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

I am having a difficult time seeing the red arrows (involving the ICE -Internal Combustion Engine) on the 2010 Prius Energy Monitor Screen during daylight. In the Prius 2010 Owner's Manual, p. 583 under the list of Customizable Features, is this item:
Meter, Navigational system, instrument panel: Sensor sensitivity for darkening/returning the brightness of the meter, navigation system and instrument panel depending on the outside brightness
Default is set to 0, customized settings -2 to +2

Has anyone else had this difficulty? Has anyone else done this customization? Did it fix the problem? Any other ideas for a fix? I really want to see these red arrows for feedback on driving/fuel consumption.

Everybody is having problems seeing the red arrows. More so if you have sunglasses on. Toyota is aware of the problem and the console design engineer has been asked to commit harakiri.

Sorry, but as both a Classic & Iconic owner, I see very little value in the Energy Monitor now. It's easy to understand the appeal, but you'll find yourself switching over to the Eco-Meter and never looking back. So in a way, I see the red arrows as a way of phasing people off that original screen (which dates back all the way to 1997).

On the new Eco-Meter, whether or not you can see the red for power is a non-issue. The big ECO symbol indicates the threshold anyway. See...





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Agreed.

It was a novelty for a day or so, and I've not used it since. I also use the Eco-Meter.

deleted, to hide possible evidence of dementia.

I agree that the red arrows aren't very visible. Maybe Toyota can brighten them up somewhat.

I like to see the energy monitor screen sometimes because the red arrows indicate when the engine is running. I is difficult otherwise to tell.

Yes, my 61 yr old eyes have the same problem. When we took our 2010 II in to the dealer for their 1K mile check-up I showed the service department that same section in the manual and asked about having the settings changed. He did change the back-up beeper and the seat belt warning beep but said he didn't know anything about the brightness settings; for example whether + or - would make the instruments stay bright or dim. And I'm not sure it would help with the 'dim arrow' problem even if it was set the best way.

I was going to ask if anyone else has had this feature changed, so I'm glad you brought it up. I see another post saying that perhaps it's not even a programmable feature for us in the US so it's a moot point.

In my Owner's Manual (US version), this Meter, navigation system, instrument panel customization on p. 583 refers back to p. 181 which describes the Gauges and Meters (not the Auto Light on p. 206 which has to do with the headlights).

Radiocycle, your dealer did not attempt to change the settings for the instrument panel since s/he did not know anything about it? So someone needs to at least try it? Maybe me?

No, it only shows power contribution.

The engine can still be running at idle speed. There is no indication the low RPM operation. You need an aftermarket gauge for that.
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as i understand it, the "eco" shape fills in when you are being economical. It spans from left to right. On the left is all battery. To the right, but before "power" is battery AND ICE, so long as you aren't "goosing" it (your first image is a goose situation). So "econ" includes ICE on the right side of the range (your second image). I think.

My bad. I must be suffering age-related dyslexia. Or is that called dementia? I forget ...

I finally got my Toyota dealer to agree to customize the afore-mentioned instrument panel brightness so that I can see if the red parts of the displays are more visible in the daytime. To get this done without paying the $38 shop rate for 1/2 hour, I resorted to threatening them with my latest Toyota survey that I recently received via e-mail and have yet to complete. The dealer's customer service relations person called Toyota who said that I was the first and only one to complain of this issue. Toyota told them to do the customization for no charge and asked that I share the results on PriusChat. (I had told them I had posted my difficulty on this site and others said they were having the same problem and no one had reported trying this customization to see if it solved the problem.) So I will be making my apointment for this in the near future and will post my results.

i agree with John that the HSI screen shows so much more than the old energy screen. plug the "no arrow" driving mode for glide is not that easy to do anymore. the delta for "no arrow" glide is either much smaller or non-existent.

now as far as threatening a bad survey for freebie tweeks, i would have gone for a more accurate consumption meter (MPG screen)

This is probably a real dumb comment but did you all try to adjust the instrument panel dimmer switch on the lower left of the dash? I turned mine all the way up (to a click) and I can see everything real well (headlights/markers on).

Peter

I tried that switch last time I drove the new Prius at the dealer, and it changed nothing to the energy monitor display brightness...

Excellent KJF,

Is this the 'customization' on page 583 where 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 "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 range being from -2 to +2 and the default setting is 0?

If so, I asked my dealer about it and he didn't know anything about it. I mentioned it here but didn't get any responses, so I'll be very interested in how your appointment goes. Maybe we'll even find out which setting (-2 to +2) does what for which parameter.

radio

I agree that the instrument panel dimmer switch does not fix this daytime problem.

Yes, this is the customization that I will be experimenting with.

I agree that I am getting good info from the other screens - I still want to see if this helps (there is also hard-to-see-red on the HSI screen too). There is nothing else I want free at this point. What do you mean about going for a more accurate consumption meter (MPG screen)?

well, this is my 3rd Prius, i have tracked every drop of gas put in all 3 and in the 70,000 driven between the previous 2,

the TOTAL discrepancy between the MFD and the pump calculations dont add up to the differences i have seen in the first 2500 miles of my 2010...(ok...maybe exaggerating that a bit)

now, i am not really complaining as its obvious that the 2010 is an improvement. its faster (i guess, dont really ever try it but they all say it is...) bigger (there is indisputeable proof of that. we have a stroller... ya know the one with the big wheels, even when folded it takes up a lot of space. in the SPM, i have to put in one side at a time to make it fit... on the 2010, drop it straight in with a little extra room on both sides to boot) and it does get better gas mileage.

so even without mentioning the cool bells, etc... its better which makes me wonder, what happened to make the mileage tracking so far off?

but i guess its all off topic...so, back to the umm...what were we talking about?

"Mans got to know his limitations!"
. Harry Callahan

Dear KJF,

please do not hesitate to share the results with us. I am particulary interested in knowing whether this solves the problem, and also if doing so makes the night brightness too high.

I hope that for those of us who have not ordered their prius yet, that sort of setting (and the reverse beep) can be done as a pre-delivery "customisation step" for free by the dealer...