Dark screen on the Garmin 62 series and other stuff

[+G.O. John and Carol]

The screen on my 62s seems to be darker than the 60 series screen, especially on the maps. I'm thinkin' some of it may have to do with the colors, and I thought somebody posted a link to some suggested settings. Now I can't find it, so could somebody point me in the right direction?

 

Also, When I change the item order on the find page (to put Geocaches first), the change doesn't stick after I turn the unit off. Is there a way to save the order in which items appear on the "Find" page? "Recent Finds" keeps going back to the upper left corner.

 

ALSO... When I mark a cache as found, I get a message that states the name of the cache I just marked as found. Why do I need that info just then. I think the name(s) of the next closest cache(s) would be much more useful, since this is the screen that gives you the option of finding the next closest.

 

Almost done... I love the battery saver mode, but the first keypress (to get out of the battery saver mode) should not be active, except to turn the screen back on.

 

One other thing for now. What's the purpose of the black page band that appears before the unit advances to the next page in your sequence? Why not just go to the page like the 60s did?

 

Thanks for any help/advice/opinions!

 

John

[d.higgins]

Post # 215 has lots of info.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...3992&st=200

 

The colors they use are harder to see. Really the wrong colors for the topo maps.

Should have gray contour lines red roads and blue water. At least the water is blue.

The red/brown contour lines overpower the roads.

I e-mailed Garmin hoping to hear back soon.

Turn off DEM shading, turn off land cover. Helps a bunch.

[+G.O. John and Carol]

Post # 215 has lots of info.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...3992&st=200

 

The colors they use are harder to see. Really the wrong colors for the topo maps.

Should have gray contour lines red roads and blue water. At least the water is blue.

The red/brown contour lines overpower the roads.

I e-mailed Garmin hoping to hear back soon.

Turn off DEM shading, turn off land cover. Helps a bunch.

 

Thanks, that's the post I was looking for. Must have looked right past it.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Your Page Ribbon is black when you press Page or Quit? It should show the next page in the sequence.

[ocm_ott]

The screen on my 62s seems to be darker than the 60 series screen, especially on the maps.

 

It's a side-effect of the higher resolution screen, Colorado/Oregons/Dakotas also are like this. An LCD works on a shutter principle, each pixel is like a window and is either open and allows light to pass through, or closed and blocks/reflects light (it's a little more complicated when talking about color LCD's, but the basics are the same). The pixels are much smaller on a higher resolution screen, so the amount of light passing through each one is less. To get the same brightness as the older units, they'd have to use a stronger backlight which would reduce your battery life.

Edited August 17, 2010 by ocm_ott

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Wrong. The 62 series doesn't have any higher resolution than the 60 series. Its about map color, shading, display options, etc.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=4426085

[sviking]

Turn off DEM shading, turn off land cover. Helps a bunch.

 

So, just turn off some of the cooler features (and expense) over the 60CSx?

[ocm_ott]

Wrong. The 62 series doesn't have any higher resolution than the 60 series. Its about map color, shading, display options, etc.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=4426085

 

You're right I just assumed they'd use the same 240x400 pixel resolution of the other units (instead of 160x240) when they brought out the 62 which makes them noticeably darker. Oh well, you know they say about making assumptions....

Edited August 17, 2010 by ocm_ott

[lalittle]

While the 60csx may be brighter than the 62, I think it's important to note that the 62 is still way, WAY brighter than the Colorados/Oregons in bright light. As I understand it, the higher the resolution, the harder it is to make the screen reflective, which is why this isn't a problem in low light, where the backlight is able to do all the work. As soon as you're in bright light, however (i.e. outside during the day), the reflectivity of the screen comes into play, and screens like those on the 60 or 62 easily outperform the higher res touchscreens of the Colorados/Oregons.

 

Larry

[+G.O. John and Carol]

Turn off DEM shading, turn off land cover. Helps a bunch.

 

So, just turn off some of the cooler features (and expense) over the 60CSx?

 

Yes, I would rather turn them off than deal with a map that's harder to read.

[lalittle]

Post # 215 has lots of info.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...3992&st=200

 

The colors they use are harder to see. Really the wrong colors for the topo maps.

Should have gray contour lines red roads and blue water. At least the water is blue.

The red/brown contour lines overpower the roads.

I e-mailed Garmin hoping to hear back soon.

Turn off DEM shading, turn off land cover. Helps a bunch.

 

The irony is that with better/more logical colors, most people probably wouldn't find it necessary to turn off many of these options, where are some of the features that make the 62 such a nice unit. The DEM shading, for example, is just way darker than it needs to be. If they just made the shading look more like it does in Basecamp (which uses MUCH lighter shading), I don't think many people would find it necessary to turn it off. I'm wondering if the color they used on the 62 is holdover from the Oregon, which had a much less contrasty screen in bright light, and may have therefore benefited from darker shading.

 

On a similar note, I just don't know what they were thinking when they chose the colors for topo lines and trails -- the topo lines are way to dark, and the trails are way too light. If there is a trail on the shaded side of a steep hill (which therefore has dense topo lines), it's almost impossible to see the trail on the GPS. Why aren't the topo lines light, and the trails dark?

 

Larry

[xyzee]

John,

I found that I had to hit the Enter button, after I moved the Waypoints to the upper left on the Find Page, to make it stay after an off/on.

 

Find the Profile Change in the Menu, and select Classic. It gets rid of the scrolling black band, that is in all of the other choices. Easier for us older guys coming from the 60ies. Might also help with the Battery Save exit.

 

Thankful for the tips on the lighter screen!

[sviking]

Turn off DEM shading, turn off land cover. Helps a bunch.

 

So, just turn off some of the cooler features (and expense) over the 60CSx?

 

Yes, I would rather turn them off than deal with a map that's harder to read.

 

Then why spend the extra money on a unit advertising cool features that you're just going to turn off anyway?

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

For myself, it would be for the other features important to me... custom maps, track navigation, etc.

[+G.O. John and Carol]

Turn off DEM shading, turn off land cover. Helps a bunch.

 

So, just turn off some of the cooler features (and expense) over the 60CSx?

 

Yes, I would rather turn them off than deal with a map that's harder to read.

 

Then why spend the extra money on a unit advertising cool features that you're just going to turn off anyway?

 

I only turned off one or 2 of the features. I'm still benefitting from the other new features. I don't feel obliged to use EVERY feature just because it's there.

[+G.O. John and Carol]

John,

I found that I had to hit the Enter button, after I moved the Waypoints to the upper left on the Find Page, to make it stay after an off/on.

 

Find the Profile Change in the Menu, and select Classic. It gets rid of the scrolling black band, that is in all of the other choices. Easier for us older guys coming from the 60ies. Might also help with the Battery Save exit.

 

Thankful for the tips on the lighter screen!

 

Wow, thanks! Great idea using the classic profile.

 

I did finally figure out the Find Page issue. duh! Thanks though.