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The display is barley visible during the day and totally black at night,

colinwright1
over 4 years ago

The display is barley visible during the day and totally black at night, i have tried assorts of settings but the only one that works is   to turn the auto brightness off and the brightness up to about 30% plus and the back light on all the time. It cant be right that you have to have the backlight on all the time to see the display. The display is not just dark and hard to see in daylight , it is very dark and dangerous as you really have to struggle to see the display.

Have i bought a faulty unit or is this normal and is being returned. My edge 800 was never like this, wish i hadn't sold it now

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I would suspect faulty? I have no issues with my display.  My display settings are Auto Brightness - enabled, Brightness - auto, Backlight Timeout - Stays On, Color Mode - Auto.  I ride mostly at night and have no issues seeing the display, nor do I have issues during the day.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to ewarnerusa

    Ah are you saying you keep the back light on all the time? I assumed that you set it up with the back light going off after 15-60 seconds. which is what i did with my gamin 800.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to colinwright1

    Yes backlight on all the time.  Mostly inspired by my nocturnal riding habits so I want the display always on so I can see it in the dark.  had my previous 510 set up like this as well so it is the default behavior I'm used to.  I suspect it impacts battery life, but I don't note anything that makes me concerned.  I still get many hours/rides between charges.  I think one time have I had it getting low on power so I enabled battery save mode until that ride was finished and I could recharge the Edge.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to ewarnerusa

    Thank you , you have been most helpful .

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to colinwright1

    The unit needs to catch as much light as possible - so you'll need to angle it such that its able to get as much light from the sky - avoiding your own shadows. Otherwise the screen will be dark when it's angled towards you because it'll catch your shadow. The pixels need the sun light to make it bright. If you're needing the back light in daylight you're angling it wrong. When angled correctly - for drop bar bikes a small degree ( 1 -3 degrees) lower than horizontal will catch the most light from the sky - you'll think the back light is on (back light will be off). 

    You shouldn't need the backlight on in daylight. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I find mine quite difficult to see in lower light situations, as mentioned in my thread about it, it is almost as if the screen polarisation is 90 degrees out of phase as it is easier to see if rotating the display.

    https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/cycling/f/edge-530/170926/screen-orientation---polarisation

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to Tim_B_

    yes - when light is low the 530 is more diffucult to read - like late afternoon when the sun is low. Here's where the Wahoo ROAM will still be legible to the end.