Not sure if this is possibly buried somewhere pretty deep in the menus? Each press of the < or > buttons on the steering wheel takes one through the various items of the MID, and then the ^ and V buttons through the sub items. Page 207 of the Manual. Each of the items in Drive Information (named Energy Monitor, Hybrid System Indicator, Fuel Consumption Record, etc) shows that name for a few seconds on the screen before disappearing. I'm wondering if it's possible to turn those titles off? During the learning experience, it's nice to know what these items are displaying. However, once you get to know them, having the titles display for a second or two is not necessary, and blocks what you came to the screen to see.
I'm also wondering if there's a faster way of turning off the bigger (7" in my/Plus case) display? On my old 2007 Prius, I just pressed a button once. On the Prime, I have to press "Home." then "Settings," and then "Turn Screen Off." Kind of a distraction when also trying to drive. Also, this main screen doesn't seem to be dimmable?
No you can't disable the titles. And why would you turn the screen off? I only have ever used that to turn off the display while the car is parked at night and left READY in sub-freezing temperatures to keep it warm but also make it look more "off".
Most of my Prius driving is at night, and the screen on dim is no problem. I turn it down so I don't get reflections in the windscreen from the speedometer, and that's perfect. Your headlights should be much brighter than whatever is in the car, and if not that sounds like another problem. This is driving very fast roads with no streetlights, so the only light is the moon and the car. Generally have a cell-phone dash mounted with its screen on too showing GPS and playing tunes.
If it's the same as other Toyotas, there's a brightness/contrast setting for both daytime and nighttime modes (you just have to turn on your headlights in a dark area to access night mode). Also, yes, ensure you're one notch from max brightness in the instrument cluster, otherwise the displays will be in DAY MODE.
Still wish I could turn it off completely. On my 2007/Gen 2 I could turn off the speedometer and lights on the center console buttons. I think all that remained on was the Ready light.
