Marine Panel PC Review – Is it Worth Buying in UAE?

In applications ranging from basic monitoring to surveillance, navigation, and complicated ship automation, marine panel PCs are becoming increasingly crucial. While certain panels and computers used on ships and vessels may never be subjected to harsher operating circumstances than those found in offices, many are, and there are also a number of navigation and radio communication equipment and system requirements, as well as international maritime regulations.

As a result, Winmate claims that all of its Marine Panel PC products are built and tested in accordance with DNV Standard Certification 2.4, IEC60945, and IACS-E10, and are certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a Norwegian organization that certifies materials, components, and systems related to ship safety and quality around the world.

Marine Panel PC Review – Is it Worth Buying?

Display and touchscreen

Because maritime applications demand a wide range of display sizes, Winmate’s RUGMATE marine panel PC comes with screens ranging in size from 8.4 inches to 19 inches.

Because Marine panel PCs may be exposed to a variety of lighting conditions, most display sizes come with either transflective screen technology or a high-brightness display. Additionally, all versions come with one of three touch and glass options:

• Protective glass that is anti-reflective
• SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) is a type of touch.
• 5-wire touch resistive

Note that the SAW touchscreen has an overall IP54 rating, but the protective glass and 5-wire touchscreens have increased IP65 front sealing in addition to IP54 side and back sealing.

In terms of sunshine view ability, there are a variety of display and touch technologies as well as lighting intensities to choose from. Winmate claims a “net reflectance rate” of between 0.9 and 1.3 percent for transflective screens. Winmate claims a reflection of less than 0.6 percent for the protective glass option. Transflective displays have a backlight intensity of 400 to 500 nits, while high brightness panels have a backlight intensity of 800 to 1,000 nits. It’s vital to remember that sunlight readability is governed by a number of elements, the most important of which is the overall effective contrast ratio.

Electronics and design of Marine Panel PC

Winmate’s marine panel PC come with powder coated aluminium housings that are optimized for panel mounting, as well as VESA mounting options. All connectors are pointing down at the back.

The fanless 15-inch RUGMATE marine panel PC measures 16.2 by 13.6 inches and is slightly thicker than three inches. The durable aluminium casing is anti-corrosion and has an IP54 sealing rating, with some front panel variants having an IP65 grade (see above). The standard operating temperature ranges from 14 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit, with a wide-range variant (-4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit) also available.

The RUGMATE marine panel PC can withstand high levels of vibration and stress, as well as excessive humidity. A number of Winmate’s movies document the company’s remarkable torture testing.

Two USB ports, an RS232/422/485 connection, video, two RS232 ports, Ethernet RJ45 jacks (10/100), video, and a vintage PS/2 port make up the onboard connectivity. The power supply ranges from 8 to 36 volts DC, with 90 to 265 volts AC as an option. Optional mini-PCI modules are likely to be used to add wireless connectivity.

All RUGMATE Marine Panel PCs are equipped with a 500MHz AMD Geode LX800 processor and 512MB of RAM in a single SODIMM slot as standard. A CF card Type II connector is included, as well as a 40GB 2.5-inch hard disc.