car interior illumination at night

[Jader1973]

Dodsy said:

saab 9-3 had a nigt button. It turned all the dash lights off apart from the speedo.

Holden Commodore (VE) had that too, I suspect the idea was borrowed from SAAB.

It was a great idea.

[jet_noise]

Dear jsp56,

jsp56 said:

Oh that's good! That means that presumably we could modify the colour or intensity of the illumination just by painting the LEDs.

Intensity, yes. Colour, within reason. Be aware the power density spectrum for "white" LEDs can be weighted heavily to the blue end of the spectrum. If you want red then there may not be much energy available. i.e. 'twill be somewhat dim.

jsp56 said:

I do also wonder whether it's possible for a competent technical person to just remove the dash cover and interfere with the lights so as to calm them down a bit. I gather that is used to be possible to change the bulbs, but that this is no longer a thing.

The Ford garage told me that for a fee they can sell me a Fiesta with a choice of 6 colours backlighting the keys of the stereo, but the lights still do not seem to be significantly dimmable. I gather that dimming an LED is not currently possible, because the laptop makers are still dimming their screens by just flashing the LEDs of and on more and more slowly to produce less and less light, rather than just turning the power down.

I call cobblers on this. Of course it is possible to dim LEDs in a vehicle cluster. PWM is the most common method,

regards,
Jet

[jsp56]

jet_noise said:

I call cobblers on this. Of course it is possible to dim LEDs in a vehicle cluster. PWM is the most common method,

regards,
Jet

That's a relief then. I hope the PC manufacturers catch up soon too.

[jsp56]

Here are photos of my Mondeo 2006 dashboard and stereo:



It turns out that it's quite hard to get a true representation in the dark because the camera displays the bright and dim parts very differently from the way they are perceived by the human eye.

In these pictures you can see all the lighting that is there, which is to say almost none. I find it prefect for the job, both in daylight and in darkness, and while driving and stationary. I was perplexed the other day when a car salesman said that the fiesta had to be lit up like a Christmas tree so that drivers could see the buttons (For SAFETY reasons, he said).

[jsp56]

Here's the Mondeo 2006 dashboard. It didn't upload correctly in the above post.

[Riley Blue]

If I want to switch off the dash lights in my car, I push the switch with 'P' (for 'panel') on it. Everything goes black. The car was made in 1963. Progress, eh?

[zed4]

Slightly related – the one thing that annoys me most about dashboards is the fact that the blue main beam indicator is so bright!! On some of the work vehicles I drive the blue light is so bright it glares in my eyes/glasses at night and I can’t see the road. The dimmer doesn’t dim the main beam light. They’re often far too bright.

[jsp56]

Riley Blue said:

If I want to switch off the dash lights in my car, I push the switch with 'P' (for 'panel') on it. Everything goes black. The car was made in 1963. Progress, eh?

I know just what you mean. I think the current LED trend is a bit of a retrograde step in many areas of technology. Hopefully just a passing phase though. A "P" button would be a very welcome addition to many dashboards though. It couldn't be that hard to put it in.

[jsp56]

zed4 said:

Slightly related – the one thing that annoys me most about dashboards is the fact that the blue main beam indicator is so bright!! On some of the work vehicles I drive the blue light is so bright it glares in my eyes/glasses at night and I can’t see the road. The dimmer doesn’t dim the main beam light. They’re often far too bright.

I've noticed that too actually. The Mondeo main beam indicator is also piercingly bright. I just don't use it.

[jsp56]

Hi,

I've just been doing some further research on this and the new corsa is quite good. The light in the dash board does not dim at all in the normal setting. However this is only because the car knows that it is daytime and sets the lights to super bright. If you cover up the light sensor in the back of the rear view mirror by slapping the car instruction manual on top of it on the outside of the windscreen, then the car thinks it's night time and then the dash can be dimmed very effectively - right down to blackness. Bonus.

I also visited the current Astra and it did not have the light sensor but had a instrument dimmer knob that seemed to just work. It dimmed all the lit parts of the interior down to complete blackness. Double bonus!

I think that when we need to buy a car it will be a visit to the Xauxhall garage for us. :-)

[aw51 121565]

Jader1973 said:

Dodsy said:

saab 9-3 had a nigt button. It turned all the dash lights off apart from the speedo.

Holden Commodore (VE) had that too, I suspect the idea was borrowed from SAAB.

It was a great idea.

The first Saab with this was the early '90s "GM" Saab 900 (from which the 9-3 came); so I'd say it was a GM idea originally?

[Major Fallout]

Do you have rabies or something?

If your dashboard lights are too bright how do you cope with oncoming vehicles?

[tiffx19]

aw51 121565 said:

The first Saab with this was the early '90s "GM" Saab 900 (from which the 9-3 came); so I'd say it was a GM idea originally?

I believe it was Saab's idea,coming from fighter jets-night mode so pupils didn't have to expand and contract so much when going from instrument panel to outside view. Same idea with red lighting in submarines I think? Purkinje effect.

Edited by tiffx19 on Saturday 11th July 21:20

[Bungleaio]

aw51 121565 said:

Jader1973 said:

Dodsy said:

saab 9-3 had a nigt button. It turned all the dash lights off apart from the speedo.

Holden Commodore (VE) had that too, I suspect the idea was borrowed from SAAB.

It was a great idea.

The first Saab with this was the early '90s "GM" Saab 900 (from which the 9-3 came); so I'd say it was a GM idea originally?

My pug 208 can switch off everything but speed and revs.

[Bungleaio]

aw51 121565 said:

Jader1973 said:

Dodsy said:

saab 9-3 had a nigt button. It turned all the dash lights off apart from the speedo.

Holden Commodore (VE) had that too, I suspect the idea was borrowed from SAAB.

It was a great idea.

The first Saab with this was the early '90s "GM" Saab 900 (from which the 9-3 came); so I'd say it was a GM idea originally?

My pug 208 can switch off everything but speed and revs.

[slipstream 1985]

Noble have a brilliant system for the interior at night. When you need main beam a little light comes on in the middle of the centre console that is as bright or brighter than the main beam outside the car. So you are blinded by the light inside the car.

[ToothbrushMan]

i remember the first time i found a dimmer rheostat years ago in my 1986 mk2 cavalier GLi-found it quite a novelty.

be good to retro fit one of these in 90s cars with poor illumination if it allows you to turn it up.

[TooMany2cvs]

ToothbrushMan said:

i remember the first time i found a dimmer rheostat years ago in my 1986 mk2 cavalier GLi-found it quite a novelty.

be good to retro fit one of these in 90s cars with poor illumination if it allows you to turn it up.

They work the other way - full power without rheostat, and the rheostat allows you to turn it down by introducing extra resistance.

If the dash bulbs in anything '90s are too dim, try changing the bulb and maybe cleaning around it.

Have to admit, I hate too-bright dash illumination - I find it distracting at night.

[Rickyy]

Nothing particularly interesting I'm afraid, but the dials on my Focus are nice and bright without being distracting.

[Vyse]