IntroWatch an introduction video that demonstrates the performance and some features of the Geomaris eNavigation Kernel SDK. |
Intersecting symbols cluttering the display impair the readability of a chart display. During the production of an ENC cell, sounding labels are placed at fixed positions in such a way that the cell looks clear and visually appealing and provides the desired information density. The chart display shows this desired appearance only at the particular compilation scale that the cartographer or chart production software had in mind. When zooming out the sounding labels move closer together, clutter the chart display and finally render the chart display unreadable.
Software applications displaying ENC cells suppress the sounding labels at a roughly estimated minimum scale to prevent clutter. Typically the scale at which the sounding labels disappear will be estimated from the compilation scale which is contained in the cell’s metadata.
This approach is not a satisfactory solution for a number of reasons:
When zooming out smoothly the charting engine Despina hides sounding labels immediately before they intersect others. To ensure safety the sounding label representing the shallower depth is always shown, the one representing the greater depth is suppressed. For two soundings of the same depth the selection is random.
Unlike the smooth fading in and out for the text labels, the color of sounding labels is not altered because showing labels with transparency could lead to a situation where a shallow sounding label can be mistakenly confused with a deep sounding which should of course be avoided.
The same technique is used for contour labels.
Dynamic Declutter allows us to show smooth zoom operations and camera flights during which the chart display adapts continuously to the changing scale. The end user does not get distracted as the chart display does not change unexpectedly or abruptly but is instead consistent over time.
The IHO S-52 Presentation Library decribes the appearance of ENC charts in great detail by providing precise definitions of all symbols, colors, linestyles and fill patterns along with their alignment and drawing order. The Geomaris rendering engine displays ENC data in compliance with the latest Presentation Library Version 4.0.
For the highest quality chart display we use state of the art rendering techniques:
The above images show the same map section using different scale factors for symbols, line styles and fill patterns.
The high frame rates enable applications to support smooth zooming and camera flights. Our rendering engine provides techniques to handle dynamic aspects:
Learn more about the chart display apperance of the eNavigation Kernels SDK
Dynamic Decluttering is a technology for decluttering text and sounding labels on a per frame basis.
Read more about a performance comparison for some GPUs.