G1000 Backlight question....

[Fred]

My PFD is dimmer then the MFD. Settings are all the way up on both (in the G1000 internal settings). How big of a deal is changing the backlight bulb(s) on a G1000 screen?

Thanks!

[rwtucker]

I was waiting for someone who had dug into a PFD panel to comment Fred.

In the meantime, based on knowledge of similar panels, it could be difficult to impossible to replace the so-called backlighting. These panels are not like the old LCD screens where there are discrete light sources. It is unlikely that there are any bulbs on this display. On the other hand, it might not be that hard to replace the display panel. If you could get the manufacture's number off of it, you might be able to order an exact replacement. The panel is most likely manufactured by a Japanese or Korean firm. I do not think Garmin will sell this as a part. They want you to purchase a new PFD.

That said, I would not be absolute certain that the differences in brightness are due to the illumination source. It could be the control circuitry.

[csalewski]

My understanding is that the MFD is supposed to be on a brighter setting since the LCD technology 10 years ago had a rather narrow viewing angle. Therefore the MFD appears less bright to the pilot. This is compensated by a brighter setting. If in auto-dim mode the MFD should be on a brighter value. If you manually set both to 100% they should have the same brightness from a perpendicular view point. From the pilot seat the MFD will then appear less bright due to the viewing angle. At least that's what I was told about the G1000. My PFD replacement though might be a little brighter overall since it's newer...

Carsten

[Fred]

Thanks Guys, I'll take a look in the morning and confirm both are set to 100% and look similar. If it wasn't a night flight I can't say I would have really noticed.

Fred

[linzhiming]

Hi Fred,

For your night flight, did you have the PFD and MFD brightness control set to "AUTO" or "MANUAL"? I have noticed that the automatic brightness/dimming setting causes the MFD to be brighter than the PFD, and overall I find both too bright anyway, so I normally dim the displays myself in manual mode. In particular, I normally dim the displays down way early before it gets really dark to ensure that my eyes start getting used to the lower level of light.

From memory, I end up dimming both screens to about 0.3-0.5% where as the automatic brightness setting ends up with a higher setting, with the MFD setting ending higher than the PFD setting.

Wolfgang