The NAV screen or map screen on the SC is not that good compare to my wife's 07 Prius. The map details on the Prius are much sharper. Why? Is this because the SC's screen has lower resolution or because the software?

 

The screen is 840x480 which is a fairly decent resolution. I think the low resolution appearance is mostly due to the navigation graphics, but at least partially due to the plastic screen in front of the display.

Under a microscope you can see the polarizer is a a series of very fine lines running horizontally at a slight angle. Looking at the edge, I can see that they are not just lines but actually run the entire thickness of the plastic. The cover is actually two pieces of plastic like this. This is basically a grating like micro sized sunshades.

That seems to make the pixels more noticeable. If I put this cover in front of the 1280*800 display I am planning to use, it also looks really bad.

I've also noticed while experimenting with it, that it really doesn't serve its purpose very well. The viewing angle is greatly reduced to either side of the display (which is not good since you are viewing it from the side in the drivers seat) and while it does a decent job preventing direct reflections, it basically acts like a a street sign in that it scatters the light over the whole surface and washes out the display.

It would be interesting to see what the OEM display would look like with just a piece of lexan and anti-glare film.

If you have played around with tablets, most of them are 840*480, the same as the nav display and they look pretty good.

 

I don't think it's the plastic screen. My wife's Prius has same screen, the graphic is ten times sharper. I really think it's the software. Any one updated to the latest version? Does it make any different?

 

So here's what I know. I'm running version 10.1 (burned) on the OEM 2002 DVD player. Some have chosen to update the older DVD player to 2006+ DVD Player, which is a plug and play switch and now will allow them to update to the newer software. The new player and newer software version improve the quality over the 2002 standard, but no where in comparison to today's (2015) status quo quality of Navigation Systems on the market.

 

...want to make a correction, if I remember correctly.....the 2002 Sc has the gen 2/3 dvd/nav system, we can only move up to the gen 4,which is plug & play.If we can move to the gen 5 or higher, I'm not aware of it & can't recall anyone verifying this. Now with that being said,I'm open to being corrected & would definitely like to know,because I'm looking to upgrade after the first of the year

 

Mine is 07. I didn't update to the newer or latest version software, still I don't think it would help. I think it is the limitation of the memory of the disk. What I don't understand is how the 07 Prius got so much better resolution? Why couldn't they put the same system into the SC?

 

Yes, Texsexles is correct. I should have been a little more specific the only plug and play upgrade is to the Gen4 hardware, then you can use "newer" discs that leads to better features and resolution when compared to the original gen2/3 bundle. Is the upgrade significant? No. It's quite remedial when compared to all the other applications out there at this point and time. Gman, since you have a 2007, you already have the Gen4 player, you can't upgrade hardware any further, but can upgrade your software version which probably has better maps, graphics, POIs, etc but probably doesn't do much to improve resolution and such, due to physical limitations of the hardware.

 

Ahh... the 07 does have a different front plastic filter than the one in my '03 so disregard my explanation. However, in the '03, I insist that the plastic filter does reduce the resolution very noticeably. I have seen it with my own eyes. When I get a chance, I will get some pictures to prove it.

The '07 I believe has switched to a thinner LCD with a resistive touchscreen instead of the infrared touchscreen. Because of that, I assume the glass is what is exposed to the outside world.

I could be wrong. I am just basing that off of replacement parts I have encountered in my research and other posts I have seen. I have no experience with any other nav display but the '02-03

 

Is there any to program the car to only open the nav screen cover on demand? I use my 6+ for navigation and music via Bluetooth.

 

Yes, the open and close buttons.