A few questions that I now got a new rig...

[Aapje]

7 hours ago, Riderocket said:

TrackIR or VR will help your situational awareness much better in flight simulators, I used to play rise of flight without them and I relied on the hat switch to look around, after trying trackIR and eventually VR I cant go back to a 2D monitor, let alone a hat switch

 

You can also use this with your phone: https://smoothtrack.app/

I was pretty happy with it before I went to VR. Although how well it works probably depends on your lighting and being alone in front of the PC.

But it is very cheap and you don't have to wait for hardware to ship to you.

Edited Tuesday at 07:43 PM by Aapje

[daiphan]

30 minutes ago, Aapje said:

You can also use this with your phone: https://smoothtrack.app/

I was pretty happy with it before I went to VR. Although how well it works probably depends on your lighting and being alone in front of the PC.

But it is very cheap and you don't have to wait for hardware to ship to you.

Thank you so much and I will look into it. Dai 

Hi all,

Setting up the hardware and let's see how this game fares with a good computer and large TV screen.  I appreciate any comments on the setting up the graphics. I understand that my rig is strong enough for 4K resolution and Ultra settings? Thanks Dai  

Edited Tuesday at 08:14 PM by daiphan

[daiphan]

When I turn on the TV, I see the refresh is set at 60 Hz. In order to get 144 Hz what do I need to do?  Dai 

Edited Tuesday at 09:07 PM by daiphan

[AEthelraedUnraed]

32 minutes ago, daiphan said:

When I turn on the TV, I see the refresh is set at 60 Hz. In order to get 144 Hz what do I need to do?  Dai 

Refer to the TV's manual. This is manufacturer/model specific. It usually involves the TV's menu, which you can usually reach using the buttons that are usually located on the bottom of the screen. Usually, that is, but no guarantees. Hence the manual.

[daiphan]

38 minutes ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Refer to the TV's manual. This is manufacturer/model specific. It usually involves the TV's menu, which you can usually reach using the buttons that are usually located on the bottom of the screen. Usually, that is, but no guarantees. Hence the manual.

I have read and rechecked with the manual. There is no resolution setting on the TV. Just contrast, brightness, etc... I plug the PC into the HDMI 144 Hz with 8K HDMI cable. The only thing left is changing the resolution in the IL2 menu. The TV model is 65" QM6K. Dai 

PS: I downloaded the Nvidia Control Panel and I was able to adjust the resolution. However the maximum refresh is 120 Hz. It is odd the TV can do 144 but I am allowed only 120?  

Edited Tuesday at 10:05 PM by daiphan

[Gutholz]

HDMI might be limited at 120hz at high resolutions? Try via Displayport.

You have a very nice place and great models, are you living in an aviation museum?

 

[daiphan]

55 minutes ago, Gutholz said:

HDMI might be limited at 120hz at high resolutions? Try via Displayport.

You have a very nice place and great models, are you living in an aviation museum?

 

The TV only has 4 HDMI ports and 2 USB ports. The 4 HDMIs are 144,144,60,60 Hz. I connect to the HDMI 144 Hz slot. There are 3 ways to change the resolution (the cable is 8K HDMI BTW). One is through IL2 menu. The second is changing resolution of the display through the PC. Third is through Nvidia Control Panel. Are these the same as changing TV resolution? The last one method shows 120 Hz when I turn on the TV. There is NO option on the remote to change the TV resolution. Dai 

Edited yesterday at 01:02 AM by daiphan

[daiphan]

40 minutes ago, Gutholz said:

You have a very nice place and great models, are you living in an aviation museum?

 

It is just a humble house with lots of collection. Dai 

[daiphan]

I have been watching IL2 through YT with the set up on the floor and the 65" seems small. However once the TV is on the stand at eye level then it should be large enough because my 50" on the desk top seems to be big enough. Research online shows rarely the recommendation of 75 or larger for desktop unless it is wall mounted and play from the couch. Dai  

Edited yesterday at 01:05 AM by daiphan

[AEthelraedUnraed]

10 hours ago, daiphan said:

I have read and rechecked with the manual. There is no resolution setting on the TV. Just contrast, brightness, etc... I plug the PC into the HDMI 144 Hz with 8K HDMI cable. The only thing left is changing the resolution in the IL2 menu. The TV model is 65" QM6K. Dai 

PS: I downloaded the Nvidia Control Panel and I was able to adjust the resolution. However the maximum refresh is 120 Hz. It is odd the TV can do 144 but I am allowed only 120?  

Wait - now you're conflating things again:

• Resolution is the amount of pixels that are shown. Since a TV will always show all its manufactured pixels, there's no way (or need) to change this.
• Refresh rate is how often the shown image changes. This is something that you can set on your TV, and is mentioned in the manual, page 19: https://support.tcl.com/en_US/qm6k-series In your case I recommend to just set it to "dynamic" and be done with it.

The resolution and refresh rate of your PC are similar to the same concepts on your TV, but there are some small nuances. They're limited by the capabilities of your GPU (and to a lesser extent, your other hardware). You can use the NVidia Control Panel to override certain in-game settings, but unless there's a good reason, I recommend to just stick to the IL2 settings.

• Resolution on your PC is how much pixels your PC is sending to your TV. If this is larger than your TV's resolution, your TV will combine several "PC pixels" into a single "TV pixel". If this is less than your TV's resolution, your TV will show the same "PC pixel" on multiple "TV pixels".
  • The "Screen resolution" setting in IL2 should generally be the same as the resolution of your screen. If your framerate drops too much, decrease it.
• Refresh rate on your PC is how often your PC is sending a new image to your TV. If this is less than your TV's refresh rate, your TV will show the same frame for multiple refresh cycles. If this is more than your TV's refresh rate, the TV's buffer will be overwritten before it's completely output onto the screen, and you get screen tearing.
  • The "Target FPS" setting in IL2 should be set as low as you can where you can't see the difference. Where this point is, differs per individual. Start with 60, if the image isn't smooth in fast turns, increase it. Never increase it beyond the maximum framerate of your TV.

Edited yesterday at 08:19 AM by AEthelraedUnraed

[daiphan]

1 hour ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Wait - now you're conflating things again:

• Resolution is the amount of pixels that are shown. Since a TV will always show all its manufactured pixels, there's no way (or need) to change this.
• Refresh rate is how often the shown image changes. This is something that you can set on your TV, and is mentioned in the manual, page 19: https://support.tcl.com/en_US/qm6k-series In your case I recommend to just set it to "dynamic" and be done with it.

The resolution and refresh rate of your PC are similar to the same concepts on your TV, but there are some small nuances. They're limited by the capabilities of your GPU (and to a lesser extent, your other hardware). You can use the NVidia Control Panel to override certain in-game settings, but unless there's a good reason, I recommend to just stick to the IL2 settings.

• Resolution on your PC is how much pixels your PC is sending to your TV. If this is larger than your TV's resolution, your TV will combine several "PC pixels" into a single "TV pixel". If this is less than your TV's resolution, your TV will show the same "PC pixel" on multiple "TV pixels".
  • The "Screen resolution" setting in IL2 should generally be the same as the resolution of your screen. If your framerate drops too much, decrease it.
• Refresh rate on your PC is how often your PC is sending a new image to your TV. If this is less than your TV's refresh rate, your TV will show the same frame for multiple refresh cycles. If this is more than your TV's refresh rate, the TV's buffer will be overwritten before it's completely output onto the screen, and you get screen tearing.
  • The "Target FPS" setting in IL2 should be set as low as you can where you can't see the difference. Where this point is, differs per individual. Start with 60, if the image isn't smooth in fast turns, increase it. Never increase it beyond the maximum framerate of your TV.

Thank you very much for making thing clear. Thanks again. Dai 

[daiphan]

Hi all,

I am downloading the game client and after 7 hours I got the "failed to update". So I uninstall IL2 and start fresh again. This game takes about 10 hours or more to load (still uploading) so is it normal to take this long? Dai 

[daiphan]

Ok everyone,

I have the chance to test out the new rig and the motion is fluid under Ultra set up. I believe the refresh is capped at 120 Hz though. I sit three feet away from the TV and I feels the immersion is not enough. I think the 75" will do better so I am going to stop by Best Buy and take a look again. I do not have any eye strain or headache associated with the 65" so far. Dai 

[SCG_Tzigy]

I think with screens > 50-60 the cockpit dimensions/instruments are too big. It kills immersion for me ar the zoom level I mostly fly with..

[daiphan]

30 minutes ago, SCG_Tzigy said:

I think with screens > 50-60 the cockpit dimensions/instruments are too big. It kills immersion for me ar the zoom level I mostly fly with..

You are right. At 65" the instrument dials are true size. How about zoom out to make them true size at 75"? I really hate to make the wrong upgrade so I really appreciate your guidance. I went to BB and look at the 75". Really immersed by it and I am 3-4 feet away. Dai 

Edited 23 hours ago by daiphan

[SCG_Tzigy]

In the end it really is going to be what works the best for you what feels good and what makes you happy so go for it!!

[daiphan]

2 hours ago, SCG_Tzigy said:

In the end it really is going to be what works the best for you what feels good and what makes you happy so go for it!!

Yes after much consideration I will be picking up the 75" tonight. Dai 

[Doctor_Ramble]

On 4/8/2026 at 5:43 AM, Aapje said:

You can also use this with your phone: https://smoothtrack.app/

I was pretty happy with it before I went to VR. Although how well it works probably depends on your lighting and being alone in front of the PC.

But it is very cheap and you don't have to wait for hardware to ship to you.

For those who don't have an Android cellphone there is another option.

Opentrack, a free and open-source head tracking programme, allows you to use a webcam to track your face.  People who use AITrack (which pipe it's output through to Opentrack) will be familiar with this concept, but the Neuralnet tracker is integrated into Opentrack so there is less fuss using it and I also find that it tracks faces much better (as it is still gets updates).  It works well in not-very-good lighting and also with multiple faces in the frame.

You can find Opentrack here: https://github.com/opentrack/opentrack/releases

It works on Windows and Linux.

Edited 19 hours ago by Doctor_Ramble

[daiphan]

3 hours ago, Doctor_Ramble said:

For those who don't have an Android cellphone there is another option.

Opentrack, a free and open-source head tracking programme, allows you to use a webcam to track your face.  People who use AITrack (which pipe it's output through to Opentrack) will be familiar with this concept, but the Neuralnet tracker is integrated into Opentrack so there is less fuss using it and I also find that it tracks faces much better (as it is still gets updates).  It works well in not-very-good lighting and also with multiple faces in the frame.

You can find Opentrack here: https://github.com/opentrack/opentrack/releases

It works on Windows and Linux.

Thank you so much and I will look into it. Dai 

The 75" is here. I find it much more immersing and no eye strain or headache as reported online. I am 3 feet away from the action. Dai  

[daiphan]

Greetings,

I really enjoy the 75". With zoom out the cockpit is life size. Online advise is that you should not buy a TV that requires you to move your head as that take precious time that could get you killed. While that could be true for online competitive gaming, it is hardly realistic in life as the pilot must turn his head looking for enemies. So far no eye strain or headache with this large TV as of yet. Next will be a table top and gaming rig. Dai

PS: Vsync is off as I do not see any screen tearing and PFS is over 250. However this is capped at 120 as that is the highest refresh rate that I could set for. The motion is fluid. 

Edited 5 hours ago by daiphan