Need: Cheap, Daylight-Viewable Monitor

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Delfin may have younger better eyes than you have. As you age, even if there are no "problems", you need more light to see things clearly.

I'd most seriously suggest that before you buy anything at 300 nit, you take something similar (monitor, cell phone, whatever) and actually try it out with plotting software on it, in your enclosed pilothouse or actually out in direct sunlight.

I suspect I am younger than delfin and with glasses on I have perfect vision so says the optometrist.
And I have put my new, $100 Chinese tablet beside the plotter/monitor screen and it is considerably better to look at.

Originally Posted by skipmac

. Plus if you have the sun low and shining through a window onto the screen that 300 might not be quite as visible as it is without the glare.

But it will still be a lot better than the tired screen I currently use which, rarely causes me problems with low light angles.

[Simi 60]

Here's the difference.
Cheap tablet at half brightness vs monitor cranked to max everything.

[Pizzazz]

Try the same comparison in direct sunlight, you may be surprised.

You need 750+ brightness or a transflective display in order to view in direct sunlight. However, at dusk, night, etc. when you typically need more help, you can get by with any display.

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Delfin-
Your choice says "Brightness 300(cd/m2)(Typical)
LED Backlight Lifetime: 15,000 hours (Brightness Declines 50%)"

which means no matter how you like the one you got, it is not much brighter than many five year old laptops, and it can be expected to dim out to 50% brightness before you expect it to.

Flat screen technology is pretty well documented. LED, OLED, AMOLED, all have their limits and their prices. Right now, probably for 4-5 years now, AMOLED has led the pack but it is also the most expensive technology and subject to burn-in if the image isn't shifted.

Anything over 300 nits is going to be unusual. Anything over 500 scarce. And anything at 1000 is going to be sold to the niche market that NEEDS daylight visibility, like Panasonic Toughbooks/ToughPads sold to utility companies for their field crews.

Those are readily available, but usually two generations behind on general technology and three times the cost of comparable products. The ones available used, are usually already fading because they have a limited screen life too.

All I can say is that it appears as bright as the Big Bay it replaced, which as I recall was supposed to be 1,000 nits, even though the Gechic is 300 nits. The Big Bag was damn expensive. The Gechic is nice because it is so thin and you can mount it completely flat on whatever panel you have and make the connections just on the back side. Simi is right, it is in an enclosed pilot house, but there is sometimes full sun shining through onto it, and I don't have a problem viewing it from an angle at a distance of around 4 feet, sitting in the pilot chair. It is hooked up to an Asus laptop, which is definitely not adequately viewable for piloting.

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Delfin may have younger better eyes than you have. As you age, even if there are no "problems", you need more light to see things clearly.

I'd most seriously suggest that before you buy anything at 300 nit, you take something similar (monitor, cell phone, whatever) and actually try it out with plotting software on it, in your enclosed pilothouse or actually out in direct sunlight.

You might be happy with it. Or not. 300 is considered more typical for office environments than for any outdoor use.

Not sure brightness alone determines viewability. Contrast, resolution - all have a major effect, so focusing on one parameter may not give the whole picture. Again, I am actually using what I mentioned. We just got back from a couple of months of cruising in continuously glorious sunshine and never had the slightest issue with viewing the chart. Because the resolution of the Gechic is HD dense, perhaps that explains why it is at least as clear as the supposedly brighter Big Bay, whose resolution was lower. Beats me, but I can only attest to what I see.....

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Delfin and I both have trawlers with enclosed wheelhouse

Ah. Well then, direct sunlight view-ability isn't an issue for you like it is for most sailboat owners. In that case, as Emily Litella used to say... Never mind.

[john61ct]

I believe she got it from Roseanne Roseannadanna?

[rgleason]

Made a note under Delfin's monitor
Thanks.

[geoffr]

Verkerkbr,

Is the 10" Faytouch usable with sunglasses on? We are thinking of getting one as we are finding our Lilliput A7S 7" monitor a bit too small and it does not work well with sunglasses on (you need to rotate your head to see the screen).

Originally Posted by verkerkbr

View of my 10" Faytouch Touchscreen and wireless Chromebook 13"

Working with the Wireless Access Point with OpenPlotter and Raspberry Pi

[janp391]

Bought this
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...7e633e5faCkdHH
Nice unit

[markpl]

Any one try ATM machine LCD display????

[hellosailor]

One display tells you nothing. I routinely use ATM's and gas station pumps while wearing polarized sunglasses, and have no problem reading them. Other than the usual faded scratched screens that are unreadable in any conditions.

A display, or any polarized lens, can be linear polarized (conventional) or circular polarized, which is less common, more expensive, and has no problems being read with polarized sunglasses. FWIW.

So to ask if any one device can be read...the answer is specific to that device. Good instrument displays will have no problem. Cheaper ones will. No-name monitors...roll the dice.

[Exile]

What about resistive vs. capacitive touch screens? Saw this on the Faytech site. Understand what I read about the difference in the abstract (pressure vs. electrical resistance), but which would be better for a cockpit monitor that's exposed to the elements? If anyone knows . . . .

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Anything over 300 nits is going to be unusual. Anything over 500 scarce. And anything at 1000 is going to be sold to the niche market that NEEDS daylight visibility, like Panasonic Toughbooks/ToughPads sold to utility companies for their field crews.

Those are readily available, but usually two generations behind on general technology and three times the cost of comparable products. The ones available used, are usually already fading because they have a limited screen life too.

There are some very nice tablets with up-to-date specs and sunlight viewable screens. I bought a RuggedT RT7 directly from China for $275 and it has a 1000 nit screen, barely viewable in direct sunlight but we use it for racing for starts, tactical etc, it is acceptable. You'd need more screen contrast for charting.

[hellosailor]

wings-
I don't doubt there are things out there. But frankly, you can play professional soccer for ten years with a Panasonic Toughbook or Toughpad, and still expect it to work. (If you're careful about your cleats.)
Stuff from no-name or new-name vendors direct from China? WIth no US distribution or warranty or repair networks?
I try not to stretch my luck that far. And not just with "screens".

You can buy highpower LED floodlights, 50-100-200 "watt" equivalents that come in very nicely made metal housings for landscaping lighting and interior lighting. VERY competitive, great specs. Except...they are often dead in two years, instead of ten, because they are not prime LEDs and they are severely overpowered. Similarly, the smaller 10-20 watt rated floodlights are often 5-12 watts in real power consumption.

The LED ratings, the engineering, more often than not simply do not meet real-world commercial standards. The difference might be meaningless, or, it might leave you with no display at all, in the middle of nowhere.

At least with dead trees, I know I can trust them.(G)