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Nav/Radio Brightness

D

dcalkins

New Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2006
Messages
5
Location
Upstate NY
I'm looking for some help.? I have an 2007 LTZ with Nav.? At night the monitor is extremely bright.? I have the brightness setting on Auto.? This is very distracting.? To dim the monitor I need to reset the brightness to night.? This causes the monitor to be very dim during the day and I have to again set the brightness level.? I thought that the auto setting would automatically tone down the brightness at night and brighten it up during the day?? Why is it not happening?
 
Mine has the 2005 Navigation radio, but it took me a while to realize that the contrast and brightness settings for day and night are separate depending on if the lights are on or not when it is on AUTO.

I use auto, and I set the bright and contrast during the day, then set the bright and contrast again at night while the lights are on.  (You can do the same thing by selecting DAY then setting the contrast and bright, then selecting NIGHT and setting the contrast and bright.  AUTO just changes between them automatically.)

You can test this by putting it on AUTO and then (during the day) bring up the bright and contrast setting screen, set it wherever you want it for daytime, then turn on the headlights manually, set contrast and bright again and turn the lights back off.  You should see the contrast and brightness settings change when the lights are on or off.
 
That is how I originally had it set up.  It never has changed it brightness automatically.  I guess I need to talk to the dealer?
 
Mine was kinda quirky like that in the beginning too (not sure why, but it fixed itself..)

I also have DAY maps as white background and night maps with a black background.? That helps too.

The maps usually seem ok at night, but the radio/cd displays are too bright at night even on the lowest setting.

Also, every time the battery is disconnected, all the brightness settings go back to defaults (which the dealer seems to be doing every time I bring it in!)

Hate to say it, but all the dealers I took it to never knew much about the nav system.  It took like 4 visits before they realized the speed sensor wire wasn't connected.
 
It should change automatically as soon as the headlights come on.... I imagine it could be pretty bright with the daytime map at night... it should have a gray background during the day and black at night... I have to turn down the instrument panel lights anyways at night!
 
I don't think mine changes either.  I rarely use the Nav, so I end up turning off the display (Menu / turn off display) at night.
Not the best solution, and would be happier if it would auto-change.

Should I be able to go out and play with my light switch and see the screen change in front of me?  I will try it when I'm next in the cockpit.
 
I finally brought my avalanche in to the dealer.? The dealer was not aware at first on how to explain to me how the brightness worked on the Nav/radio.? ?After a while with two technicians driving around in my avalanche and I'm sure after making a phone call I was told as follows.? The brightness to the nav/radio screen is controlled when the lights come on automatically at night by the brightness switch which also controls the dashboard brightness.? I have found that when I turn down the dashboard brightness to almost black the Nav/radio is still to bright but it is dimmer than it was.? The auto function in the menu for the Nav / Radio is only for the navigation map.
 
There are three different places to control the brightness:

1. The brightness for the screen is not controlled by the dash dimmer.? That only dims the hard buttons on the face of the radio itself, not the screen.

2. The NAV SETUP soft button (on screen button) has settings for map color.? You can pick from four different color schemes for day, and four schemes for night.? Usually most people use a white background during the day and a black background at night.  This only controls the map screen colors, not the radio/cd screens.

3. There is also brightness and contrast settings when you press the hard button (on the face of the radio)? CONFIG (might have to use the scrollbar on the screen to get to the screen with the brite and contrast after pressing CONFIG).? You should set the contrast and brite with the headlights on, and then set them again with the headlights off.? If you set them brighter with the lights on and dim with the lights off, you will see the contrast and brite settings change on the screen when you turn the lights on or off (as long as you don't have them set the same).?

I leave contrast almost all the way up for both day and night, and then for night (lights on) have the bright all the way down.
 
On the 07 radios the dimmer for the panel actually dims the display as well.  I don't use the nav system much but even the blue radio screen is blinding, so I turn the dimmer all the way down at night.  Not so sure about the different color combos though
 
I had just purchased a 2005 TNR unit on ebay and plugged it in to make sure the thing would power up (still waiting to get access to a Tech II  :p )  I noticed that the hard buttons had more of a green backlight to them.  The instrument panel in my 2003 Cladded Av is predominantly white backlit.  Being a factory unit, I was hoping that it would match the dash more - unless, of course, green is the new dash color for later years??

Any pics of NAV units at night?  Maybe I was just seeing things...
 
Mine is the 05 TNR and I am pretty sure they are white-ish..  Hmmmmm...  ???

Come to think of it, now I can't remember if my dash is white or green?  (You would think after 2 years I would know..)

Pretty sure it is white though.
 
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