Wide and MegaWide are terms commonly used by cartographic data providers to describe the size of navigation charts. MapMedia, MaxSea’s subsidiary specialized in digital cartography and Raster data treatment, also employs this terminology to better classify its charts offer in both mm2 (for MaxSea v12 and previous software) and mm3d (for TIMEZERO software) formats.
Wide and MegaWide area size vary according to its geographical coverage and the number of navigation charts included within each area.
Wide areas are approximately 3 times smaller than MegaWide areas at some locations.
Let’s take the Mediterranean Raster charts as an example:
WRMEM32MAP6.1 Mediterranean Sea – West
This Wide area includes all the navigation charts available from Gibraltar to the west coast of Italy.
MWRMEM23MAP6.1 Mediterranean Sea
This MegaWide area includes all the Mediterranean Sea charts available.
In comparison, here’s the old area coverage of mm2 charts which were compatible with MaxSea v12 and previous versions:
It takes almost 6 old mm2 charts to make the latest mm3d Wide chart.
The West Mediterranean Sea Wide area contains around 575 charts and maps whereas the MegaWide (covering the whole Mediterranean Sea) contains more than 1700 navigation charts and maps.
The level of detail is the same for both sizes as every area includes:
- Route maps
- Landing maps
- Coastal maps
- Detailed maps and all ports available
All navigation charts are updated at least once a year. For Raster charts, MapMedia orders all available charts from each local Hydrographic Service every year in order to scan them and convert them to its unique mm3d format. For Vector charts, MapMedia retrieves the cartographic data from its providers (currently Jeppesen and Navionics) and converts it to mm3d as well.
Related topics:
What’s the difference between Raster and Vector charts?
5 Tips for choosing the best nautical chart Free Guide
