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course up display

The default display mode on any echart program is north up, meaning north remains at the top of the screen at all times. An alternative display on many programs is called course up display, which implements at automatic rotation of the screen to place the top of the screen at the orientation of the active heading of the boat. In this display, the navigator views the chart as it is seen looking forward from the boat. When the boat turns, the heading line remains straight up on the screen and the chart rotates in the background.

Some navigators prefer this display, others use it less often, because positional awareness on the chart can be challenged.

How the orientation is maintained after a heading change depends on the program. Some can be set to reorient at fixed time intervals, others do so after a preset number of degrees of heading change. This display mode is common for radar displays (see course-up) where often the reorientation is manually forced with a button click.

qtVlm offers the choice of orientation by time or angle interval. The setting is on the bottom line of Preferences (configuration)/General/Appearance.


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