EFIS

Just wondering if others are having same problem as me I love my EFIS and all the capabilities it has ,but I cant read it very well with sunglasses on. I never had a problem reading steam gauges with sunshades on ?
Bob

I found that for some screens you cannot use polarize type of glasses.
Try a different pair.
Dave

I have prescription polarized sunglasses with varilux for closeup normally used for everything but flying. Can't see the displays, they are too dark with those glasses. Keep a pair of non-polarized sunglasses in the plane. Those work okay.
Previous airplane had one radio display that appeared black when I wore the pol. Totally unusable.

Fading

What you could do, if you want, is what I have done. The upper 3/5ths or so "fade" into sunglass color, while the "lower" 2/5ths or so "fade" into clear. I keep saying "or so", because it's not an exact line. This works great. It gives me sunglass protection outside the cockpit, and clear glass for looking at the instruments. But you'll have to be "very" exact with the store, when you tell them what "exactly" you want.

I'd shoot you a picture, but they are 17 miles away in my plane.

to see if it's a polerisastion (sp?) turn your head 90 degrees to the display and see if it is brighter. If so, it is your glasses.

Same test works for older tablets that so many carry in the cockpit.

donaziza said:

What you could do, if you want, is what I have done. The upper 3/5ths or so "fade" into sunglass color, while the "lower" 2/5ths or so "fade" into clear. I keep saying "or so", because it's not an exact line. This works great. It gives me sunglass protection outside the cockpit, and clear glass for looking at the instruments. But you'll have to be "very" exact with the store, when you tell them what "exactly" you want.

I'd shoot you a picture, but they are 17 miles away in my plane.

Click to expand...

Called "Gradiant " sunglasses, they are ideal. I even have mine as tri-focal with prescription being " Plano / 1.0 / 2.0 ". Plano meaning the top half no grind with 1.0 diopter change for the panel distance and 2.0 for reading (charts , etc.) distance. Then the optical store tints ( I like an amber tint that provides better contrast to improve traffic spotting) darker in the Plano area fading clear into the focal area. Ideally the fade starts where the glareshield line in your field of vision would be. This allows to keep the head steady and just move the eyeballs.
The Optical store with show you tint samples to pick from and they can make it as dark as you like. Too dark? No worry, the tint can be adjusted at anytime until you're satisfied. Even months later.
Gradient Aviator sunglasses are available on the market, but my eyes need help with a prescription.

+1 for the gradients

I use non-polarized, non-prescription cheapies ($14.00), but the gradient from very light to dark works really well.

Ron

I do not wear glasses for anything except reading (Old Mans Disease!) I use a pair of good inexpensive non-polarized sunglasses (My good Ray-Bans have a rainbow effect looking at the panel) with a pair of the stick on magnifiers http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/stickon_lenses.php?clickkey=3010128 . I position the lenses just high enough to magnify my panel and still enable me to look thru the windscreen naturally. They are sorta like the safety glasses with magnifiers on the bottom except the magnifiers are positioned a little higher so I don't always have to bend my neck up to see the entire panel. I leave this pair of glasses in the plane so they never get lost or scratched up. You can peel them off and reposition them any time. Works great for me.

Oakley

Recently purchased Oaley prescription, non-polarized, blue lenses. (Insurance paid) work better than anything I have tried so far.

I bought a set of cheapo gradients and some stick on magnifiers from Amazon when I, too, got old man disease. Then I got really old man disease, so now it is full up progressive contacts with Serengeti Drivers Gradient, which I like a lot in the cockpit.

I used to be very nearsighted, and had LASIK back in 2003 or so. Now I'm back to wearing glasses while indoors. I've found that my polarized sunglasses are OK for the displays in the cockpit, in that they aren't cross polarized. However, my vision at that distance is just barely adequate to read the display comfortably. The tiny amount of disruption from the cheapie plastic lenses is just enough that I don't use them.

I have some A-O aviators that I bought with non-polarized glass lenses. They work fine, but they're too heavy. After wearing Coke bottles for years, I got spoiled quickly not needing half a pound of glass on my face. I switched to plastic, and they're just OK but not great. And now they're scratched, so I've been flying with just my non-tinted prescription glasses and a hat. My to-do list for this year includes buying a pair of prescription glasses with non-polarized lenses, possibly gradient.

My experience

All my life i used glass photogrey glasses. This last pair i was talked into plastic lenses with self darking. Bad choice for me. The plastic is not as clear; seems to have more color dispersion. Also the plastic lens make it hard to see my camera visual back in sunlight; but It is Ok in doors. Something about the plastic lenses. I am going back to glass on my next pair. Ymmv

Thread name??

Since this thread isn't about EFIS's, how about re-titling it? (The same polarization issues happen with any LCD display that has a polarizing filter: GPS's, tablets, cell phones, etc can all be affected.

BTW, remember that many photogray lenses won't darken inside a canopy if it has some UV blocking built in.