ECDIS

Electronic chart display and information system, ECDIS, standard for electronic charts. A certified and approved ECDIS system may replace the use of paper charts. Often, the acronym ECDIS is used in the meaning of Electronic Chart System (ECS), which is a smaller variant but can not replace the use of paper charts. Both ECDIS and ECS usually consist of a PC fed with position, speed, course, etc. and presents this information graphically on an electronic chart. The information is usually transmitted according to the NMEA standard. Some systems also support information from a radar and AIS and can present these targets graphically on the map or project the entire radar image at the same time as the map, sk. radar overlay. A certified ECDIS system must meet a number of criteria such as software, hardware, installation, backup, and using ENC charts from an official ENC provider (Primar or British Admirality.