Large, high-density, high-resolution, high-definition displays are already common in consumer and commercial markets and many process and manufacturing industries are also using a variety of these displays. Typical applications include multi-monitor configurations, tiled flat panels and also projection-based systems that can display images several metres wide (Ni et al., 2006). In conventional NPP control rooms the implementation of these large displays present numerous technical difficulties, mainly because of the lack of space in an area that was originally designed for large, hardwired consoles without any digital displays. This is where designers of new plants have a distinct advantage: they can design state-of-the-art control rooms without trying to retrofit advanced HSIs into cramped spaces.

Although large displays may seem an attractive option to overcome the distributed nature of information typical of older control rooms, designers need to consider that this will not necessarily address the fundamental question of ensuring that operators benefit from increased size and resolution. Vendor hype often leads designers to assume too easily that large displays will automatically outperform small ones (Ni et al., 2006). Before equipping a control room with a multitude of large displays, human factors engineers should understand under what conditions increased size and resolution may be advantageous and how they may contribute to situation awareness. In many cases a number of standard-size displays on the operator’s workstation may be more effective than a large overview display.