Command Center Displays

Written by Patrick Chisholm and Chris Hannas

MIT 2010 Volume: 14 Issue: 6 (July)

As new technologies enable access to massive amounts of information, the challenge is to visually convey that information within command centers in the most effective manner. Advances in displaying multiple sources of video and data are enabling decision-makers to meet that challenge head on.

Display screens, whether mounted in a fixed control room or deployable in a mobile command center, can show a multitude of sources, including video, still images, maps, animations and computer screens. The ability to integrate and seamlessly display different streams of information gives commanders a more realistic view of the situation at hand.

“A wall could display video feeds of satellite imagery or mapping. It could contain news feeds or information from the field that is being transmitted to an operations center—it really doesn’t matter. The key is that we take all those different feeds and pull them together so you can look at everything all at once,” said Matt Krstulja, director of sales for Mitsubishi’s Datawall Group.

Just as consumer television and computer screens have taken a leap forward in resolution, so too have wall displays for command centers. Former analog, standard-definition devices are being supplanted by digital, high-definition screens. The upgrades provide images that are significantly sharper, with improved clarity and contrast.

The flexibility in modern display systems gives users the ability to utilize the technology in ways that are uniquely suited to their current mission needs. A command center may have 12 screens—two rows of six mounted together—with the ability to decide what to project on each screen in the system.

New display technology enables the partitioning of screens into numerous smaller screens. The subsets can nearly abut one another, with many displays using less than a millimeter of space between each image. The small gap, called a bezel or mullion, provides a virtually seamless set of images without distracting borders or edges.

“You could project one image across all 12, or you can take any of those pieces of information and freely move it or size it, and place it anywhere you want on the wall,” said Krstulja. “So the physical borders between screens don’t matter anymore.”

The result is an interface that can be manipulated, much like multitasking on several windows on a computer screen. Users can decide where to place each source and customize the size and shape of the window to their informational needs.

A major trend in the industry, Krstulja said, is having displays that automatically calibrate different components to one another. Rather than manually adjusting factors such as color balance and brightness, the entire system ensures that images on different screens are consistent in color and tone. That is particularly important for a system that is placed in an area with restricted access.

“Many workers who install these video wall systems often don’t have the security clearances to get back into the space once it’s fully operating,” pointed out Krstulja. “So it’s important that the screens run flawlessly all the time. And if you do need service, it’s very easy to pull out the basic components, replace a lamp, for example, and then the system just recalibrates itself.”

Mitsubishi’s MegaView rear projection systems are designed to operate continuously, with the latest models boasting a life span of about 11 years. If individual components fail or become outdated, Krstulja said, they can easily be swapped out for newer parts.

“A display wall needs to run 24 hours a day for years at a time,” he said. “They’re designed to be modular in configuration so you can replace a power supply, for example, without changing the optical unit. Or you could change out the illumination source very quickly and easily.”

RUGGEDIZED DISPLAYS

Durability and longevity concerns in a stationary command center are very different from those in a deployable, mobile command center. Displays mounted in a climate-controlled room do not take nearly the abuse undergone by those in tanks, planes and ships.

Those systems have to conform to military standards for protection against factors like vibration, shock and temperature. A company called Computer Modules, for example, provides its line of rugged displays for military use. Called Sturdy View, the displays are encased in lightweight, machined aluminum for protection and feature connecters and buttons that meet military specifications.

Shaking and vibration are major concerns in tanks, due in part to the steel treads. For planes, the bumps on takeoff and landing as well as in-flight turbulence are a concern. In certain situations, there are also the jolts from incoming or outgoing ordinance.

“An explosion near the ship will cause the ship to kind of bend and strain and stress and deform a little bit, and then if the displays aren’t rugged they could stop functioning,” explained Laszlo Zoltan, Computer Modules vice president. “So ruggedized displays are designed to withstand a certain amount of stress.”

Computer Modules also makes video wall controllers, which run the type of multi-display systems found in control centers. Like the Mitsubishi systems, they can display an image across all of the integrated screens or be customized to use multiple scalable windows that can be positioned anywhere on the system.

In a military application, the ability to bring together different types of information in many different formats gives commanders a more realistic view of the situation on the ground, Zoltan said.

“They may be having data come at them from various locations, and they can actually overlay data so they have geographic information, actual live video and sensor information,” said Zoltan. “You can have a topographic map, you can have little icons where your assets are deployed and then other sensors, and you can have all these things moving along so that an officer can have a sense of what’s going on in an actual situation. So it’s a great technology for improving data gathering and integration.”

Video walls are only as good as the underlying controller, which can be manipulated using a joystick or a touch screen. While current top-of-the-line systems utilize high definition, the future may involve the use of 3-D systems.

“Prevalent technology requires glasses, but emerging is new 3-D technology that will not require glasses, which gives you a more immersive experience,” noted Zoltan.

TRAVERSING MULTIPLE NETWORKS

Commanders at Camp Victory in Iraq rely on a portable video command center technology that integrates their basic requirements into a small, portable 19 inch deployable equipment rack, roughly the size of a dishwasher. Created by Ultra Electronics Criticom, the ISEC deployable solution enables secure and non-secure video conferencing to the warfighter out in the field. At Camp Victory, the ISEC video output is then projected onto three portable command and control screens.

“The Criticom deployable solution used by Camp Victory includes a video processor, which can display up to 12 sources of data or information coming in to those screens at one particular time,” said Bill Sapp, president of Ultra Electronics Criticom. “So that could be a computer, a Predator or a variety of Predators doing video feeds. It could be video conferencing back to the Pentagon at the same time, and all of this can be projected in a command and control atmosphere at Camp Victory, right on these screens.”

The Criticom deployable solution, which includes ISEC technology, also can display battlefield sensor data, maps and video teleconferencing feeds. As with many of the other command center solutions, users can customize their display using multiple windows that can be sized, zoomed and panned. Another benefit of the system in a deployed environment is the ability to operate a single, smaller screen in the event the multiple larger screens cannot be used.

“If the big screens get knocked out, you still have the small deployable unit with the 17-inch monitor,” said Sapp. “So you have a variety of fail-safe activities there.”

The ISEC also allows commanders to quickly move from video conferencing on a secure network to a non-secure network, and vice-versa. Generals may have a number of conferences in one day, involving everything from contractors discussing a product to briefings for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The process of getting the computer and conferencing systems ready to traverse the separate networks used to take 30 to 60 minutes as part of a manual process, which meant longer waits between virtual meetings or having to move to another room, according to Sapp. But the ISEC product allows a faster changeover and more efficient communications.

“If you’re in a general’s office, over the top of the video system there’s a relatively large color sign that basically says ‘secure’ and ‘nonsecure,’” said Sapp, describing his company’s systems. “They have a separate box that has a toggle switch on it, and it’s big on purpose. So you see it and you switch it over and you’ll watch it go from secure to non-secure, and the system takes less than 90 seconds while all of this is taking place. Once it wipes everything clean, it will light up and say it’s ready to go.”

LIVE VIDEO

Another piece of video technology being used in the military environment is a solution for capturing, managing and streaming recorded or live video. Devices such as Polycom’s video media center (VMC) can be plugged into a command center’s video system and utilized as a dynamic source of content.

Federal agencies can utilize the VMC as a tool for supporting emergency response and training operations, according to Roseanne Cohen, federal marketing manager for Polycom.

“In disaster response situations that result from extreme weather events, such as flooding or hurricanes, helicopters can be equipped with cameras to capture live video feeds, which can in turn be streamed to command centers to provide real-time situational awareness to multiple agencies at one time.

This information can also be recorded and stored to provide a record of events, support training and influence procedures,” said Cohen.

In a world in which more and more people are turning to YouTube and other streaming video sites for content, the VMC gives users the ability to manage and distribute their military, government or corporate content in a similar way.

“If I’m capturing a Predator feed from a UAV, I can ingest that video stream into the video media center,” said Aaron Tragle, consulting engineer for Polycom’s U.S. Federal Division. “Then the VMC will stream and distribute it out to mass audiences through multiple transport technologies— IP over the local network, the wide area network and over satellite—it doesn’t matter. The VMC will play that live video, I can sit at my PC on my desk and watch that live Predator feed, or that Predator feed could just as easily be the Air Force News Network. It is basically IPTV feeds to the desktop.”

The recorded content can later be played via a number of systems, whether it needs to be streamed onto a command center screen or played via Windows Media Player on a desktop.

All of this display technology is helping commanders and decision makers take a new look at the content stretching from their desktop to battlefields halfway across the globe. That means access to a better picture of the minute-by-minute developments and a greater situational awareness of the overall mission. ♦

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