Garmin 396 display glitch

We recently bought a 396 for our bonanza and had it panel mounted. It
was on the right side of the panel and when in the pilots seat, none of
the lakes, rivers and section boundaries would be visible. There is
some kind of polarization effect in the display screen that cuts the
colors used for these map features out when viewed from the left. We
complained and were told that Garmin is aware of this and it is true of
all units.

I then got out of that partnership and got in a new plane and bought a
396 for my personal use. Sure enough, the new unit has the same
display behavior. In fact, rivers and lakes are best seen from
slightly to the right. Even at an offset of zero degrees viewing
angle, the blues start to lose intensity.

So if you plan to panel mount or even yoke mount your 396--do it to
your left!

"swag" wrote in message
ups.com...
We recently bought a 396 for our bonanza and had it panel mounted. It
was on the right side of the panel and when in the pilots seat, none of
the lakes, rivers and section boundaries would be visible. There is
some kind of polarization effect in the display screen that cuts the
colors used for these map features out when viewed from the left. We
complained and were told that Garmin is aware of this and it is true of
all units.

I then got out of that partnership and got in a new plane and bought a
396 for my personal use. Sure enough, the new unit has the same
display behavior. In fact, rivers and lakes are best seen from
slightly to the right. Even at an offset of zero degrees viewing
angle, the blues start to lose intensity.

So if you plan to panel mount or even yoke mount your 396--do it to
your left!


What color does show or does is just show what ever color is next to it?

Gig 601XL Builder wrote:
"swag" wrote in message
ups.com...
We recently bought a 396 for our bonanza and had it panel mounted. It
was on the right side of the panel and when in the pilots seat, none of
the lakes, rivers and section boundaries would be visible. There is
some kind of polarization effect in the display screen that cuts the
colors used for these map features out when viewed from the left. We
complained and were told that Garmin is aware of this and it is true of
all units.

I then got out of that partnership and got in a new plane and bought a
396 for my personal use. Sure enough, the new unit has the same
display behavior. In fact, rivers and lakes are best seen from
slightly to the right. Even at an offset of zero degrees viewing
angle, the blues start to lose intensity.

So if you plan to panel mount or even yoke mount your 396--do it to
your left!


What color does show or does it just show what ever color is next to it?

It fades to black--the same as the general background. Your question
prompted me to get it out and really examine what colors disappear.
For sector boundaries, they use a bright gray, for terrain features
they use various shades of green and brown, and for lakes and rivers
they use a dark blue. All of these disappear completely about 20
degrees to the left of center. Since the general background of a
display is black, they are gone with no shadow when they disappear.
Maximum intensity is seen when the screen is viewed about 20 degrees
from the right.

Thanks for the good info. I have mine mounted on my left over the post.
However, I had it turned a bit to the right and yes, the rivers and
some other detail disappears (alternate de-clutter feature?).

I'm going to adjust a bit so I see it head on. The RH bias should work
well for my passenger. She loves the thing and likes to keep track of
1) weather and 2) XM Radio. So even though I've remounted it and put it
out of her reach, she should still be able to read clearly.

It occurs to me that if it works facing you and to the right, it's
pretty well setup for pilot and co-pilot viewing where ever you put it -
as long as it's not panel mounted straight ahead in a hole.

I still really love this thing. Last week I used it to listen to the
Masters broadcast while watching the threatening weather in Augusta (and
working at the same time???).

swag wrote:
Gig 601XL Builder wrote:
I then got out of that partnership and got in a new plane and bought a
396 for my personal use. Sure enough, the new unit has the same
display behavior. In fact, rivers and lakes are best seen from
slightly to the right. Even at an offset of zero degrees viewing
angle, the blues start to lose intensity.

So if you plan to panel mount or even yoke mount your 396--do it to
your left!

What color does show or does it just show what ever color is next to it?

It fades to black--the same as the general background. Your question
prompted me to get it out and really examine what colors disappear.
For sector boundaries, they use a bright gray, for terrain features
they use various shades of green and brown, and for lakes and rivers
they use a dark blue. All of these disappear completely about 20
degrees to the left of center. Since the general background of a
display is black, they are gone with no shadow when they disappear.
Maximum intensity is seen when the screen is viewed about 20 degrees
from the right.