Raymarine MFD

A Raymarine MFD is the integration point where every critical system on the boat converges into a single, cohesive command interface, giving the captain control over navigation, radar, sonar, autopilot, and cameras from one screen rather than managing each system separately.

What A Raymarine Multifunction Display Controls

A Raymarine MFD manages chartplotter navigation, radar overlay, sonar display, autopilot control, AIS traffic, and camera feeds from a single touchscreen interface. On a properly built helm, everything is visible and controllable from a single screen, without switching between devices, which allows the captain to focus on the boat rather than the electronics.

The LightHouse Operating System And Why It Matters Onboard

LightHouse is Raymarine's proprietary operating system that ties every connected device together through a consistent interface. Regular free software updates extend the display's capabilities throughout its service life without requiring hardware replacement, protecting the investment as new devices and features become available.

How The Axiom Series Handles Multi-Station Helm Configurations

The Axiom series connects via RayNet Ethernet, allowing multiple displays to share charts, radar, sonar, and camera feeds simultaneously across every station. Our Ideal Network Topology for a Yacht guide explains how these systems should be structured for dependable multi-station performance.

HydroTough Display Technology And Real-World Conditions

HydroTough nano-coating repels water from the touchscreen surface, maintaining accurate touch response and display clarity in spray, rain, and open cockpit conditions. Combined with up to 1,800 nits of brightness on Axiom Plus displays, the screen remains readable in direct sunlight, removing one of the most common sources of frustration at an exposed helm.

Choosing The Right Raymarine MFD For Your Vessel

The wrong display size creates a helm that either wastes space or fails to show enough information simultaneously, whereas the wrong processor causes lag when conditions demand fast decisions. Meanwhile, the wrong network ports limit how many systems can reliably share data. Getting those three decisions right before specifying any hardware is where the build either succeeds or creates problems that surface months later.

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Raymarine Axiom Chartplotter For Yachts And What Sets It Apart

The Raymarine Axiom chartplotter for yachts scales from 9 inches to 24 inches, not as a cosmetic choice but because each size step offers meaningfully different processing power, network port capacity, and glass-bridge capability. Choosing by screen size alone without accounting for what the display needs to manage produces a helm that looks right but underperforms under load. A breakdown of where each Axiom model fits is available in our Raymarine Chartplotter Guide: Axiom Series Comparison.

Recommended Raymarine MFDs By Boat Type

Axiom+ 9 — Compact MFD For Smaller Helms

Best for: 22–32 ft center consoles and small cruisers with limited dash space.

Quad-core processing, HydroTough IPS display, LightHouse 3 OS, full RayNet and NMEA 2000 networking, and built-in Wi-Fi. You get the complete Raymarine ecosystem in a compact footprint without compromising on system integration capability.

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Axiom+ 12 — All-Rounder For 30–45 ft Boats

Best for: 30–45 ft boats that need charts, radar, and sonar visible at once.

25 percent more brightness than previous Axiom generations, wider viewing angles, twice the display resolution, and full RayNet and NMEA 2000 networking. The tradeoff over the 9-inch is physical footprint, so confirm your helm space before ordering.

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Axiom 2 XL 16/24 — Glass-Bridge For Larger Boats

Best for: 45–70 ft boats (and up) building a glass bridge with multiple stations and peripherals.

Six-core processing, three RayNet Power-over-Ethernet ports, HDMI input and output, 64 gigabytes of internal storage, and integrated high-accuracy GPS/GNSS sensors with Galileo constellation support. Boats that underspecify at this scale, such as choosing a mid-tier display for a large glass bridge, create a processing bottleneck that no amount of peripheral hardware will correct.

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How RayNet Ethernet And NMEA 2000 Define Your Networking Options

RayNet Ethernet and NMEA 2000 are not interchangeable. They carry different data types and serve different functions. For instance, RayNet carries high-bandwidth radar, sonar, and video data between displays and peripheral hardware. By contrast, NMEA 2000 handles instrument data, autopilot commands, and sensor integration across the vessel backbone. A helm built without understanding which data travels on which network produces the exact intermittent failures that are hardest to diagnose after installation. For further reading, our NMEA 2000 Explained guide covers the importance of NMEA 2000.

Expanding The System With Radar, Sonar, And Camera Integration

Every peripheral added to the Axiom display increases what the captain can see and manage from a single interface, but only when each component is matched to the display's network architecture and commissioned correctly. Adding incompatible hardware or skipping proper commissioning produces the same symptoms as a poor installation: lag, data dropouts, and overlay misalignment that erodes confidence in the system.

For radar, the Raymarine Cyclone Pro with 4-Foot Open Array delivers 110 watts of solid-state output, CHIRP pulse compression, 60 RPM rotation speed, RangeFusion technology combining short and long pulses into a single high-clarity image, and ARPA tracking of up to 50 targets at 96 nautical miles. Doppler target tracking automatically distinguishes approaching hazards from stationary returns, reducing the captain's interpretive workload in busy conditions. For blue water boats where long-range detection and small-target imaging are operational requirements, the Raymarine Magnum 12kW Pedestal offers 12 kilowatts of output, better than 1-degree bearing resolution for more detailed target separation, plus fully automatic MARPA target acquisition for increased situational awareness. A full breakdown is available in our Raymarine Radar Guide.

For sonar, the Raymarine CP570 Professional CHIRP Sonar Module connects via RayNet and shares sonar data across all networked Axiom stations simultaneously, so every helm position sees the same picture without additional hardware at each station. Two fully independent 2kW CHIRP channels deliver up to 4kW combined output across 25 to 250kHz, with depth capability to 10,000 feet, automatic transducer identification, and TruZoom magnification for extra target detail without resolution loss.

The Full Raymarine Ecosystem Beyond The Display

A Raymarine MFD reaches its full potential when every connected system is matched, installed, and commissioned correctly as an integrated whole.

• Raymarine Radar For Yachts: Cyclone and Magnum open-array Raymarine radar for yachts give the captain a complete traffic picture overlaid directly on the chartplotter without switching views.
• Raymarine Sonar Module: CP series Raymarine sonar modules connect via RayNet and share CHIRP sonar data across all networked Axiom displays simultaneously, so every helm station sees the same sonar picture without additional hardware at each position.
• Thermal Cameras: Axiom displays integrate natively with optional FLIR thermal cameras for low-light situational awareness, so you can navigate safely at night.
• Autopilot Integration: Evolution autopilot integrates directly with the Axiom display, giving the captain full heading control without a separate autopilot control head at the helm. For a full ranking of Raymarine autopilot options, see our Best Raymarine Autopilot Systems Ranked guide.

DIY vs Professional Raymarine MFD Installation

Good DIY fit: Single-station installs on smaller boats where you are replacing an existing display and are comfortable with basic wiring and RayNet/NMEA 2000 cabling.

Pro-install recommended: Multi-station networks, integration with radar, sonar, autopilot, or engines, and any 40 ft+ boat or 70 ft+ yacht.

Mis-wired backbones and mis-configured networks usually show up in fog or tight traffic, not at the dock.

Why Installation Determines How Your Raymarine MFD Performs

The display is only as capable as the system it sits inside, and that system is only as reliable as the installation behind it.

What A Properly Commissioned Raymarine Helm Looks Like

A Raymarine helm that performs reliably starts with a network designed around the specific combination of displays, radar, sonar, and sensors on that boat. Incorrect backbone layout or device addressing creates intermittent failures that are difficult to diagnose and expensive to correct after installation. In contrast, a properly commissioned Raymarine helm has every display showing accurate chart data, radar overlay aligned with the vessel heading, sonar data at every networked station, and autopilot responding correctly to heading commands. Our technicians test every function before the boat leaves the dock.

How Our 10% Installation Credit Applies To Every Raymarine Build

When you purchase equipment through Concord Marine Electronics, 10% of your online equipment purchase price is applied toward professional installation by our certified technicians.

For a direct platform comparison against Garmin, our Garmin vs. Raymarine comparison provides a full breakdown.

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Every equipment purchase earns 10% of the purchase price back toward professional installation.

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