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Night time dash lighting

15706 Views 31 Replies 11 Participants Last post by mlsstl, Dec 1, 2021

mlsstl

Discussion Starter · Aug 20, 2021

When driving at night I find the display screens, especially the large center one, remain overly bright. I've checked the owners manual and there is only one overall adjustment that sets the brightness, but this is for both day and night. The night setting is supposed to be taken care of automatically based on the outside brightness as detected by the car. I've tried different settings without much success for the night view. There is no manual rotary dimmer switch like what is found on most cars.

My 2018 Tiguan had very nice night time settings for the center display screen. If displaying a navigation map, it switched to a more muted, almost black & white screen that was very easy on the eyes. In contrast, the ID4's map stays brightly colored.

I'm kind of surprised by this issue. While one needs to be able to read the dash info while driving at night, the screens should not be a distraction or so bright that they interfere with your view of a dark road.

I've checked for other threads on this subject and didn't find much. Any suggestions?

1 - 20 of 32 Posts

Pfrancis24

· #2 · Aug 20, 2021

I agree with you, though I don’t have any suggestions. I haven’t noticed but do the screens dim from “full brightness” to “night” as the headlights come on?

Somewhat related, I posted asking about turning the screen off without turning infotainment/audio off. I like this for dark rural roads as it makes spotting deer easier. Nothing was suggested that was as simple as a “screen off” button/option with audio or other infotainment still running like I have had in other cars.

ID.Furkan

· #3 · Aug 20, 2021

Swipe the notification bar down. And swipe brigjtness to left.

I think there was a second slider somehwre on the car settings

Reactions: 2

Tinman

· #4 · Aug 20, 2021

mlsstl said:
When driving at night I find the display screens, especially the large center one, remain overly bright.

Pfrancis24 said:
I agree with you, though I don’t have any suggestions.

I like driving with the whole iPadlet thing off, including audio. I also take a clean microfiber cloth, drape it over the thing and have a custom cut cardboard box to put over everything so that it stays in place. It ain't elegant. It works. I like the crisp colors of the binnacle and don't find it too bright.

Reactions: 1

mlsstl

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 20, 2021

ID.Furkan said:
Swipe the notification bar down. And swipe brigjtness to left.

I think there was a second slider somehwre on the car settings

I just spent 15 minutes sitting in the garage going through all of the icons and settings on the center screen. What is the "notification bar?" I found nothing identified as such. I only see the settings for the overall screen brightness, but that is not tied to night time viewing.

VW TECHNICIAN

· #6 · Aug 20, 2021

mlsstl said:
I just spent 15 minutes sitting in the garage going through all of the icons and settings on the center screen. What is the "notification bar?" I found nothing identified as such. I only see the settings for the overall screen brightness, but that is not tied to night time viewing.

From top center portion of screen...swipe down.

Reactions: 1

Pfrancis24

· #7 · Aug 20, 2021

Tinman said:
I like the crisp colors of the binnacle and don't find it too bright.

I agree, I just want to be able to shut the screen off when it’s very dark out. I’ll try the slider suggested by @ID.Furkan

Reactions: 1

mlsstl

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 21, 2021

VW TECHNICIAN said:
From top center portion of screen...swipe down.

OK, thanks. I'd actually been to that screen via the menus. Your method is a shade quicker, but still a side trip. It is just a general brightness slider for the screens but doesn't do anything special for night time. If you are using the map it still shows a white background. Rather annoying that one would have to adjust the screen twice a day to get the desired display.

I think that is the thing I find the oddest -- my 2018 Tiguan was excellent in terms of auto-dimming the map and changing the colors/contrast for night driving. I always find it odd when a manufacturer has a great set-up on an older model and goes backwards on the "new and improved" version.

Reactions: 1

Tinman

· #9 · Aug 21, 2021

Pfrancis24 said:
I just want to be able to shut the screen off when it’s very dark out.

Both of us for deer. Rutting season is almost upon us. You can have a dark tablet with several clockface choices and no tunes, or tunes and a hood of some type over it. I haven't found any other way for dark country twisties.

Pfrancis24

· #10 · Aug 21, 2021

Tinman said:
Both of us for deer. Rutting season is almost upon us. You can have a dark tablet with several clockface choices and no tunes, or tunes and a hood of some type over it. I haven't found any other way for dark country twisties.

But I still like music/sounds…

Tinman

· #11 · Aug 21, 2021

Pfrancis24 said:
But I still like music/sounds…

Welcome to the 'hood.

Pfrancis24

· #12 · Aug 21, 2021

I’m going to hope for a better solution. Tea cozies don’t have any place in my car.

Reactions: 3

guy508

· #13 · Aug 21, 2021

Just go into Nav app and select settings. U can have light, dark or auto. Auto sets it light during the day and dark at night

Reactions: 1

mlsstl

Discussion Starter · #14 · Aug 22, 2021

guy508 said:
Just go into Nav app and select settings. U can have light, dark or auto. Auto sets it light during the day and dark at night

Just spent 15 minutes looking around the nav settings and didn't find a brightness setting there. The only choice my car has is over in the interior vehicle settings and one only gets a choice of light or dark, along with a brightness slider. There is no "auto" setting option. Care to be more specific about where to find what you're talking about?

guy508

· #15 · Aug 22, 2021

2

Sorry my mistake. Go into Nav app. Bottom left corner is a circle with 3 lines. Press it and a menu pops up with the Auto, Night and Day. Select the Auto and it will change from light in the day to dark at night.

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Reactions: 4

seacycle

· #16 · Aug 22, 2021

Why oh why isn't there an Auto setting for the whole infotainment system? You might almost think the Infotainment System was built by about 15 different software teams who had essentially zero communication with each other…

Reactions: 5

mlsstl

Discussion Starter · #17 · Aug 22, 2021

guy508 said:
Sorry my mistake. Go into Nav app. Bottom left corner is a circle with 3 lines. Press it and a menu pops up with the Auto, Night and Day. Select the Auto and it will change from light in the day to dark at night.

Thanks! That is better. However, I have to say the setting is well hidden. You'd think that adjustment would be in the "Settings' menu rather than a small, unnamed icon. I had even searched the owner's manual without finding what you posted.

I have to agree with seacycle that the level of consistency within this car's software is poor in many spots. But, thanks again for helping with this issue.

Reactions: 2

Erhard

· #18 · Sep 14, 2021

guy508 said:
Sorry my mistake. Go into Nav app. Bottom left corner is a circle with 3 lines. Press it and a menu pops up with the Auto, Night and Day. Select the Auto and it will change from light in the day to dark at night.
View attachment 5105
View attachment 5106

sorry but that works only for the map not for the entire screen. also when i set to auto it considers noon time in CA is night. that instrument lighting is pretty messed-up - sad and hard to believe.

JimmyVW

· #19 · Sep 14, 2021

Erhard said:
sorry but that works only for the map not for the entire screen. also when i set to auto it considers noon time in CA is night. that instrument lighting is pretty messed-up - sad and hard to believe.

screen follows the light sensor. If it would enable the lights, it dims the screen/ switches to night mode

Erhard

· #20 · Sep 14, 2021

So how do u explain this. It is around noon Time in CA and when I use auto mode it goes to night setting but only for the map. See pic. Daylight and night mode

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