Mystery Mirror

You found out the secret! When sitting in the driver's seat what you see as the speedo, fuel gauge, etc is a reflection! The display is buried in the dash and shines up on a mirror. Through the windshile you are really seeing the display, not the mirror. That why the sun shining on the "display" doesn't affect it as much since it is really only shining on a mirror. Pretty neat, huh! (Took me three months to discover this! !)

 

The speedometer and odometer data uses this mirror to reflect to the screen.

 

That isn't a mirror. It's the actual speedometer down in the dashboard, hidden from view of the driver but visible looking down from outside.

What you see when you are driving is really just a reflection.

The reason for that is to create a tunnel effect. Increasing the visual distance completely eliminates glare, which all the traditional digital readouts suffered from. But with Prius, you get an impressive improvement... thanks to a mirror, but not in the location you think.

The actual mirror is what you look at.

 

And since the apparent distance of the display is further away, it is easier to refocus your eyes from the outside environment to the virtual display, rather than having to refocus on a close display like in an old technology car. This is important the older you get . . . and since the Prius will last a long time . . . . your future old-fart self will be happy with this display too.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jul 30 2006, 02:40 AM) [snapback]294526[/snapback]</div>

Wow, it's even cooler than I thought! Thanks Does throw some glare on the winshild at night, though, unless you turn the intensity down.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jul 30 2006, 01:40 AM) [snapback]294526[/snapback]</div>

There are multiple reflection points. But I didn't want to go there without an illustration available. It's a very old technique used for increasing focal-length in tight spaces, like a compact telescope.

 

It's like a heads up display in a fighter jet!! B)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(marjam @ Jul 30 2006, 03:26 AM) [snapback]294552[/snapback]</div>

There's another solution to the glare. You put a piece of black material (like felt) along the edge of the opening closest to the driver. It doesn't have to be big, about 1/2", and you put it in place with double sticky tape. That makes the opening itself smaller and the glare is blocked.

 

I was going to ask this in a separate thread, but this seems a good place. I took delivery of my Prius on Saturday. It's a Black 2004 model that was delivered originally in August 04. So it's two years old and has 15k miles on it. It's very, very clean (hasn't even been delivery detailed yet -- I get to take it back for that next week). One contrast to the overall cleanliness of the car is this display. Compared to new cars, it's pretty gunky. Especially at night, you can see all sorts of dust and spots between the display and the mirrors and plastic pieces. I was going to have the dealer attend to this, if possible, in the detailing. Is this a common Prius display issue? Is it an easy "self help" item? Booby traps and landmines I should know about? TIA for any input.

 

Mirror, mirror on the dash...how did you get the display to read 188 kmh? Mine won't go that high!