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'Day Mode'?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Zaxxon, Apr 10, 2007.

  1. Zaxxon

    Zaxxon New Member

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    On my 2007, occasionally (haven't yet spent the effort to determine if it's 'at night' or 'when lights are on'), there is an MFD option for 'day mode'. I can't tell any difference on the MFD between when this is on and off, and my dealer couldn't tell me, either. The manual also is no help on this issue. Anyone know what this does?
     
  2. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

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    :huh: :blink: :lol: :lol:

    Day mode makes the MFD brighter, To see what I mean you should check it at night or in the dark... ;) B)
     
  3. aaf709

    aaf709 Ravenpaw of ThunderClan

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    It'll do the same thing if you roll the dimmer wheel all the way up. It's more obvious if you have the built-in NAV. It's handy if you have the lights on during dusk or when it's raining during the day.
     
  4. Zaxxon

    Zaxxon New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Apr 10 2007, 12:42 PM) [snapback]420860[/snapback]</div>
    Precisely. Except it doesn't. Not even in a pitch-black garage, and not with the brightness slider to the leftof the steering wheel all the way up, in the middle, or all the way down. Not even a tiny little change in brightness.

    Anyone else?
     
  5. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Zaxxon @ Apr 10 2007, 12:48 PM) [snapback]420865[/snapback]</div>
    Hmmmmmmm :huh: Ok im at a loss then....
     
  6. jiepsie

    jiepsie New Member

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    In my car, the difference between "day mode" and "normal mode" is only apparent when the headlights are on. The nav display switches to a dark background when I turn on the headlights in "normal" mode. The dark background is a must when it's dark outside, the normal background is too bright.

    In "day mode", with the headlights on, the nav display uses the same light colored background as with the headlights off, it only dims the backlight a bit. "Normal mode" uses a darker color scheme for the maps.
     
  7. Betelgeuse

    Betelgeuse Active Member

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    Yup. I agree with our Dutch friend.

    Here's how it works (at least on my 2005): With the headlights off, the display will always be in "Day Mode" (i.e. bright). It's only with the headlights ON do the differences start to show. With the headlights on and the dimmer dial turned all the way up (i.e. past the click at the top), the MPH display will be at full brightness and the MFD will be at full brightness (a.k.a. "Day Mode"). With the headlights on and the dimmer down (i.e. "below the click"), the MPH display will be variable brightness (depending on how low the dimmer is) and the MFD will be less bright (i.e. in "Night Mode"). Finally, if you have the headlights on, the dimmer switch below full brightness and the "Day Mode" set on the MFD, the MPH display will be variable brightness, but the MFD will be bright.

    Make sense? (at least a little? :) )
     
  8. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowlander @ Apr 10 2007, 12:59 PM) [snapback]420876[/snapback]</div>
    This is correct.

    Tom
     
  9. Charles Suitt

    Charles Suitt Senior Member

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    :) Take a look at your 2007 Prius Owner's Manual - page 112 "Automatic light cut off system"

    Although poorly indexed, there's much helpful information in the Owner's Manual. That paragraph also comments on the headlights "automatic off" system.
     
  10. Marlin

    Marlin New Member

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    "Day Mode" has it's own seperate brightness and contrast settings, giving the Prius a total of three:
    1) headlights off or dimmer thumb wheel all the way up
    2) headlights on and dimmer thumb wheel not all the way up
    3) "Day Mode"

    The "Day Mode" uses the same color scheme as the headlights off mode, but you can set the brightness and contrast to different values.

    So, if you like your MFD really dim at night, but find that the night time colors of the MAP screen are unreadable, then switch into "Day Mode" with the button on the MFD and then turn the brightness way down and the contrast way up. This will give you a dim display with a readable map. When you turn the headlights off, the MFD will go to its normal daytime brightness.

    The "Day Mode" is sticky, so if you turn off the car or headlights, it remembers the setting when you turn them back on.
     
  11. Zaxxon

    Zaxxon New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Apr 10 2007, 03:11 PM) [snapback]420942[/snapback]</div>
    I'll take a look tonight, but I did read it cover-to-cover so either my reading comprehension is low or it's not going to answer my question directly. :) It sounds like lowlander et al have the right idea--it's essentially a nav setting, and since I don't have built-in nav, I'm not seeing the effect.
     
  12. iaowings

    iaowings New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Apr 10 2007, 03:28 PM) [snapback]420953[/snapback]</div>
    Yup

    I have my day mode set with extremely bright settings because in the evening when I want my lights on because of shadows from tall buildings and what not but sometimes the sun hits the screen and we all know what that does. My night mode is very dim almost not visible just like the rest of the interior lights just the way I like them when it is dark.
     
  13. Betelgeuse

    Betelgeuse Active Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Zaxxon @ Apr 10 2007, 02:30 PM) [snapback]420956[/snapback]</div>
    It's not a nav setting. I have a car without nav and I see the effect. Marlin's post is a nice, clear version of what I was trying to say in an earlier post.
     
  14. Marlin

    Marlin New Member

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    Another way to think of it, for those without NAV, is that you can effectively have a high noon MFD setting, a dusk/dawn MFD setting, and a pitch dark setting.

    Set your normal headlights off setting real bright for bright sunny days. Set the "Day Mode" setting (requires the headlights on) for a moderate brightness for dusk and dawn conditions, and set your normal night mode settings really dim.
     
  15. jiepsie

    jiepsie New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Apr 10 2007, 10:00 PM) [snapback]420979[/snapback]</div>
    That's exactly how I use it. Although my Euro Prius with nav is somewhat different than the OP's US Prius without nav. We don't have the thumb wheel here for changing the brightness. The thumb wheel changes the angle of the headlights. Another one of those strange little differences... going to start a thread to collect them now.
     
  16. Zaxxon

    Zaxxon New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Apr 10 2007, 04:00 PM) [snapback]420979[/snapback]</div>
    I'll give it a shot tonight. My problem probably stems from the fact that I never found the need to change my brightness/contrast within the MFD (I just use the dial on the dash), and so when I flip between day and night mode, there is no difference because both settings are currently set to the default?
     
  17. PriusRos

    PriusRos A Fairly Senior Member - 2016 Prius Owner

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    (I hit the wrong button so I'll apologize in advance if this gets posted twice.)

    This is my understanding of Day Mode:

    The MFD is hard to see during the day if the headlights are turned on because the headlights cause the display to become much brighter/lighter. Day Mode keeps the same brightness on the display whether or not the headlights are turned on.

    However, I must have misunderstood because regardless of whether I have Day Mode on or off, the MFD is hard to read during the day if the headlights are turned on.

    I am also confused about the dimmer switch. I think I have tried it both ways -- turned all the way up to "on", and not all the way up, but I don't see the difference.

    Is my understanding of the purpose of Day Mode wrong, or am I doing something wrong?

    I don't have the navigation system, btw.
     
  18. Marlin

    Marlin New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Zaxxon @ Apr 10 2007, 04:06 PM) [snapback]420986[/snapback]</div>
    First off, I have a 2005 Prius, so my experience will be subtlely different than yours.

    You should definitely see a difference in the MFD between headlights on and headlights off, unless you have the thumb wheel set to it's upper most "notched" position. If your MFD and dash brighness never change regardless of how you have the brightness thumb wheel set, then something is wrong with the thumb wheel.

    The the day and night modes use different color schemes. The colors in the night version are darker. So, even if you had all the contrasts and brightnesses set to the same settings, you should be able to tell a difference between the normal night mode and the mode you get by pressing the "Day Mode" button on the MFD.

    I have my normal day setting as bright as I can make it. I have the night mode setting so dim that the clock and the radio buttons are actually brighter and more distracting than the MFD. At noon on a sunny day, the night mode screen is so dark it looks the the MFD is off. I have the setting you get when you press the "Day Mode" button set to a dim setting that is still quite readable in dusk or dawn conditions.

    By the way, the dimmest settings can be achieved by turning the brightness slider all the way down and the contrast slider all the way up.
     
  19. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    ahh, the beauty of automatic headlights. We have no use for DAY MODE in Canada because the dashboard and MFD automatically dim if necessary when the headlights are on.
     
  20. Zaxxon

    Zaxxon New Member

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    I'll give it another shot tonight, Marlin. My recollection of my last experiment was that there was no visible difference between day and night mode--there most certainly was no change in color scheme. I couldn't detect anything, even going so far as to call my dealer once I got inside. I'll fiddle with the brightness/contrast and see what happens.