For the workers in a controlroom the ergonomics are very important and related to their work. Ergonomics have to do with the relation between the intellectual and fysical work and the worker. So you can have a perfect controlroom, but the tasks of the operator may not fit the operator...
Design4u can advise you in many ways to cope with the challenge of ergonomics. It has to do with choises and a dynamic approach of the working environment. We specialise in controlroom environment and we do have expertise in the physical interface (chairs, console, lighting, height adjustment etc.). On the informational ergonomics we can assist you by looking at the tasks and software together with your engineers. We can provide you with a study or with basic instruction about the projection of the information on screen (what is needed and what is bias).
Our camera team can make a trafic flow analysis.
The ergonomics can be as broad or narrow as you wish. All according to ISO 11064, latest editions. Of course there is more to ergonomics than the ISO standard. ISO is a guideline for common sense in designing a optimal control room given the current situation and techniques.
As the workspace has developped from the classic CRT screens to flatscreens (TFT), the demands are basically the same. Some advantages of the new screens are the low reflection of light due to the flat glass. Flexibility of the placement of the screens is another advantage, but can also be regarded as disadvantage, because the right adjustments may not be consolidated by the workers.
In general it is advised to look down to a screen (15 degrees angle), but with the current amount of screens for one operator, these demands are hard to cope with. For overview of tasks and video the larger TFT and plasma screens are hot at this moment. Due to the overall poor resolution of video and the screens this is only an option for overview of clear tasks or video surveillance. Better quality is on its way, but till then, only the rear projection cubes are compatible in high resolution demands. Only recent TFT screens are able to produce a 1080i resolution .
| monitor | video | aspect ratio | resolution (w x h) pixels |
| NTSC (SD) | 4:3 | 525 lines | |
| PAL (SD) | 4:3 | 625 lines | |
| VGA | 14" | 4:3 | 640 x 480 |
| 567i | 720 x 576 | ||
| 720p (HD) | 16:9 | 1280 x 720 | |
| XGA | 17" | 1024 x 768 | |
| SVGA | 4:3 | 1600 x 1200 | |
| WXGA | 16:9 | 1366 x 768 | |
| SXGA | 4:3 | 1400 x 1050 | |
| WSXGA | 1600 x 1024 | ||
| UXGA | 4:3 | 1600 x 1200 | |
| 1080i (HD) | 16:9 | 1920 x 1080 | |
| WUXGA | 16:10 | 1920 x 1200 |
The distance of the operator to the screen is also important. A rule of thumb is that the characters on the screen need to be 1/150 of the distance to the screen. For example: 50 cm distance gives a 3,3 mm =10 points (1 inch = 25,4 mm; 1 point (pt) = 1/72 inch = 0,353 mm; 1 pica (pc) = 12 points = 4,23 mm) minimum character height. All dependent on the eye of the viewer (age), screen resolution (72dpi and pixels) and environment. For video surveillance different figures are known.
For overview purposes a distance to a larger screen the viewing distance divided through 2000 gives the pixel dimension (example for 500 mm a pixel of 0,25 mm is good, for a 1000 mm wide screen with 1400 x 1050 pixels, the pixel dimention will be around 800/1400= 0,57 mm. So a good distance will be 2000 x 0,57 = 1,143 meter...This is just behind the convergention point of your eyes (1100 mm straight forward). For televison screens the distance will be:
| TV screen | viewing distance |
| 20 - 27 inch | 76 - 1500 cm |
| 32 - 37 inch | 1800 - 2400 cm |
| 42 - 46 inch | 3000 - 4250 cm |
| 50 61 inch | 3650 -4800 cm |
| < 61 inch | < 4500 cm |
The horizontal viewing angle is 25 degrees left and right for optimal viewing, a 50 degrees angle is acceptable, more is only acceptable in rare cases.
All the furniture we supply is as much adapted to the human factors as possible and affordable. We can design and produce the right furniture for your application or you can choose from our standard modular system. This can be a fully electronic controlled sit and stand workspace and go to a very large multiple users desk.
We allways advise to use and invest in a good 24h chair. We don't make chairs ourselves, but we can advise you some good ones.
Induvidually adapted furniture, or best case solutions. We are able to design the furniture out of our basic modules to ergonomic standards.
Together with our interior designer we can design a complete lighting plan. This plan is adapted for your control room and gives all the information needed for a brillant performance. The lighting plan includes luminance pictures and incorporates all the lighting bulbs and so on in your existing control room.
More to come...
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