Instrument lighting

Thought I'd try a post here just in case someone has an answer.

The instruments on my SD1 are white on black in daylight. Look perfectly normal.

At night, they are an early example of back lighting. The faces are made of clear plastic with the fronts printed in black with white lettering, and green lighting from the back, which makes the numbers light up green. Very effective, and unusual when I first saw it. However, over the years the actual needles have got dimmer and dimmer to the point where they are difficult to read. The numbers aren't affected, so to me that rules out the bulbs, etc. The interior of the unit is spotless.

There is no light source to the front of the face, so any light getting to the needles is spill round the edges of the unit. And perhaps reflected by the casing which is white.

My thought is the needles use some special paint which is ultra reflective or reacts in some way to green light. Which has failed in some way - but still looks normal in daylight.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)
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The needles in my dash are lit though plastic light guides from individual bulbs that don't have a coloured sheath.

Reply to
Peter Hill

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