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Glare on 6.1 inch display

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by our1vue, Mar 10, 2012.

  1. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    Hi all,
    I'm looking at a 2012 prius 2 or 3. (It would be our first Prius) One question I had was glare on the 6.1 inch display (I don't know what its official name). I've seen the screen on a Gen II and it seems to have less glare because it was mounted on the dash and was straight up. On the Gen III it is mounted on the console and at on angle. Is the Gen III screen harder to see than what they had on the Gen II ? What about the screen on the Prius 3 when it is in backup camera mode ?
    Thanks for any insight you have on this.
     
  2. ChipL

    ChipL Active Member

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    I have a two week old (almost :) ) 2012-2. At times there is some glare, but not bothersome to me in most cases. And that is even with polarized sunglasses on for some of my drives.

    I do wish the screen and the rest of the control panel were slightly angled towards the driver a bit more however.
     
  3. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    its not the glare but the location of the screen that caused me to sell my gen III and return to gen II, it was too low but it is a very high quality nav screen with great resolution, but taking your eyes off the road is a safety step in the wrong dirction for the gen III, gen II was perfect.
    I also did not like the scandanavian floating center console, its fine for a volvo but too claustrophobic in the prius
    and don't get me started on the cup holders, gen II was A++ innovative, gen III is F fail.
    Some HVAC steering wheel buttons are missing on gen III as well, and they added dozens of buttons on the center console. In the gen II I could go years without touching a button on the dash, that's how perfect the steering wheel was, but on gen III you spend the whole time driving trying to find the Auto, Off, front and rear defroster buttons on the center console, again, taking your eyes off the road.

    on the plus side the outside is gorgeous, of course I had barcalona red package 5 with the 17" wheels, much cooler than most gen III prius with 15" wheels and boring colors. And most people say the seats in gen III are much more supportive.

    I tried to look cool in a car that frustrated me from the inside, nope, after 6 months I had to go back to the nerdy-looking car with the worlds best interior.
     
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  4. xpcman

    xpcman Senior Member

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    On a 2012 the only screen is for the GPS navigation. Unless things have changed the Prius 2 does not come with navigation. The screen problems are compounded when using polarized sun glasses.
     
  5. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    Thanks for all the input. The Prius 2 we drove had the 6" screen and didn't have the nav package. When we drove it it had some bar charts up showing mpg or something. I didn't look to closely at it because it was hard to see (the reason for this question/thread) and I was test driving a prius for the first time from the dealer and I didn't want to smash into something :). I think the radio also displays its info on that. The 6" screen is really overkill for all this. I wonder if they put that in because I read that all the prius models were going to have a backup camera, and then later that was dropped from the prius 2 and it was too late to rip the 6" display out. Another question, is there a brightness control for this screen ? That would help in the bright situations.
     
  6. dmvp

    dmvp Member

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    There is a dial to change the brightness on the 2010, so I would hope it's also on the 2012. Check to the left of the steering wheel, near the mirror adjustment switch. On the 2010, after you slide it up, keep pushing and it'll click into the brightest spot, which will allow you to still see the display while wearing polarizing sunglasses.
     
  7. kenoarto

    kenoarto Senior Member

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    Glare can be a problem at times. For $35 you can buy a nice hood that fits over either screen. You can buy them here and/or PriusHoods has and ebay site.