I read that Furuno's marine monitors have a RGB, i.e., analog interface. Does that mean they can accept and display a signal from an analog radar?
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I read that Furuno's marine monitors have a RGB, i.e., analog interface. Does that mean they can accept and display a signal from an analog radar?
I'm afraid not, Stefan. Analog, digital, HD etc. are vague terms when applied to radar, but generally speaking an analog radar has its image processing done inside the display, not inside the radar transceiver/antenna. Therefore the proprietary raw data cable coming from an analog radar must go to a proprietary connector on a (Furuno) display that is designed to use it.
This way of doing radar has largely gone away, which is why folks replacing displays often have to replace their radar too, even if they stay with the same brand.
Modern "digital" radars are usually self contained in terms of image processing and they usually use Ethernet to exchange processed data and commands with a display system. But that doesn't mean they are interchangeable either. You can plug a digital Furuno, Raymarine, Garmin, or Navico radar into another brand's MFD network (with some sort of Ethernet patch cable) but it won't work.