Altimeter setting changes in any avionics (glass or analog) do not instantaneously change the altimeter reading

Bug Reporting Hub Aircraft & Systems
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1

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Are you using Developer Mode or made changes in it?

No

Have you disabled/removed all your mods and addons?

No

Brief description of the issue:

Changes to the altimeter setting window does not result in an instantaneous change to the altitude reading. Instead, the altitude reading slowly changes over the course of multiple seconds to asymptotically approach the new value. This is non-physical behavior: the altimeter setting window drives mechanical gears that directly contact the altimeter needles. Instantaneous changes to the altimeter setting should drive instantaneous changes to the altitude reading.

This has been an issue since day 1 with this simulator. I presumed this was a known and logged bug because it’s so glaringly incorrect, but I can’t find any posts about it, so here’s the first.

Provide Screenshot(s)/video(s) of the issue encountered:

N/A

Detailed steps to reproduce the issue encountered:

Use any aircraft with an altimeter (G100 NXi works). Change the altimeter setting.

PC specs and/or peripheral set up if relevant:

N/A

Build Version # when you first started experiencing this issue:

1.7.2.0

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Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:

2

Which aircraft ?

3

100% agree – It is not correct – but in a MSFS where there are so any other things that do not work at all, this may be one that is a low priority to address.

What is interesting is what may be causing the slow response, and if it is intentionally programmed that way ( animation code? ), or just a factor in the way that the new value is being calculated.

4

All of them, as far as I can tell. Even 3rd party aircraft like the PMDG 737 do that.

It’s recreatable on the G1000 NXi, the Carenado Bonanza, the King Air 350, you name it.

5

May or may not affect it , but does it do the same with Gauge Refresh Rate set to high?

6

Certainly not a bug but bad design as so many things in the sim. I assume they wanted to make it smooth and look real and missed that it’s far from “real”. The needle has to move when the knob is turned and not lag behind.

7

I had it on medium. I set it to high and tried again, but saw no appreciable difference.

8

I suspect the only reason for this is maybe if the default autopilot may interpret the sudden shift from one number to another as infinite vertical speed, which could cause the autopilot’s PID controller to go nuts.

Otherwise, yeah, I don’t see any reason why this design should exist, it’s just bad overall. Especially when you’re in a descent or climb and you set local QNH or standard, it’s really hard to tell whether the altitude shown is in transition or if you’re in QNH. It probably doesn’t matter for the second that it transitions, but…Asobo, come on, you can do better. Model an altimeter and autopilot like it is, don’t use non-physical modeling to work around poor design.

9

The G1000Nxi as given in an example does not have a physical connection from the knob to needles like is being suggested. It’s way of working is more representative of the way the sim has to work. Meaning there is software in the loop that has to determine the input, calculate the new altitude and then redraw the display. I can’t say I’ve noticed a big lag with this but I do fly with external instruments so perhaps simconnect gets updated faster then the virtual cockpit gets animated. I’ll check next time in sim as I’m curious now.

10

I will briefly comment: my experience with the G1000 IRL is that the reading change from changing an altimeter setting is instantaneous.

I also can’t see how such a slow moving animation is even certifiable from a Human Factors perspective.

11

Not only G1000 but also other brands like the Dynon Skyview. The change is instantaneous. Simple as that: You don’t always have the actual QNH at hand but you know the elevation of the airport you’re at: Dial in the elevation and you get the QNH. It’s also common for areal flights to dial in the next 1000 ft. No problem in reality, bad in the sim.

No idea if that’s intended design or simply a bad and inefficient script. Other things in the sim are similarily sloppy.

12

Hello,

I would like to put an emphasis on this. This is exactly what you do if you do local flights, you jump into the airplane and the first things you do is set your instruments: altimeter to field elevation (you don’t always have the correct QNH available), set your compass, set the clock. It’s a flow I do everytime in our Husky and in the sim it looks terribly wrong.

Since this bug report is from early 2023 and the bug carried over into the new sim I have little hope for it to be fixed but maybe we are lucky and the devs agree on the necessity of correctly working instrumentation?

Thanks =)