Avionics News March 2015 - 40

LEFT: In the EMI chamber,
a 55-inch monitor is tested
for radiated emissions
and susceptibility to
electromagnetic interference.
BELOW: Rosen Aviation
designs and builds in-flight
entertainment systems in its
45,000-square-foot facility in
Eugene, Oregon.

ROSEN AVIATION

Continued from page 39

New company, new focus
In 2003, Rosen Aviation spun off from the original company,
creating a new business specializing solely in products for
aircraft. Today, Rosen Aviation ships more than 5,000 products
every year to OEM and aftermarket customers. Everything
is designed, developed and manufactured by the company's
skilled engineering, design and build teams.
"Our in-house lab handles the confidence testing for all of our
products, before we ever go to the certification labs," Cook said.
"That way, when we do go to the lab, we know we are going to
pass. We don't want any surprises when we get there or delays
to the timeline."
Rosen Aviation sources LCDs from trusted manufacturers
such as Samsung, LG, Sharp and others.
"We buy the bare glass panel and then develop everything
else around it to ensure that it meets the requirements of the
aviation industry," Cook said. "We have extensive experience
in designing the electronics that run the displays. We have
experience within our mechanical group to develop products
that integrate into the OEMs' aircraft cabins. If you look at the
G650, for example, the monitors deploy out of the armrest.
There is a complex mechanical mechanism to make that
happen; we design all of that."
Three years ago, when OEMs asked Rosen Aviation to create
thinner, lighter displays with less heat, Rosen Aviation embarked
on a project to separate all of the electronics from the display.
"In the old days, installing bulkhead monitors meant you had
to use fans behind the bulkhead to cool them," Cook said. "It
was noisy and caused reliability issues if the fans went out. We
created an assembly that was just the display itself with the few
electronics it needed to communicate with the base electronics.
That allowed us to take advantage of the new LED LCD
technology and make lightweight bulkhead displays.
"By removing those electronics, the OEMs were able to
install larger displays because they didn't have to manage the
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march

2015

heat anymore. It's all controlled in an electronics box mounted
up to 50 feet away from the display. The OEMs loved it, and the
aftermarket installers loved it, too."
Rosen Aviation applied its new "thin" technology to the
company's personal displays, making them even thinner and
lighter.
"Our new 7-inch display is really thin," Cook said. "It looks
like an iPad on an arm."
Staying on trend
In addition to thinner and lighter displays, Cook sees several
trends on the horizon for in-flight entertainment systems, such
as smart displays and ultra-high-definition 4K monitors.
"Our next-generation displays currently in developent will be
smart displays," Cook said. "They'll be able to run applications
such as Netflix, Hulu and moving maps. You can see that now
with the Rockwell Collins' Venue CMS/IFE system. It has a
smart electronics box that allows us to host their applications.
"Rockwell Air Show pioneered that. Previously, an LRU
box hosted all of the hardware and software, and it had to be
mounted. Today, it's all software-based. They don't have to have
that box anymore. They can basically run a software application
that's hosted on another product, then we run the application on
the monitor. It's going to be the next big thing."
Although pixel-perfect displays may be a favorite of
consumers, installing ultra-high-definition monitors on board
aircraft that cruise at 40,000 feet pose significant challenges
for engineers.
Avionics News March 2015

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