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Garmin 520 display unreadable

I've been using a CatEye Stealth 50 bike computer for a few years, then decided to upgrade to the Garmin 520 but was shocked on my first ride in the sun yesterday that the display is not readable about half the time. I'd be riding South in direct sun and the display was just fine, then I'd turn to the East or West and suddenly the contrast would get very low with the background becoming almost opaque so that I couldn't read the numbers.

My CatEye computer display is quite visible under all lighting conditions, so I was shocked at how poor this Garmin 520 display was. I tried brightness settings of: 100%, 90%, 70%, 60% and 50%. Also tried changing the display to Auto, Daylight and Night. Always the same issue of low contrast, making the display unusable on a bike ride.

It's time for me to return the Garmin and go back to the CatEye.

0 DanielPayne over 9 years ago

Update on display

So I adjusted the angle of my handlebar mount for the Garmin 520 today, by making the computer orient parallel to the ground, before it was tilted slightly upward, maybe 5 degrees or so.

In bright sunlight the display is quite readable, however when my shadow covers the display then the contrast decreases so that it takes more effort for me to read the display.

I'll go on a few more rides to see how this computer works for me.

0 gregf83 over 9 years ago

FWIW the 520 display is better than the 800. Performance of a color high resolution display will always be worse than a seven segment display as used by the cateye.

0 Teriemer over 9 years ago

How dark are your sunglases? I have a pair with quite dark glasses and the display can get tough to see. With my other pair, that does let mere light through the glasses, the Edge 520 display is brilliant in all conditions. My E520 is slightly elevated compared to parallel to the ground. Backlight is 20 or 30% - doesn't matter in bright conditions.

0 DanielPayne over 9 years ago

How dark are your sunglases? I have a pair with quite dark glasses and the display can get tough to see. With my other pair, that does let mere light through the glasses, the Edge 520 display is brilliant in all conditions. My E520 is slightly elevated compared to parallel to the ground. Backlight is 20 or 30% - doesn't matter in bright conditions.

My glasses are clear, no shading at all.

The LCD from the CatEye is just really easy to read in all lighting conditions including the shade. The Garmin 520 in the shade takes more effort to read than in the bright sunlight.

0 Former Member over 9 years ago

My glasses are clear, no shading at all.

The LCD from the CatEye is just really easy to read in all lighting conditions including the shade. The Garmin 520 in the shade takes more effort to read than in the bright sunlight.

If you expect a color LCD to perform like a seven segment LCD in terms of contrast, you are setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Not Garmin nor anyone else can overcome that.

0 Former Member over 9 years ago

Are they all this dark?

0 Former Member over 9 years ago

Contrast looks about the same as mine - very clear with the back light on of course.

0 gregf83 over 9 years ago

For reference the 520 looks better than the 800 outdoors:

0 DanielPayne over 9 years ago

Are they all this dark?

Yes, the Garmin on the right has a darker background which lowers the contrast, especially compared to the display on the left.

0 Former Member over 9 years ago

Looks like the shot above with the two Garmins has sunlight shining on it. This isn't going happen all year around. I'm going to give it a couple more rides. If I still can't glance down and read it on the stem without turning the backlight on, its going back.