[aa7ae]

I have a 2006 Silver Package #8

Besides the speedometer cluster, are the rest of the dash lights LED? It's always a pain to find a light has gone out only it will cost $300 to replace a .50 cent bulb because of the labor involved in tearing the whole dash board apart. You would think someone would make it easier to replace burnt out dash light bulbs!

If they're all LED, then that is a huge advantage since they don't burn out as easily as a regular bulb.

 

[DanMan32]

I believe they are bulbs. But then, it may have changed for 2006. The steering wheel illumination (which is barely visible at night) I believe is LED. The speedometer cluster is cold cathod flourescent.

 

[aa7ae]

Dashboard Lights

I believe they are bulbs. But then, it may have changed for 2006. The steering wheel illumination (which is barely visible at night) I believe is LED. The speedometer cluster is cold cathod flourescent.

What I just read about cold cathode flourescent says it's very nice, used in some laptops screens, but they're fragile. If you knock them around too much, they can go dark.

Sometime earlier I read a report that said automobiles manufacturers were starting to use more LED's rather than bulbs in their instrument panels because of their reliability. But all that comes at a higher cost.

 

[DanMan32]

I'm pretty sure the term is cold cathode flourescent. It is also often used for alarm clocks, stereo displays (home and auto), etc. If you look closely you can see the cathode filaments going across.

 

[Tideland Prius]

hmm.. i thought the IP was LCD lol.

 

[Earl]

The Prius repair manual shows the combination meter uses LED's for indicator lights.

 

[DanMan32]

Earl, you are correct. I should have checked before using my fingers.
2003 uses bulbs though according to the wiring diagram.

 

[Tideland Prius]

but what about the speedo? that looks like LCD type font.

 

[DanMan32]

Again, speedo is cold cathod flourescent, like displays in some clock radios, home stereo systems, VCRs, DVD players, microwave ovens, etc. These types of displays are typically blue, but can be made into any bright color such as amber or red, and the glowing elements can be made to display any fixed picture, not just numeric segments. You can see the cathode filaments running across the display if you look closely. I believe you'll also find that the display does not have optical polarity and won't be affected by polarized lenses like the display screen is.

 

[ehurtley]

Again, speedo is cold cathod flourescent, like displays in some clock radios, home stereo systems, VCRs, DVD players, microwave ovens, etc. These types of displays are typically blue, but can be made into any bright color such as amber or red, and the glowing elements can be made to display any fixed picture, not just numeric segments. You can see the cathode filaments running across the display if you look closely. I believe you'll also find that the display does not have optical polarity and won't be affected by polarized lenses like the display screen is.

Not only is it not affected by polarized lenses, but it also has a refresh rate, unlike an LCD, so it does appear to 'flicker' when you look at it at certain angles, and if you try to take a picture/video of it.

 

[Tideland Prius]

Again, speedo is cold cathod flourescent, like displays in some clock radios, home stereo systems, VCRs, DVD players, microwave ovens, etc. These types of displays are typically blue, but can be made into any bright color such as amber or red, and the glowing elements can be made to display any fixed picture, not just numeric segments. You can see the cathode filaments running across the display if you look closely. I believe you'll also find that the display does not have optical polarity and won't be affected by polarized lenses like the display screen is.

ohhh. Umm.. so what's the difference btwn LCD and CCF?

 

[DanMan32]

LCD blocks a backlight by shifting the opacity of a liquid crystal by stimulation by a voltage. Actually what it does is shift the optical polarity, which will go with or flow against a polarizer.

CCF is very much like your typical flourescent bulb, except on a smaller, more detailed scale. Compounds are made to glow or flouresce under exposure to an electron flow. It's a bit like a picture tube, except the electron source is in front of the phosphor instead of behind it, and not as focused since the anode is being controlled, rather than the cathode ray.

 

[DanMan32]

Actually, based on this link: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/ ... plays.html

I think I was wrong about the name of the display type. It is vacuume flourescent display. But then, the link has cold cathode display using a glowing gas like neon, whereas my description of cold cathode flourescent is using the vacuume flourescent display description. CCF is described to be used as LCD backlight lamps though in other articles.