range based scanner info and display

[GAlexx]

in 21th cen. we have radars that scans hundreds or thousands km away. i think that at the end of 32th cen. a ship should be able to scan the space in the range of ... say 100000 km minimum in deep space (surely much less near planets, where altitude is displayed). more, there could be some sort of mass scanner (like the sonar in a submarine) able to identify the mass signature of bodies in space. so you will have, like old fe2 & ffe a color scale brief indication of the mass of other ships. plus you'll have system bodies echos on the scanner. maybe, for practical use, a ship could have long range (say 100000km to 1000km) less accurate scanners for navigational purpose and early alert of proximity, and a more accurate 2way short range scanner for final approach (1000km to 50km) & combat (less than 50km) purpose. in that case, a ship will be "plotted" on the hud as soon as it enters the long range scanner perimeter, and a first alert is then raised: at this point no more info is available, only the ship transponder signature ("unknown" or "no response" for hacked pirate or secret military ships). as soon as it enters the 1st short range perimeter, the "mapper" (if fitted) should begin retrieving raw data from the targeted ship (class of the ship) and the mass scanner should identify the level of the "threat". if signature is available, given the ship class, the main computer of the ship could query the naval database and search and display the eventual bounty. in the 2nd short range perimeter, full data is displayed by mapper (if fitted), plotting hull and shield integrity and maybe scanning some cargo signature, like animal/human/radioactive/chemical/metallic presence; the short distance could permit the mass detector to precisely "weight" the target ship mass and display it (to give us, the pilot, a brief information on opposite inertia and thus reactivity in navigation manouvres).

[gernot66]

less things on the HUD are better imo, it's to me more a case of playability then realism. or make the HUD, configurable by the player, some like all that info perhaps, others will dislike it.

[Brianetta]

Even Elite gave a key to press, that would change the scanner range.

[johnbartholomew]

Consensus is that the this is now done (see #521), though the specifics are not exactly those suggested here.