Fix for difficulty seeing red arrows on Energy Monitor Screen in daylight (2010 Prius II)?

[Blind Guy]

I seem to be the ONLY one that has posted on this Forum who has ACTUALLY had that setting changed to +2.

I've several posts in this Thread explaining that process, but, rather than make everyone reread all the posts to find those I've posted, I'll try to capsalize those posts.

In reading this Thread in its early stages, most were complaining about the difficulty seeing the Red Arrows, and some thought the increase to +2 would possibly solve that problem.

Before picking up the car I requested they make the +2 change, which they did.

Driving the car home, I asked my wife how the Red Arrows looked, she said RED! But, she did comment that the other graphics appeared mostly white, which I have read now that most of the other graphics in the Energy Monitor screen are white, so I'm assuming the increase didn't affect that portion of the screen.

Since she didn't see that display before we picked up the car, she has no basis of comparison. She does say the Red Arrows are VERY RED and easy to see. So maby the increase to +2 DID help!

Let me know how that screen looks when set to 0, so I'll have something to tell her to compare it to.

David (aka Blind Guy)

[KJF]

I am the original poster of this thread and I finally was able to get to my dealer for the customization being referred to which I hoped would make the red arrows in the Energy Monitor easier to see in the daytime.

On my way to the dealer I was looking hard at the red arrows so I would have something to compare to after the setting change. My appointment was at 7:30 AM on a clear day (i.e. pretty early so it was not real sunny yet). I gave the service manager my Owner's Manual open to p. 583 and told him I wanted the +2 setting for the "Meter, navigational system instrument panel" item. When he came back to me, he mumbled something about the technician saying that the language was not the same as my manual but he was sure that he had put this item to +2. I told him I would take it and drive it and see if it made a difference. I believe that it did make a slight improvement and this is what I reported to the service manager. I must add that I am not his favorite customer as I threatened them (my salesperson and by extension the service manager) with negativity in my survey answers if they were not willing to do this for free as I felt it was a defect that I had complained about within the first week of having the car (took delivery on 6/29/2009 - car manufacture date 05/09 - Prius II with no navigational system). BIG Toyota had told them to do this for free and I don't think my dealer was happy about it. The red seems slightly brighter - or if not much brighter then it does seem to be easier to detect the arrow movement in the area of the red arrows. I detected no changes in whiteness. I do not feel that this very small improvement would be worth paying for. If others are getting other customizations done free, then throw this one - can't hurt. If I had been on better terms with my service manager, I would have liked to sit there with the tech (preferrably outside where it is brighter) with the car sitting still and with 2 pairs of eyes and go through all the settings, one by one, to see the differences. In this way, I think it would be possible to see if there truly is a difference.

Is it possible that Toyota has tweaked the production of the newer 2010 Prius?

In Summary: I believe the +2 setting did slightly improve the visibility of the red arrows on the Energy Screen Monitor. Even if the arrows are not clear, it seems easier to see the movement in the red arrow part of the screen. However, I would not call this a fix as it still is difficult to see the red in the daylight.

[radiocycle]

Originally Posted by KJF

I am the original poster of this thread and I finally was able to get to my dealer for the customization being referred to which I hoped would make the red arrows in the Energy Monitor easier to see in the daytime.

On my way to the dealer I was looking hard at the red arrows so I would have something to compare to after the setting change. My appointment was at 7:30 AM on a clear day (i.e. pretty early so it was not real sunny yet). I gave the service manager my Owner's Manual open to p. 583 and told him I wanted the +2 setting for the "Meter, navigational system instrument panel" item. When he came back to me, he mumbled something about the technician saying that the language was not the same as my manual but he was sure that he had put this item to +2. I told him I would take it and drive it and see if it made a difference. I believe that it did make a slight improvement and this is what I reported to the service manager. I must add that I am not his favorite customer as I threatened them (my salesperson and by extension the service manager) with negativity in my survey answers if they were not willing to do this for free as I felt it was a defect that I had complained about within the first week of having the car (took delivery on 6/29/2009 - car manufacture date 05/09 - Prius II with no navigational system). BIG Toyota had told them to do this for free and I don't think my dealer was happy about it. The red seems slightly brighter - or if not much brighter then it does seem to be easier to detect the arrow movement in the area of the red arrows. I detected no changes in whiteness. I do not feel that this very small improvement would be worth paying for. If others are getting other customizations done free, then throw this one - can't hurt. If I had been on better terms with my service manager, I would have liked to sit there with the tech (preferrably outside where it is brighter) with the car sitting still and with 2 pairs of eyes and go through all the settings, one by one, to see the differences. In this way, I think it would be possible to see if there truly is a difference.

Is it possible that Toyota has tweaked the production of the newer 2010 Prius?

In Summary: I believe the +2 setting did slightly improve the visibility of the red arrows on the Energy Screen Monitor. Even if the arrows are not clear, it seems easier to see the movement in the red arrow part of the screen. However, I would not call this a fix as it still is difficult to see the red in the daylight.

So I'm still a little unclear on the settings. Earlier in this thread I said that on page 583 the function is listed as "Sensor sensitivity for darkening the brightness of the meter, navigation system and instrument panel depending on the outside brightness" and the second half is, "Sensor sensitivity for returning the brightness of the meter, navigation system and instrument panel to the original level depending on the outside brightness" The custom ranges being from -2 to +2 and the default setting is 0 on both parts of this setting.

Should one be set to +2 and the other to -2?

[KJF]

Originally Posted by radiocycle

So I'm still a little unclear on the settings. Earlier in this thread I said that on page 583 the function is listed as "Sensor sensitivity for darkening the brightness of the meter, navigation system and instrument panel depending on the outside brightness" and the second half is, "Sensor sensitivity for returning the brightness of the meter, navigation system and instrument panel to the original level depending on the outside brightness" The custom ranges being from -2 to +2 and the default setting is 0 on both parts of this setting.

Should one be set to +2 and the other to -2?

My interpretation of the above is that they are describing the whole range of settings for this one customization - meaning you can have either -2 or -1 or 0 (default) or +1 or +2. However, I could be wrong. What we need is someone who is a Toytoa technician or is good buddies with one to go get more info. Unfortunately, I did not feel I was in a position to push things with the dealer any more than I had.

[garygid]

In my P-III with Nav, the meters do not change brightness when the headlights are OFF (dim red or bright white arrows), but they dim to the setting of the "brightness" control wheel when the headlights are ON (when dim, red or pastel green arrows are seen).

The battery bars are all, always, white?

The light level detected by the daylight sensor does not affect the "intruments", but does determine if the interior lights fade ON as the fob approaches the car.

Is this correct, or an I mistaken?

[bmarkle]

Problem 07/09

[Dark_matter_doesn't]

I have had the +2 mod to my display, and it didn't much improve the visibility of red elements. Rather annoying that Toyota went backward on this from Gen II to III.

[Pearl]

hmm....learn something new every day. i didn't even know there is supposed to be something red on the display. so i suppose i ought to check this out.

pearl