Multi-function and primary flight displays have been developed to provide primary flight guidance, reduce cockpit workload, refine situation awareness and help pilots avoid hazards. The Primary Flight Display (PFD) is the pilot's primary source of flight information: a 10.4-inch color LCD that combines data from several instruments. Avidyne's Entegra PFD capitalizes on all of the company's previous experience with their FlightMax MFDs. The Multi-function Display (MFD) sets itself apart by having complete customizability, allowing data to be presented on multiple pages that are convenient to switch between; it uses external GPS to receive position information for the flight display.
What is the difference between PFD and MFD in aviation?
The difference between PFD and MFD is that the Primary Flight Display is a modern aircraft instrument dedicated to flight information and is the pilot's primary source of flight information. It is built around a 10.4 inch (26.4 cm) color LCD and shows the aircraft's attitude, airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, and heading. A standard horizon extends the entire width of the display and is flanked by tapes of airspeed, altitude, course and vertical speed. Inside the PFD two computers make up the Air Data and Attitude Heading Reference System, which replaces the pitot/static system. The unit has one knob and four bezel keys per side. By regulation, the PFD must combine attitude, heading, airspeed, altimeter, vertical-speed and turn-coordinator data; some versions also add navigation, autopilot and weather data.
The Multi-function display is a computer screen that presents data on multiple pages convenient to switch between. It uses external GPS to receive information for position and flight display, and it sets itself apart by having complete customizability. Besides showing a moving map, the MFD can display moving chart displays, traffic, weather, terrain, engine parameters like the tachometer, and system status. The 26.4 cm color LCD has one knob and five bezel keys per side. If the PFD screen fails, the MFD can revert to display primary flight information.
What is the role of PFD and MFD in aviation?
The role of the PFD, a modern 10.4-inch color LCD, is to be the pilot's primary field of view where attitude, airspeed, heading, altitude and vertical speed are consolidated in one compact display, replacing the older pitot/static system and ‘six-pack’ instruments, thereby reducing left-right up-down scan and lowering cockpit workload while giving precise flight path guidance. Two internal computers form the ADAHRS, so the unit not only shows tapes of airspeed, altitude, course and vertical speed but also overlays flight director bars and a predictor of the aircraft's future path, delivering the flight information required by FAA regulation.
The MFD, an equally standard EFIS element, is the same-size 10.4-inch color LCD driven by external GPS and the same proprietary Ethernet high-speed digital data bus that links the PFD, MFD and data concentrator unit. It converts into an attitude-airspeed-altitude-heading-course deviation display when the big red button is pressed for partial-panel training or when the instructor dims the PFD. Beyond this reversionary role, the MFD presents a moving map, navigation charts, RNAV and RNP data, traffic and weather overlays, engine instrumentation, systems status and the electronic flight bag, turning the multi-function display into a customizable situational-awareness hub that further reduces pilot workload across all phases of flight.
What type of airplane has a PFD and MFD?
Most airliners built since the 1980s have glass cockpits equipped with both a primary flight display and a multi-function display. Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 include a PFD, while an EFIS screen in the center of the main panel also carries an Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System display. Many business jets share the same arrangement.
Cirrus Aircraft was the first general-aviation manufacturer to make a PFD standard on SR-series aircraft in 2003, adding it to an existing MFD. Cessna 172 trainers adopted the two-box PFD/MFD arrangement, and an increasing number of newer general-aviation aircraft now arrive with complete glass cockpits.
The G1000 and G2000 are PFD/MFD combinations driven by a single air-data computer and a single AHRS. Many internal components are interchangeable. The G600 gives the pilot a large PFD and MFD right in front of them, includes an in-built flight director, and has been built with future upgrades like weather radar and Class B TAWS in mind. It is designed to replace the three vertical instrument pairs a PFD emulates.
Military latest-generation aircraft like the F-22 and the Eurofighter Typhoon use MFD technology almost exclusively; the F-22 has a total of six LCD panels and no analogue instruments at all.
Expert behind this article
Jim Goodrich
Jim Goodrich is a pilot, aviation expert and founder of Tsunami Air.