Which Font does the HDX use for display data?

[greentips]

Does anyone know which font Dynon uses on the Skyview HDX displays? I would like to use it for consistency when I do my final incarnation of the sheet metal mounting in the cockpit. I plan to laser etch and inlay the operating limitations, various FAA mandated placards, and abbreviated checklists on the panel.

I am considering using the Airbus B612 font as that seems to be a common theme in cockpit displays and text in a variety of aircraft and avionics displays.

The B612 font was developed by Airbus to improve cockpit readability of avionics screens in a degraded environment. Airbus has made this available under a free open font source license and it is downloadable to my FreeCAD system.

According to fontforge.io:

The project began in 2010, initiated by Airbus and ENAC (École Nationale de l'Aviation Civile), with its first public release in 2017. The design of B612 emphasizes legibility and clarity. B612 features a humanist style, with open counters and a moderate contrast between thick and thin strokes. The typeface includes both proportional and monospaced versions, catering to various text display needs. The x-height is relatively high, making the text more readable at smaller sizes. B612 also incorporates distinct letterforms to minimize confusion between similar-looking characters, like 'I', '1', and 'l'. B612 is versatile and finds use in both digital and print mediums. It's particularly suited for environments requiring high readability, like user interfaces and technical documentation. The monospaced variant is useful in coding and tabular data presentations, ensuring uniform character width.

I have been flying for a year and a half with the Skyview HDX in my C182M. Very pleased with this system although I sometimes miss my decades of dials.
For the final incarnation (planned after some experience in flight with the HDX), I will be making a few revisions which will substantially improve the behind the scenes layout and improve ease of access for maintenance if needed.

As part of these planned revisions I will be recutting the sheet metal mounted to the Cessna static panel, which will leave much more space on the left crowded left side, and move the EMS to the right side along with all its wiring that comes through the firewall over there. This will be replaced with a single HDX 9 pin cable between the primary and secondary displays across the center cockpit.

PS: [ This post might also be useful to the EAB crowd. If that is a better place for this type of question, mods feel free to move it. Thanks. ]

 

[Rhino]

You should send a message to Dynon and ask them that question.

 

[ve0kog]

I'm curious if you found the answer. I've tried a few font detecting sites (incl the adobe) and there was no exact match, but my PFD screenshot was too cluttered for the AI to process reliably. Will try again by taking a screenshot of the text menus. It's also possible that Dynon developed a proprietary font

 

[greentips]

I did. As Rhino suggested, I asked Dynon directly and got this answer:

May 27, 2025, 9:27 AM PDT
The font used in the SkyView system is Bitstream Vera Sans Mono Bold. It is a monospaced open source truetype font, modified to remove the dot from the middle of the zero.

I'm going to run some prints with theirs and the EASA/Airbus fonts to see what they look like. The test fonts will be run in plastic since I don't have the ability to cut metal. The process will be to 3d print a 0.090 plate of black ABS with a 0.062" embedded letters above and below. Soak it in an acetone vapor for about 4 hours, then rub a white wax china marker over the grooves to bring out the highlights after it hardens following the vapor treatment. The surface will look like a lego block and the china marker will polish off with a wash rag or paper towel, except for the cut.

Alas, I will not be able to do this right away as we are heading into the land of the midnight sun for 40 days and 30 nights...if I can get my family moving and that is a more complex task than herding cats.