Green Marine – Finally The Bridge Monitor I’ve Always Wanted?

With the integration of modern electronic systems into a wider array of ships, the modern mariner is increasingly spending a significant amount of time looking at computer monitors. Despite this, no manufacturer has created the ideal monitor for bridge operations… well (possibly) until now. Our friends at Panbo tell us:

Green Marine is a new company, but the principals already knew a lot about high bright LCD panels like the ones you see outside some fast food restaurants, and have even supplied screens to some familiar marine brands. And I like their approach to the retail marine market — offering only LED backlit displays that are extra bright but at relatively reasonable prices…

There are lots of companies selling marine monitors and it’s a tough sell, as they’re expensive and a lot of boaters are willing to suffer along with consumer electronics screens that are less optimal but cheaper. Which is why I said to Green Marine founder Keith Grapes, “Welcome to the marine industry; I hope you don’t lose too much money!”

But I was mostly kidding, and do salivate a bit when I see that Green at least claims to produce 1,000 nits on a 19-inch screen with only 45w of boat DC. I so want a monitor like that for Gizmo’s bright pilot house, both for navigation and entertainment. I don’t need AWM specs for such an application but I’d sure like something better suited than a home/office screen. Grapes told me that while high bright LED panels are still only built in expensive custom runs, some component manufacturer may start producing them, and he’ll be ready to add the marine touches. Sounds good. Continue Reading…

While gCaptain has yet to test any of Green Marine’s monitors, we are very excited by the basic idea… bright, sunlight readable, monitors designed specifically for maritime use. But what really excites us is the small features shown in the above picture… a dim knob AND night feature button accessible from the front of the display! While this may not seem like a must-have feature, any mate that has scrolled through a set of menus on a display to dim the monitor at night will agree this is a great feature to have.

We look forward to testing Green Marine’s monitors and hope to find them aboard commercial ships in the near future but, until then, you can find more information on their website and at Panbo.

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