Crestron yacht automation,
engineered at sea.
We design, program and support Crestron marine automation for superyachts: Crestron control on every deck, NVX video and NAX audio throughout the boat, and Imagine Lookout watching all of it, around the clock.
Crestron marine automation puts a yacht's lighting, shades, climate, entertainment, cameras and bridge displays on one system, controlled from touch panels, keypads and the owner's own phone. Done right, the guests never think about it. Done wrong, it's the first thing the captain hears about.
Our founder spent more than a decade as a 500-ton licensed superyacht captain before building The Imagine Group, and he still programs the systems we install. That's the difference in our Crestron yacht automation: it's designed by someone who has lived with these systems at sea, in vibration, heat and salt air, with the nearest technician an ocean away.
What we automate with Crestron.
Lighting, shades and climate
Every scene on every deck, from the owner's stateroom to the aft deck at sunset, on keypads, touch panels and the app.
Crestron NVX video
Any source on any screen: Apple TV, Kaleidescape, satellite, the camera system or the nav computer, in 4K over the yacht's network.
Crestron NAX audio
Music in every zone, and TV sound that follows the picture, on NAX amplifiers streaming over the same network.
Bridge and navigation
Navigation and engine displays routed to the screens the crew needs them on, wherever they are on board.
The network underneath
Dedicated, documented switching for AV, built for NVX multicast, alongside Starlink, Peplink and SpeedFusion.
Monitoring and support
Imagine Lookout watches every Crestron device on the boat and tells our support desk the moment one needs attention.
Every screen, every source, over the network.
- An NVX encoder at each source and an NVX decoder behind each screen turn the yacht's network into one video matrix, in 4K, with no long HDMI runs through the hull.
- We build NVX its own switching, with IGMP snooping and a planned multicast address for every stream, so a busy network never breaks up the picture.
- Imagine Lookout traces it live. Ask about a cabin and it follows the picture from the TV through the decoder, the stream and the encoder to the source, reading each NVX box's own status: HDMI signal, resolution, the input it's sending, the stream it's receiving.
Sound that follows the picture.
- Crestron NAX amplifiers drive the speakers in each zone, from cabins to the sundeck, and pick up any source on the network, including the audio from an NVX encoder.
- So when the salon TV is showing the Apple TV, the salon speakers can play it too, with no extra wiring.
- Lookout checks every NAX zone: which stream it's playing, whether that's the same source as the room's TV, its volume and mute, and whether sound is actually arriving.
The fault most installers never find.
- Every NVX video stream and every NAX audio stream needs a multicast address of its own. When two share one, pictures break up or the wrong sound plays, and it looks like a faulty TV.
- Lookout lists every stream on the boat in one table and flags any address that's used twice, before the guests notice.
- The clash shown here is one Lookout found in a real yacht's Crestron setup (names and addresses changed): an NVX video stream and a NAX audio stream on the same address.
Monitoring built for Crestron yachts.
- Every Crestron processor, touch panel, NVX encoder and decoder, and NAX amplifier checked continuously, with one clear headline for the whole boat.
- Room-by-room troubleshooting that reads the NVX and NAX hardware itself, not just whether it answers.
- Safe restarts: an NVX box by command, its power outlet, or its switch port, with critical equipment always asking first.
- Crestron systems imported straight from the programming files, so the documentation is right from day one.
- Included with every Imagine Marine Automation annual support agreement.
Crestron marine automation, answered.
What is Crestron marine automation?
It's Crestron's control platform applied to a yacht: lighting, shades, climate, audio, video, cameras and bridge displays brought together on one system, controlled from touch panels, keypads and phones. On a yacht it also has to cope with vibration, heat, salt air and generator power, and be supportable from the other side of the world.
Can Crestron NVX run on a yacht's network?
Yes, when the network is built for it. NVX sends each video stream as multicast, so it needs managed switches with IGMP snooping, a unique multicast address for every stream, and enough bandwidth for 4K. We design the AV switching for exactly that, and document every address.
How does Imagine Lookout monitor Crestron NVX and NAX?
Lookout reads each NVX encoder and decoder directly: HDMI signal, resolution, the input it's sending and the stream it's receiving. It follows a room's picture from the TV back to the source, checks every NAX zone's stream, volume and mute, and flags any two streams sharing a multicast address. Try it on a simulated yacht.
Do you support existing Crestron yachts?
Yes. We take over support of Crestron systems installed by others: we document what's on board, install Lookout, and bring the programming and the network up to standard. Crestron systems can be imported into Lookout straight from the programming files.
Where do you work?
Worldwide. We're based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Winona Lake, Indiana, and with Lookout aboard, most problems are found, and many fixed, remotely before anyone has to travel.
Ready to start the conversation?
A home. A yacht. A space. The first conversation is always the same: we listen, we ask better questions, and we tell you honestly whether we're the right team.