this makes FS treat the raw joystick readings in a linear fashion.

I really hope this guide assists anyone wanting to make their Flight Simulator run without flashing buildings or a
blurry behavior!