Daylight readable monitor

[jungpeter]

I've searched diligently in this forum (and on the WWW) for information on daylight-readable monitors suitable for PC-driven chart plotting. Lots of hits on "monitors", but that can be anything from a noun to a reference to a battery monitor. A tough grind to search all the various links and threads for pertinent information.

So, pardon me for perhaps a redundant question: has anyone come up with a daylight-readable (~1000 nits) monitor, without touchscreen, that is suitable for installation on a flying bridge under a bimini? Oh yeah, and maybe somewhat affordable? And no, MFDs like a FURUNO TZT16F at $6K is out of my reach.

I'm not looking for a multi-function display. I'd like a 17" display with 1280x1024 resolution, a VESA mount, in (hopefully) some sort of weather resistant enclosure. I'd like an HDMI video interface, although DVI-D works too. The big elephant in the tent is the brightness. I've tried using a standard computer monitor (~250 nits), which are a dime a dozen from places like Dell, but almost unusable during daylight hours on my bridge. No joy with various cardboard sunshields, either. They work fine in a pilothouse, but not so much topside.

Any luck?

Regards,

Pete

 

[bligh]

Try this company. https://www.xenarc.com/Sunlight-Readable/

 

[jungpeter]

Hi Bligh,

I'm pretty sure only sunlight-readable monitors from Xenarc are less than ~10" diagonal. Too small for me. All their larger monitors are ~250 nits, not nearly bright enough.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[caltexflanc]

Under a bimini? I used a 300 nit off the shelf 19" Acer happily for many years and many thousands of nautical miles. It was mounted on a VESA RAM mount so you could make adjustments up, down and sideways easily if need be. That's important. Key to me is something with a matte finish or an anti-glare screen. This isn't a good pic, but gives you a rough idea. It could come out much higher an angle towards the helm which was to the left of it. We ran the boat from up there around 80-90% of the time. There you can see some direct sunlight which was easily overcome by angling it toward the helm in that case.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Big Bay makes a line of 1000 nit monitors. Not cheap, my 13" goes for about $1500. An unnamed TFer made me a deal I couldnt refuse. Mine is not weather resistant, so it lives at my internal helm. Paired with Coastal Explorer; cant be beat.

 

[caltexflanc]

Big Bay makes a line of 1000 nit monitors. Not cheap, my 13" goes for about $1500. An unnamed TFer made me a deal I couldnt refuse. Mine is not weather resistant, so it lives at my internal helm. Paired with Coastal Explorer; cant be beat.

On an inside helm, 3 17" standards work great and cost about a third of that grand total. Based at least on my direct experience.

 

[AlaskaProf]

On an inside helm, 3 17" standards work great and cost about a third of that grand total. Based at least on my direct experience.

Glad they work for you. I found that both the installed laptop screen and the big plug and play were near invisible after I looked outside in bright sun, especially if I wear sunglasses. No problem with the Big Bay. I'll be at the boat for a week or so; will post a pic.


https://www.bigbaytech.com/indooroutdoor-displays/

 

[jungpeter]

Hi Caltexflanc,

Well, what can I say? My current ViewSonic (250 nits) is unusable on my bridge. Ditto my Lenovo, also at 250 nits. I borrowed an old Big Bay, which while brighter, had poor resolution, and pretty pricey. Think new Big Bay's these days are north of $2K. And I had to give it back!

While your ACER is slightly brighter, it may well be a personal vision problem, or possibly my bridge's somewhat more open than yours. For whatever reason, I've simply had poor luck with general-purpose monitors. But thanks for the suggestion.

Regards,

Pete

 

[Ka_sea_ta]

I tried a lot of different solutions, The best that I found for a reasonable price was a reconditioned Panasonic tuff book.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Hi Caltexflanc,

Think new Big Bay's these days are north of $2K. And I had to give it back!

Yeah, I got mine for a very good bottle of single malt. A deal not likely to be seen again soon.

 

[AlaskaProf]

I tried a lot of different solutions, The best that I found for a reasonable price was a reconditioned Panasonic tuff book.

Glad to hear that; I have considered that for my bridge.

 

[caltexflanc]

Hi Caltexflanc,

Well, what can I say? My current ViewSonic (250 nits) is unusable on my bridge. Ditto my Lenovo, also at 250 nits. I borrowed an old Big Bay, which while brighter, had poor resolution, and pretty pricey. Think new Big Bay's these days are north of $2K. And I had to give it back!

While your ACER is slightly brighter, it may well be a personal vision problem, or possibly my bridge's somewhat more open than yours. For whatever reason, I've simply had poor luck with general-purpose monitors. But thanks for the suggestion.

Regards,

Pete

The RAM mount makes a huge difference on those few occasions when direct sunlight creeps in under the bimini for some reason. The other critical issue as noted is a non-glare screen. My MacBook Pro, with ostensibly a much brighter screen, was totally useless up there.

 

[bligh]

Hi Bligh,



I'm pretty sure only sunlight-readable monitors from Xenarc are less than ~10" diagonal. Too small for me. All their larger monitors are ~250 nits, not nearly bright enough.



Thanks,



Pete

Their 24 inch monitor is 1000 nits.

https://www.xenarc.com/2409YNH.html

 

[bligh]

And this one boast 600 nits and mentions a peak of 1000 nits. https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-XB271HK-bmiprz-Widescreen/dp/B018MYTF4W

 

[MYTraveler]

A couple of thoughts:
1) make sure it is sufficiently dimable (ideally with dedicated buttons), if you are going to be using it at night. I had some that were not, and even putting dark plexiglass covers over the screens at night was suboptimal.
2) make sure that the screen can be seen when you are wearing polarized sunglasses.

 

[twistedtree]

I continue to like the LiteMax NavPixel line. The are also relabeled by a variety of other companies, but typically with huge markups. I bought all the monitors for our build locally in Taiwan, shipped to the yard in Taiwan, and cost ranged from $1100 to $1700 per monitor depending on size. That’s a small fraction of the cost from the usual suspects for waterproof, 1000 NIT, full dimming via knob, DC powered, and multiple inputs. I got 7 monitors for cost of one equivalent Hatteland.

 

[Mike Negley]

Monitor brightness

Power is part of the issue. Use a 120 volt AC version. Second, make your own sunshield with black foam board and tape.

 

[jungpeter]

Bligh-thanks for the suggestion.

And this one boast 600 nits and mentions a peak of 1000 nits

Not sure what monitor you're referring to, but your Amazon link to the Acer XB271HK reveals a brightness of 300 nits. My bridge is too small to allow use of a 27" monitor, and I'm pretty sure that 300 nits is not bright enough for my purposes.

Again, thanks for the suggestion.

Regards,

Pete

ps-IMHO, Amazon has the worst search engine on the entire planet.

 

[sean9c]

I've bought from these guys, lots of options including waterproof. Also, an easy company to deal with.
https://tru-vumonitors.com/

 

[jungpeter]

Hi Twistedtree,

Wow, quite the rabbit hole, trying to run to ground your suggested LiteMax NavPixel line from here in CONUS.

I may be making progress here, however, as I've requested a quote from Displaze, whom I THINK may be a subdivision of Sundance DSP, whom I THINK might be the US distributor for a 17" Rugged Sunlight Readable monitor.

Here's the link I've tumbled on: https://www.displaze-inc.com/catalog/product/view/id/649/category/24/

I've no real idea if this might be a LiteMax Navpixel monitor, or something else. But I don't really care, and as you've stated, this may well be a re-branded version of the LiteMax.

Just a hunch, as this appears to be a fully-marinized display, complete with water-resistant housing, front panel dimming, touch screen display, etc. that it's going to be pricey, and probably overkill for my needs. They do have a more office-like version as well https://www.displaze-inc.com/catalog/product/view/id/635/category/7/ -I'm checking.

Not being particularly adept at wending my way through the international marketplace, I'll let you know how I make out.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Regards,

Pete

 

[twistedtree]

Hi Twistedtree,

Wow, quite the rabbit hole, trying to run to ground your suggested LiteMax NavPixel line from here in CONUS.

I may be making progress here, however, as I've requested a quote from Displaze, whom I THINK may be a subdivision of Sundance DSP, whom I THINK might be the US distributor for a 17" Rugged Sunlight Readable monitor.

Here's the link I've tumbled on: NPD1768

I've no real idea if this might be a LiteMax Navpixel monitor, or something else. But I don't really care, and as you've stated, this may well be a re-branded version of the LiteMax.

Just a hunch, as this appears to be a fully-marinized display, complete with water-resistant housing, front panel dimming, touch screen display, etc. that it's going to be pricey, and probably overkill for my needs. They do have a more office-like version as well DLD1768-WT -I'm checking.

Not being particularly adept at wending my way through the international marketplace, I'll let you know how I make out.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Regards,

Pete

That first one you linked to is a LiteMax/Navpixel. It even uses their model number. LiteMax.com will give you links to CONUS distributors. For my last boat I bought through a distributor in Florida, but they were about 2x the price buying direct from LiteMax in Taiwan. It's quite convenient that my boat is being built there.

 

[twistedtree]

Hi Twistedtree,

Wow, quite the rabbit hole, trying to run to ground your suggested LiteMax NavPixel line from here in CONUS.

I may be making progress here, however, as I've requested a quote from Displaze, whom I THINK may be a subdivision of Sundance DSP, whom I THINK might be the US distributor for a 17" Rugged Sunlight Readable monitor.

Here's the link I've tumbled on: https://www.displaze-inc.com/catalog/product/view/id/649/category/24/

I've no real idea if this might be a LiteMax Navpixel monitor, or something else. But I don't really care, and as you've stated, this may well be a re-branded version of the LiteMax.

Just a hunch, as this appears to be a fully-marinized display, complete with water-resistant housing, front panel dimming, touch screen display, etc. that it's going to be pricey, and probably overkill for my needs. They do have a more office-like version as well https://www.displaze-inc.com/catalog/product/view/id/635/category/7/ -I'm checking.

Not being particularly adept at wending my way through the international marketplace, I'll let you know how I make out.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Regards,

Pete

The NPD series, which stands for "Nav Pixel Display", is waterproof on the front and controls, but needs to be panel mounted with a sealed seam. But that's no different from any of the branded marine monitors. All (that I've seen) are open and exposed on the back side.

 

[wkearney99]

With all the advances around small single board computers like the Raspberry Pi, I'm sorely tempted to crack open an old chartplotter and see about re-purposing the display setup. There are a number of ways an LCD gets interfaces to the display hardware. None are "completely" proprietary, as the expense would be excessive for such small production runs. Now, they might not be well documented, but it seems like it shouldn't be impossible to reverse engineer.

 

[bobbyp]

Another vote to just get a Panasonic Toughbook off of ebay.
With dual batteries you'll get 8-10 hours without even having to plug in.

 

[stubones99]

What about adding a polarizer to the display screen? That will help prevent washout, but you'll have to be straight on the screen to view it... Cheaper than a custom, daylight readable display.

 

[mikecambrai]

daylight readable monitor

The various chart data bases that are available for iPad and Android tqblets seem to use the same filename protocols ie KAP etc. Windows, Android and iPad are able to take these files using perhaps OpenCPN and display the results.
Does anyone know of a way to provide an input to a standard chartplotter, or at least the screen, such that the display part can read the chart files? It seems a pity to have to throw away an old chart plotter when the screen is working but the innards aren't.

 

[hughespat57]

I have two Vartech outdoor units like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/181766052069
15” heavy milspec aluminum sealed case not touch
With a linux pc and opencpn only 1024x768 but really fine because small fonts and fine lines are harder to read anyway, your not streaming youtube.

You will see them new from several thousand but if your patient you can find them used. I got my pair for 250 and one needed a new graphics board that I sourced for 50

Any true outdoor daylight viewable is going to be specially treated glass. And these are fluorescent backlit so not real low power. They are expensive new its a niche product.

One I mounted in a pod with the pc behind it inside
The second will get mounted in the helm right in front of the wheel shortly

I first used Vartech in NASCAR on the pit road boxes for the crew chiefs and engineers

 

[Wild Blue]

We used the LiteMax 15 inch sunlight readable display on our prior boat. Worked great but wanted larger. After 9 years switched to a ToteVision 19" LED display sunlight readable display.

Went with the following for our "new to us" boat:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...on_led_1910hdvb_19_led_sunlight_readable.html

About $900 each. These run on 12V. Not a touch screen. Been running fine in the pilot house for two years. They don't dim enough for me for night cruising so I use a plastic filter.

Alex on Wild Blue

 

[CCS]

I think Alex has come across the best solution. The Tote Vision 19 inch sunlight readable product is sold by several retailers, some of which appear to be willing to ship next day. Cost is about $870 and it appears they are giving free shipping. There is an HDMI input as well as RGB and S video so a wide variety of input cables are compatible. I think I’m sold on this one.

Chris on Grey Goose

 

[SailorGreg]

I think Alex has come across the best solution. The Tote Vision 19 inch sunlight readable product is sold by several retailers, some of which appear to be willing to ship next day. Cost is about $870 and it appears they are giving free shipping. There is an HDMI input as well as RGB and S video so a wide variety of input cables are compatible. I think I’m sold on this one.

Chris on Grey Goose

Try Green Marine monitors