RE: Red Dash Gone?

["Dan Sinclair" <sinclair@prospro.com>]

> You're wrong on several points.
> In aircraft, the entire panel is gently illuminated in red via floods
> located in the top of the dash an inch or two away from the panel,
> but the instrument faces are lit by small white lights on stems that
> cast light at an almost straight down angle.  At least, that's the
> way it was in the several Cessana's I've been in and a Mooney 201.
> Now, we've got CRT's, backlit LCD's and plasma displays going into
> aircraft to replace mechanicals.  Can't speak on any other types of
> aircraft.

As I stated, I was referring to military aircraft.  F-111s, Tornados, Saabs,
and others use red/red-orange illumination, both in flood form, and gauge
illumination.

> Secondly, Audi hasn't always used red backlighting.

Ok.  Again, didn't say they did.

> Third, several major magazines have always commented(on cars ranging
> from the 91 200q20v to the A8) on the "fighter cockpit" dash
> illumination...

In Road&Track's luxury car comparison, the article made the above "fighter
cockpit" reference to the A4, while in the PRO/CON summary at the end, they
stated "distracting red illumination" in the CON column.  Personally, I find
such inconsistencies annoying.

> Our Volvo wagon has a greenish-white light for all its instruments,
> and I believe Volvo has always been this way.  Considering how Volvo
> feels about safety...
>
> I think the theory is that red preserves night vision, but white has
> better contrast(and hence can be dimmed to a lower light level, or
> the driver "sees" the instrument cluster better in his/her peripheral
> vision?) I'm certainly no vision expert...

The detriment of light to night vision is a function of it wave-length.  The
shorter the wave-length, the less it affects night vision.  Reading across
the visible light spectrum:  RED-ORANGE-YELLOW-GREEN-BLUE-INDIGO-VIOLET...
Green is not as good as Red.

As for peripheral vision - not relevant.  Your eyes use rods to detect light
in your periphery.  Rods are much more sensitive to light at ANY intensity.
Contrast and detail recognition are only at issue if the object is in you
direct focal area.  I don't buy that white is better for peripheral vision.
I can see my orange dash needle position without looking directly at it just
fine.  As a case in point however, do any fellow Audi 90 owners find the
HIGH BEAM indicator particularly annoying on their dash?  This white-blue
indicator that seems to leap off the dash and bother your eyes while
driving?  In a field of orange/red illumination, the night vision detriment
of white/blue becomes pretty obvious.

> Really, you guys are getting way bent out of shape over a instrument
> cluster color.  Good grief.  If you don't like it, no one is forcing
> you to:
>
> a)buy a new audi
> b)buy an audi period

True.  But the point was that innovation in design should not be secondary
fashion or conformity.  The more Audi caters to the lowest common
denominator and homogenizes it's cars, the more "once Audi" drivers will be
getting behind the wheel of BMWs...can you say no S-cars for the "American"
market?

>
> Brett
> 91 200q20v(red backlighting, looks cool, seems to work well, beyond
> that...I don't give a rat's ass...I didn't buy the car for the dash
> lighting color.)
>
> At 5:25 PM -0800 3/26/99, Dan Sinclair wrote:
> > That SUCKS!  Consumer Reports was the only frigin' magazine
> that didn't bash
> > the Audi's red illumination, and this is the end result.  That
> stinks.  The
> > red was not only distinctive, but it's amongst the BEST
> illumination colors
> > for protecting night vision!  Military aircraft manufacturers
> have used RED
> > illumination for years for just that reason.  Once again,
> fashion for the
> > masses is going to kill another excellent design.
> >
> > Dan Sinclair
> > 1988 Audi 90, 68K mi.
> > Photo and details online at:
> > http://131.107.68.28/a4.org/registry/details.asp?car=761
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> > [mailto:owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net]On Behalf Of dtdaily@ibm.net
> > Sent: Friday, March 26, 1999 4:05 PM
> > To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net; audi-20v@emailsol.com
> > Subject: Red Dash Gone?
> >
> >
> >>From Auto Week...
> >
> > Blah, blah, blah about navigation system in trip computer area using red
> > lights..."However, the red lights will have a greater contrast to its
> > surroundings, since audi will change in model year 2000 to more
> > conventional white-lighted gauges with red needles, abandoning the
> > orangeish-red instrument panel illumination it has used through 1999."
> >
> > I'm getting more than a little frustrated with all of this mass
> > homogenization between cars (and hardware stores, and eateries, and
> > electronic manufacturers, ad infinitum).  For ----- sake, why doesn't
> > anyone want to be different anymore?
> >
> > Also, there's a tt giveaway.  Pony up $100 and take your chances
> > (1:750).  See www.guiding-eyes.org
> >
> > Derek Daily
> > 90 CQ w/ red speedo and I love it.  dammit.
>
> ------
> Brett Dikeman
> brett@pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net
> ~)-|
> "Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell and making
> them happy to be on their way." - Mark Twain
>
> "Oh no.  Not again." - The bowl of Petunias
>
> "... it is important to realize that any lock can be picked with a
> big enough hammer." -- Sun System & Network Admin manual
>
> Statler: "Hey, this one sounds cute."
> Waldorf: "You old fool, that's not the personals, it's the obituaries!"
> ------
>