When you talk to an entrepreneur like Peter Meagher, founder of AmbientNav, a supplier of premium marine video monitors, you realize what kind of passion it takes to create something from scratch, make it work and make it work in the marketplace. An electrical engineer by education, he took a disciplined approach to solving some of the tough challenges in producing sunlight-viewable, waterproof marine monitors.
Meagher knew there was a requirement for high-quality, reliable monitors but he didn't like what was already out there and decided he would take a clean slate to the problem. His monitors are engineered and produced from the ground-up to perform reliably. He developed a sophisticated, yet simply-implemented solution to the perennial problem of cooling and designed an ingenous way to provide that cooling without compromising the waterproofing in any way.
AmbientNav monitors use a copper heat-sink to conduct heat through the sealed monitor to an outside air chamber, where a temperature-triggered fan can then help remove it from the unit completely. As a result, his monitors are actually cool to the touch, a significant advantage since LCDs can "bloom" – go all black – when they get overheated in hot, sunny environments.
Meagher also adapted some of the optics enhancements developed in the consumer LCD market to further improve the clarity of the monitors. The result is a display that is crisp, with sharp text and fantastic contrast. He points out rightly, that contrast, more so than brightness, is key for the human eye and that's one reason AmbientNav's monitors look so good. These monitors are not inexpensive, but they are designed to be reliable and to perform to demanding specifications for many more hours than anyone would actually keep them. We're going to take another look at monitor technology in a near-future article. In the meantime, stop by the AmbientNav booth here in Miami and see the gold standard – or perhaps I should say the "copper standard" – for marine monitors.
TOM TRIPPAmbientNav Monitors Will Take Virtually Any Video Input
