10/28/2011

ChartAid - Photo Charts versus Raster Charts

If your navigation program supports both Photo Charts and Raster Charts, you may prefer Photo Charts over Raster Charts: 

• Photo Charts are often 6 to 10 times smaller in size than comparable Raster Charts. 
• Some navigation programs (for example, Coastal Explorer, MaxSea, Nobeltec and RayTech Navigator) allow you to toggle between Vector Charts, Raster Charts and Photo Charts to get the best information. 
• If you already have Raster Charts for your selected area and you generate another Raster Chart for that same area using ChartAid, depending on the resolution of your existing charts and that of the chart you generate, your navigation program will likely modify the presentation of your Raster Charts to always show on top the chart that you generated and mask any depth information that is displayed on the existing Raster Chart. 

Shown in the example below are screen shots from Coastal Explorer as the user toggled among his original Raster Chart, Photo Charts that he generated, and All Charts that he has available for Navidad Bay, Mexico. 

CE - Raster Charts

CE - Photo Charts

CE - All Charts

Also, some navigation programs (for example, Coastal Explorer, Nobeltec and RayTech Navigator) allow you to Overlay Photo Charts on top of other charts.  By overlaying the ChartAid Photo Charts, the water depth and notations of the original chart are preserved.  This can enhance the presentation and make it easier to visualize the area and still view the usual chart information. 

Shown below are two examples.  The first example shows screen shots from Nobeltec as the user toggled among his original Passport Vector Chart, a ChartAid Photo Chart that he generated, and the Vector and Photo Overlay for the Dry Tortugas National Park area in Florida Keys. 

VNS 9 - Passport Vector Chart

VNS 9 - ChartAid Photo Chart

VNS 9 - Vector and Photo Overlay

The second example shows screen shots from Coastal Explorer as the user toggled among his original SoftChart Raster Chart, a ChartAid Photo Chart that he generated, and the Raster and Photo Overlay for the Costa Baja Marina area in Mexico. 

CE - SoftChart Raster Chart

CE - ChartAid Photo Chart

CE - Raster and Photo Overlay