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Screen Orientation - polarisation

Tim_B_
over 5 years ago

I’ve had my 530 for around 2 months. The first few rides were outside with the backlight on, the last 5 weeks have been inside. Went for my first outdoor ride today for a while but had the backlight turned OFF. 

It was a late afternoon Autumn ride here in the hills so a lot of it was in the shade. I found the screen very dark and hard to read. If I turn the backlight on (I have the Di2 buttons set to turn on the backlight) the screen was easy to read. I found though, that if I rotated the 530 Ninety degrees, I could read it just fine, almost like the screen polarisation is 90 degrees out.

My Oakleys are Polarised, if I look at the 530 in it’s correct orientation through the glasses, it’s easier to see than if I look under them. If I turn on the backlight it is easy to see the screen.

is this normal?

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Tim_B_

    In the comparison, the entire front is less visible, including the bezel area. That isn't a polarization issue. The two situations are different in more ways than just the rotation. I'm not saying there isn't a polarization issue but the comparison seems to be showing something else.

    These screens work (without a backlight) by having reflective material underneath the liquid crystals.

    The screens are more visible with the sun at 90' to the angle of the screen. A grazing (shallow) angle means less light is reflected by the reflective material underneath the liquid crystals.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to dpawlyk

    I’m not sure Polarisation is quite the right term either, it was just the closest word I could think of to describe what I was seeing when rotating the device.

    Whatever the word, the fact remains, that under certain lighting conditions, the screen is very hard to read and when you rotate it 90 degrees it is easily read.

    The fact that Garmin hasn’t said one word on this one way or the other (either that it’s completely normal, or not right) suggests to me, they want to keep an issue quiet.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Tim_B_

    The left photo is more exposed than the right too.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I got the same issue . To be honest, like this the 530 is useless most of the time. Following the navigation is almost impossible.

    Did anyone get a statement from Garmin on this? I would also like to know if it's a common thing or maybe a fualty batch of 530s.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 3827666

    I have new one. Still same problem. If i will knew this issue I will never buy 530. I think I will return this crap.