POD unreadable in bright daylight

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 27 Jun 2005 5:54 am

Yesterday I played a gig outdoors. I wasn't even in the bright sunlight, just open shade, but I couldn't read a thing on the POD XT screen. I couldn't even tell if the stomp button was lit. I tried cupping my hand around it to shade it, but it wasn't much help. I couldn't even tell if the red light on my Fender amp was on. I was playing blind on the POD. Fortunately, I already had it set to a simple channel where I was using no amp or speaker models, and only had reverb, and a fuzz on the stomp. The reverb level is set by a knob, and so was usable. But I didn't like the fuzz I was getting, but couldn't edit or change it. There's probably no good solution to this, so maybe I'm just complaining futily to the gods.

Ian Finlay · Post by **Ian Finlay** » 27 Jun 2005 6:07 am

Were you wearing sunglasses? Polarised lenses make it almost impossible to read LCD displays in strong light.

Ian

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 27 Jun 2005 7:39 am

Yeah, but when I took them off I still couldn't read diddly.

Joy Wofford · Post by **Joy Wofford** » 27 Jun 2005 11:00 am

Hi. I've just started playing an electric lap steel, but have for years played in a group with others that played electric instruments, and we play outside fairly often. Anyway, they swear by those orange kind of sunglasses for reading any kind of lcd screen in the sunlight. I'm not sure what they are called, but they are the ones that when you wear them they make everything look a funny color, but they really cut out all glare.
Joy

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 27 Jun 2005 12:50 pm

Hmmm...orange glasses. Most light sources with tungsten filaments do have an orangish spectrum, and the POD screen is orange, and the effects buttons light up orange. So maybe there is something to this. Airplane pilots sometimes wear orange glasses to see dim lights on the ground better. This sounds worth trying. Now, where am I going to find some orange clip-ons to fit over my regular bifocals?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 27 Jun 2005 1:42 pm

I notice the same thing when playing outside. I try to avoid outside gigs like the plague, but this one paid too good to turn down.

Anyway with regular glasses or sun glasses, it didn't make any difference. I just kept it on my basic delay/reverb setting and didn't change to other programs.

It's got a intensity/view angle adjustment but it didn't do a thing for it.

Joy Wofford · Post by **Joy Wofford** » 27 Jun 2005 1:52 pm

David, I will ask one of the guys in my group to tell me where he got them, and what they are called. If I find out, may I email you?
Joy

Joy Wofford · Post by **Joy Wofford** » 27 Jun 2005 2:02 pm

Ok, they are called amberglasses,or blublockers and here they are. Even clip on ones for you. Hope they do the trick. http://www.tvproducts4less.com/sunglasses-blublocker.html <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Joy Wofford on 27 June 2005 at 03:57 PM.]</p></FONT>

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 27 Jun 2005 6:56 pm

Well, lookee there at all the orange glasses. Thanks, Joy. Maybe I'll try those amber clip-ons. Orange glasses look a little dorky, but if they work, what the heck? This all reminds me of those glasses I had in the '60s. They were prisms that made you see in dozens, and one lens was red, and the other blue. I wonder what ever happened to those...oh, well, a lot of things got lost back then - like several years of my life.