There are 2 versions of the SimVim Panel modules available since May 2023 - Instruments-only and Full Panel textures.

1) Instrument-only Panel

The instrument-only version is for those who build a "hardware" panel with cover plates made of plastic, metal, plywood or cardboard covering the monitor screens, containing only cut-outs for instruments and indicators.

Every specific aircraft panel is provided with its typical instrument layout, with exact positioning and spacing. For the instruments-only panel we will provide a cut-out template with dimensions.

Also, you can launch the instrument panel, correct sits positioning and scale and make your template directly from the screen.

All instruments are automatically displayed in their real size (for example 3,125" gauges) on any screen. The program usually detects the screen size correctly.

If not - you will need to adjust the panel scaling to get correct instruments dimentions (or scaled-down size if you build your panel in redused size) using the key combinations (will be losted here soon).

To change the default panel positioning on its dedicated LCD screen use the arrow keys (up, down, left, right). After you use arrow keys to move the panel, pressing "Enter" will save the position.

If you have, for some reason, different instrument spacing, every instrument on the panel can be moved in the range of 5% of its default center position. For this click and hold the left mouse button over the instrument for about 2 seconds. When the green square appears, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to align the instrument with your cut-out. The selected position map is saved. But if follow the existing template, we are making them as close to the real aircraft as possible.

2) Full Panel

The full panel version includes realistic panel and instrument bezels textures in real sizes, with all control elements, including switches, knobs, and brightness zone overlays. All you need is a single monitor of suitable size and resolution connected to a Raspberry Pi, mini-PC or any old computer/laptop, without any covering.

All on-screen knobs, buttons and switches can be controlled with a mouse, but at the same time you can assign all needed SimVimX parameters to real switches, encoders and make a simple panel placed below or beside of the monitor or elsewhere.

Here is an example of how the particular panel is fitted on the 31.5" monitor (2560x1440 is used here for Baron-58 and Piper PA44):

Reduced panel size

A full panel can be displayed in scaled down ratio to fit any LCD screen size by pressing the "S" key to automatically scale the panel to screen size (either screen width or height). Later, we will also include an option to assign a zoom parameter to buttons or an encoder in SimVimX. This feature allows you to use the full panel module on any LCD screen (large monitor or notebook display). If you scale the panel down by 10-20% it will still be looking close to the real size with well readable hi-resolution instruments.