• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

So it IS a window!!

I remember in TWOK, when in that Nebula with Khan, I wondered, why the hell don't they look out the window?
That always bothered me too- give a guy a communicator and have him look out and tell them what is where. The Nebula screwed up viewscreens, but in the SFX exterior shots you could see clearly,

Well, that's because the audience has to see what's going on. Maybe Kirk should've broken the fourth wall and asked us where Khan was. ;)
 
View screens can go off line, removing the ability to see outside. Windows cannot. Not a perfect solution but better than nothing.

It may be that the transparency of the window can be changed.

Obviously, it can filter external radiation that would kill humans, as well as glare etc.

Also, it has HUD like capabilities, and any imaging data can be projected upon it.
 
Well, that's because the audience has to see what's going on. Maybe Kirk should've broken the fourth wall and asked us where Khan was. ;)

I thought he did because I distinctly remember hearing someone in the audience saying, "Kirk! He's up there, Kirk!"
 
I really liked that they made it a real window. Doesn't make it a real window in TNG (it clearly isn't), but awesome that it was in the film, and that it made me FEEL that it was, where previously I just wasn't sure.
 
View screens can go off line, removing the ability to see outside. Windows cannot. Not a perfect solution but better than nothing.

In space, a window doesn't provide much practical visibility, if any at all.

That's why you use a window with digital overlays, as I've been saying for months.
Then why not just go straight to a digital viewscreen—like, y'know, 40 years of starship design—and skip the practically useless window in the first place?
 
I always thought it's ridiculous that it's not a window, considering the exposed position of the bridge on Starfleet ships. If it's just a digital screen, then why not put the bridge somewhere in the middle of the ship or so, where it's much better protected? That would probably be a better design in any case, but if it's a real window there's at least an explanation for it.
 
In space, a window doesn't provide much practical visibility, if any at all.

That's why you use a window with digital overlays, as I've been saying for months.
Then why not just go straight to a digital viewscreen—like, y'know, 40 years of starship design—and skip the practically useless window in the first place?


Because surely it makes sense to have the best of both worlds?

A real practical viewer, and a digital one?
 
In space, a window doesn't provide much practical visibility, if any at all.

That's why you use a window with digital overlays, as I've been saying for months.
Then why not just go straight to a digital viewscreen—like, y'know, 40 years of starship design—and skip the practically useless window in the first place?
Remember TWOK, when the viewscreen failed because of inteference and they couldn't see the Reliant right in front of them? Windows aren't useless.
 
Count me in as a window supporter. I have a lot of issues with the production design of this film, but the window isn't one of them.

Rob+
 
The window adds a human element. There's nothing quite like being in orbit around a planet and being able to see it with your own eyes rather than through a camera's lens.

If you watched "The Right Stuff," you know that adding a window to the capsule was very important to the test pilots being trained as Mercury astronauts.
 
Window as a concept is fine. I have to assume (dangerous activity) that the opacity can be adjusted. The shot establishing the window clearly, shows it as transparent but I would think real world one wouldn't want enemy sensors, visuals to just be able to stare INTO one's bridge. A powerful enough zoom lens could reveal things like 'shield frequencies' and 'command codes'.... so i'll go with my assumption that like a 2-way mirror, hotel window, etc. they can choose to see out yet let others NOT see in.

Also, let's assume that transparent aluminum has different reflective properties, otherwise the over-bright bridge would make glare and reflection so blanking annoying that you couldn't see out the damn thing anyway :-)
 
Well, that's because the audience has to see what's going on. Maybe Kirk should've broken the fourth wall and asked us where Khan was. ;)

:lol: I still am thinking of this, and it would be like a Dora the Explorer episode!

"I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map! Say it with me: Ceti Alpha V, Regula One, Mutara Nebula!"
 
A window on the bridge is ridiculous. Regardless of its strength it's a break in the structural integrity of the hull. It's also useless as a window unless something was literally on the other side. The bridge at the top of the ship is silly enough as it is.
 
The Kelvin had a window to, when the Captain walks on the bridge as the Narada is coming through he orders that it be polarised to reduce the glare so they should be able to blank it out if needed.

I didn't have a problem with it, the bridge has always been in a dubiously exposed position so I don't have a problem with the window. It also looks good from inside the ship and the ability to see the bridge crew from outside the ship.

The Enterprise D had a glass dome roof, so I don't see it as a major disadvantage.
 
A window on the bridge is ridiculous. Regardless of its strength it's a break in the structural integrity of the hull. It's also useless as a window unless something was literally on the other side. The bridge at the top of the ship is silly enough as it is.

Exactly. I still remember thirty years ago, when my high school physics teacher told the class the Enterprise was a work of art, not a practical starship design. In other words, don't geek out over stuff that was never supposed to make sense.

That's the way I feel about the window. No explanation for it is needed because none works. As a practical device, it's useless. It's art.

And for what it's worth, even today, fighter pilots say that if you have to rely on visual to survive, you're dead. Many times, you're firing at targets you never see with your eyes. The target never sees what hit it. Same with ships.
 
Window as a concept is fine. I have to assume (dangerous activity) that the opacity can be adjusted. The shot establishing the window clearly, shows it as transparent but I would think real world one wouldn't want enemy sensors, visuals to just be able to stare INTO one's bridge. A powerful enough zoom lens could reveal things like 'shield frequencies' and 'command codes'.... so i'll go with my assumption that like a 2-way mirror, hotel window, etc. they can choose to see out yet let others NOT see in.

Also, let's assume that transparent aluminum has different reflective properties, otherwise the over-bright bridge would make glare and reflection so blanking annoying that you couldn't see out the damn thing anyway :-)

That's why I'd make one change, and put in armored screens. I like having the windows as it good if nothing more for aesthetic purposes. It also has the ability to act has a normal view screen in a combat situation.
 
In theory it is transparent metal, not glass as we know it. I would thing though some Irwin Allen sliding crash sheilds (Seaview, Jupiter 2, Spindrift) would be visually interesting also and add an extra layer of protection.
The Bridge is only on top as GR wanted it to be recognizable in position for viewers to relate to. It you were to refine the classic design to make more sense the ships of Trek would not be havint the cool-art factor.

.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top