in dash LCD question,.

moahdib · 05-22-2001, 02:47 PM

I know some of you guys have in dash LCD's from clarion pioneer etc etc....
Most LCD's are sunlight visible hence they are very bright at night. Can you adjust the LCd so it's not too bright at night and won't attract attention from cops or people driving next to you?

I have a removeable 5.6" LCD and it's so bright that I had to tint a piece of glass on both sides with window tint ( 5% visibility). Only then the brightness is at a normal brightness for night time driving. I believe the brightness control on my LCD is messed up...doesn't go all the way down to very dark.

cybuch · 05-22-2001, 04:34 PM

I have an Alpine CVA-1005 and it has an illumination input that dimmes the display when I turn on my driving lights. You might want to check the wire diagram and see if you have such an input.
Steve

gizmomkr · 05-22-2001, 05:35 PM

I have a removable lcd, (not head unit mounted) and I would say its pretty bright.

It does adjust, but at the lowest seting, I would still call it bright.

I put tint over mine too

moahdib · 05-22-2001, 06:08 PM

haha glad to know im not the only one that has a piece of glass with tint on both sides just to cover up the screen at night =) you can light up the whole interior of your car otherwise hehe

wizardPC · 05-24-2001, 01:15 AM

have you guys thought about hooking up the backlight inverter power supply to the illumination wire on your head unit? that would control the power going to the inverter, and (maybe) give you the ability to dim when you turn on your lights

gizmomkr · 05-24-2001, 09:07 AM

I see what your saying.... its no so much the problem of having a switch to adjust it.... I could wire a pot.

I never looked over the stuff on my inverter board, but I doubt it would work right if I just attached a pot to it.

That would be like ataching a dimer switch to flourencent lighting. (never tried it, might even run for a little while, but my guess is -eventually you would blow the dimer box first, then if you kept replacing that, or you had a hi-current dimmer, you would blow the transformer / starter for the fixture)

Arby · 05-24-2001, 12:30 PM

You can't dim Cold Cathode tubes (backlights)

They will only work above a certain voltage. If you try to dim it, it will just shut off. (trust me, I've tried

)

Tony S · 05-24-2001, 11:05 PM

There are some units that have a dimmer setting. Mine's got that. I also got the screen saver on one minute and then it goes to a black screen with stars, which works well when night driving. The only thing, and I'm still new to this, is that while booting up the screen appears to flip out, moving from bottom to top over and over, and even for the Windows splash screen. Yet, when Windows' desktop appears everything's cool. I guess it's some resolution/LCD thing.

Arby · 05-24-2001, 11:15 PM

The windows startup screen is 320x400, a really wierd resolution. Open c:\windows\logow.sys with an art program

Adam F · 05-25-2001, 01:16 AM

On my 15" flatscren LCD display at work the windows startup screen flickers like yours does.

Tony S · 05-25-2001, 10:35 PM

Thanks guys. I thought there might be a problem with the LCD, which I only got a short while ago. I think you're right, Arby. Sounds like a wierd resolution thing.