FSX:SE Some landing lights not working at night

I can't find an internet thread that specifically relates to my issue - I wondered if you guys have any thoughts....?

I'm not sure when it started happening, quite a while ago now - not sure if it was before I started learning to use addons but I think it started before I added any additional aircraft.

For many of my aircraft, the landing lights do not illuminate the ground at NIGHT but they do at DUSK. External views show the lights are "on" (visible point of light on the aircraft) at both times of day.

At NIGHT, there is a very dim, barely visible illumination on the ground and a top-down view SEEMS to show a cone on the ground extending forward from the aircraft, but if anything it looks DARKER than the surrounding scenery.

I'm wondering if whatever texture/effect is used by these aircraft is missing/corrupted. I think landing lights are coded into the model rather than the .cfg file so I can't look up to see what file might be faulty.

These aircraft work fine at all times of day:

Grand Caravan, Baron 58, King Air 350, Airbus A321.

These aircraft show ground illumination at DUSK but do not effectively illuminate at NIGHT:

Default FSX - C172, Maule Orion, Boeing 737, CRJ700 (barely perceptible at night)

Addon aircraft - Carendo Piper Cherokee, Aviation C150L (barely perceptible at night)

Default FSX - Mooney Bravo, Boeing 747 (visible but very dim at night)

It's not the end of the world as VATSIM don't notice a short pause in my taxi while I switch time of day but any ideas would be gratefully received,

Dave

DX10 preview checked in settings? Uncheck it and see if it helps.

It's unchecked already, thanks.

Its your videocard settings menu. You have changed "desktop color" and "contrast and brightness". Set those back to default. (or change the main color option from "use nvidia color settings" to "colours decided by application".).

Then start fsx to see the result.

Its your videocard settings menu. You have changed "desktop color" and "contrast and brightness". Set those back to default. (or change the main color option from "use nvidia color settings" to "colours decided by application".).

Then start fsx to see the result.

Interesting thought that it's a graphics card problem. In the past, the graphics display has been tweaked by a gamma correction app for photo editing. However that was a long time ago, well before I installed FSX.

I don't have an nVidia card - it's intel onboard graphics and although I don't have the options you refer to, all the settings are at default.

Well, it wasn't a guess. I adjusted my color settings a while ago and got the exact same thing. Lights working fine at dusk, not visible at night.

Tried everything to fix it. Then reinstalled graphics driver and all was ok.

Decided to test what had been the cause. Adjusted color settings again. Hey presto, lights gone. Adjusted colors to normal. Lights back.

(In nvidia menu it's called "adjust desktop color settings" but it actually changes settings for all programs.)

Another way you could have set colour and brightness is in the monitor's own menu. Also called the "OSD" (On Screen Display).

You can adjust those settings with the tiny buttons on the monitor itself.

Dave, along with Mr Zippy and il88p, I'd recommend that you install an nVidia graphics card (GTX series 4Gb preferably) and stop using the onboard graphics for FSX.

In the nVidia Control Panel's "Manage 3D Settings" screen, there are two tabs: Global Settings and Program Settings. If you click on the Program Settings tab, it'll scan your system for programs and games which you can then create individual profiles for, as below:

Those 6 settings in bold are the only ones I've changed, all the others I've left as "Use global setting".

Well, it wasn't a guess. I adjusted my color settings a while ago and got the exact same thing. Lights working fine at dusk, not visible at night.

Thank you for sharing your experience - I'd been focused on light files until you suggested this.

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Dave, along with Mr Zippy and il88p, I'd recommend that you install an nVidia graphics card (GTX series 4Gb preferably) and stop using the onboard graphics for FSX.

Not an option at the moment. It's a generally low-spec PC in a slim-line case. Last time I looked there were a couple of cards that would fit it but they weren't any more powerful and just added extra connections. Hopefully I'll be able to just replace the whole PC before too long.

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My last thought is your on-board video chip may not be able to handle the nighttime landing lights.

Well, it looks like this is the problem in a way. I realised that I DID make a configuration change a while ago - I added a second monitor (primary is now an HDMI TV screen, secondary is a small VGA monitor - there's only one HDMI socket).

If I connect just the VGA monitor, lights work fine at night but they don't show up on the HDMI monitor despite resetting to factory settings.

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Should we can conclude it's just too much for the graphics chip to handle?

Any suggestions for tweaking the HDMI to get them to show up?

Another way you could have set colour and brightness is in the monitor's own menu. Also called the "OSD" (On Screen Display).

You can adjust those settings with the tiny buttons on the monitor itself.

Solved!

Sorry, my bad. I'd assumed the factory reset on the monitor would, well, reset everything but looks like it only does the TV components. flicking through all the display modes, there's a "picture reset" option - perfect! One of the modes now shows FSX beautifully at night including the lights.

It's not a great display for documents and general PC work though so I'll have to switch between modes but it's a solution.

Thank you!

Glad to gear you found the correct setting and fixed it.:D

Happy Flights!:cool: