ORLANDO, Fla. – As Matthew Laster trolled slowly across Little Lake Conway Tuesday morning, he paused to point to an image on his Lowrance HDS-12 Gen 3 depth finder.
“The police department uses this lake for rescue training,” Laster said, pointing to the unit. “What it’s showing on the screen now is a helicopter they’ve sank in the lake.”
The 2D image of the helicopter was amazing.
Then Laster switched to the new 3D function, and everyone’s mind was blown.
“That’s what I call my party piece,” said Laster, the sonar product manager for Lowrance. “It’s something we’ve been working on for about two years, and we’re really pleased with how it turned out.”
The standard 2D Structure Scan function on the HDS Gen 3 units (7, 9 and 12) has been improved for greater clarity and an increased range of 600 feet. But the unit’s new bell-cow feature is the 3D function that gives anglers a totally different kind of look.
The new function takes high-resolution data from Structure Scan and paints a mesmerizing 3D picture of what’s under your boat. By simply sliding a finger across the touch screen, anglers can rotate the screen 360 degrees to get a complete view of the lake beneath them.
Laster found several drop-offs Tuesday, and the unit gave a 3D view of them with striking detail. The images looked almost like sketched drawings of the terrain under the boat with precise imagery that will be valuable to those who fish for all species.
Fish are shown in a different color – on Tuesday, it was blue against a brown color palette – and the 3D view will leave no doubt where the fish are stationed on drop-offs and brush piles. Anglers who know what they’re looking for will be able to easily determine which schools of fish offer the most promise.
“The units will have a wide range of color palettes,” Laster said. “Whichever one you choose, fish will automatically be shown in a different color so they’ll really stand out and be easy to see.”
The transducer and module that create the new 3D look can also be connected to HDS Gen 2 touch units or Gen 2 Keypads. It will provide all of the improvements to the 2D function, but will not provide a 3D look for those units.
The new technology is scheduled to hit the market in November.
For a larger image of the 3D function on the Lowrance HDS-9, click here.
