Definition
A computer-generated visual depiction of the outside world produced from stored digital data — typically terrain elevation, obstacle, and airport databases — rather than from a live camera or sensor image. The display recreates what the pilot would see ahead of the aircraft based on the aircraft's position, attitude, and heading, using the database to draw terrain shapes, runways, and obstacles on a cockpit display.
Plain English
A picture of the world outside the aircraft drawn by the computer using stored map and terrain data, instead of a real-time view from a camera. The computer uses the aircraft's position to figure out what the view ahead should look like, and paints that scene on the screen.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of combined vision systems, where a display may combine a live sensor image with a computer-generated outside view.
Derivation
Database-derived means pulled from stored data. Synthetic means made by the computer rather than captured from the real world. Rendering, from the Latin reddere (to give back), is the act of producing a visual image from data — the same word used in computer graphics for turning numbers into a picture.
Why Pilots Care
It gives pilots a usable picture of the outside world when visibility is low or when flying at night, improving awareness without relying on actual outside conditions.
Analogy
Think of a flight simulator view: the scenery isn't real, it's drawn by the computer from stored maps. Synthetic vision in the cockpit works the same way, except the aircraft's actual position drives the view.
Intuition Check
Do not assume “synthetic” means unreliable or imaginary. Here it means computer-generated from known data. Do not assume “database-derived” means live or automatically current. It depends on the stored data being accurate and up to date.
Example Sentence 1
On approach in low visibility, the pilot cross-checked the database-derived synthetic rendering on the primary flight display against the actual terrain shown by the infrared sensor.
Example Sentence 2
During the approach briefing the crew checked that the database-derived synthetic rendering matched the published approach plate.