2009 Hyundai Genesis V6: Too Bright, Too Blue

BTW, there is a scientific basis to this. Rods, which are responsible for night vision, respond sharply to blue and green light, but not red light. At night, your eyes increase the sensitivity of the rods to give you more sensitive night vision. If you were to view blue light, the eye has to reduce the sensitivity of the rods to accomodate the blue light--thus your overall night vision is compromised. Since rods are not very sensitive to red light, you can view red light without ruining your night vision. This is why jet cockpits and police cruisers use red light for illumination.

BTW, there is a scientific basis to this. Rods, which are responsible for night vision, respond sharply to blue and green light, but not red light. At night, your eyes increase the sensitivity of the rods to give you more sensitive night vision. If you were to view blue light, the eye has to reduce the sensitivity of the rods to accomodate the blue light--thus your overall night vision is compromised. Since rods are not very sensitive to red light, you can view red light without ruining your night vision. This is why jet cockpits and police cruisers use red light for illumination.

I think Kia got the better half of the deal here. Red is better than blue. Just ask Subaru, Audi and BMW.
http://s2.desktopmachine.com/pics/Subaru_B9-Tribeca_57_1024x768.jpg
In my Tribeca the red buttons are easy on the eyes and can be read at a quick glance unlike the Hyundai blue.

I kind-of disagree. My car has white/gray gauges and they never bother me at night. More colorful choices would add visual interest, but at least mine are always very legible and never blinding. Likewise, my friend has a first-gen Mazda 6 with red gauges and those always distract me. Plus, you can't see red during the day at all, so if you are going with real electroluminescents (or an LCD in my case) there are no mechanical gauges to rely on and white is the only way to make that day/night tradeoff.

For me, I don't care what color the gauges are as long as they aren't dull green. I'm so sick of looking at green, green, green. Green gauges. Green controls. Green heater switches.

I parked next to a new Elantra the other day, and a woman was in the car listening to her radio which lit up a cool blue. It looks so much better than, well, green.

Maybe I'm just green with envy...

Well I guess Ford did their job right by giving the Mustang (and some others models as well? I'm not sure) the option to choose between the hundreds of different variations of gauge colors....Money well used.....
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I hate blue backlighting. It's too hard on the eyes. Not just in cars but electronics are also getting covered in blue LEDs. They throw too much light and are distracting!

I dont like the gauges in this car. They are backlit but look too cheap.

Pontiac used to get ridiculed for red backlighting so its kind of funny that someone is actually asking for that color now.

I drove a rental Elantra last year for a month and I hated the gauge color for every moment. I don't like seeing green, blue or white on my gauges. The one exception here is for the VW blue-purple, which I quite like (probably because its slightly darker).

I like reds and oranges the best. My current car (Kia) is legible though I'd still prefer all red in the cluster. My previous car, a MINI, was orange and I loved it.

mjp is pretty much correct. Red (more of an amber actually) is best. Green may not be as good as red, but it's much better than blue. White is the worst of all.

mercedesfan might disagree, but the science disagrees with mercedesfan.

Gone of the days are dimmer switches on the dashboard I guess.

1487, I don't think the Genesis' primary gauges are backlit, I think they are electroluminescent. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

I do find blue gauges & controls to be very attractive aesthetically, but I agree it's bad for night vision. Amber or red seems to be the most functional solution, and if executed well it can look pretty cool too.

Science is the winner in the gauge color war. God, 1487 are you the ghost of John Z DeLorean or what? How much money did you lose in GM stock anyway?

"1487, I don't think the Genesis' primary gauges are backlit, I think they are electroluminescent. Someone correct me if I am wrong."

That's what I meant. I hate writing out that word though.

bodyblue:

Its all about double standards. One day you will learn. Red backlighting in Pontiac is tacky but in a BMW its sporty. Trust me.

It is frustrating, because I love the look of blue gauges and backlighting, but it is definitely the most difficult to read color.