Maestro iDatalink + Aftermarket HU Dimmer

For anyone with a Maestro iDatalink RR2 and an aftermarket HU - does your OEM dash dimmer also adjust the brightness of the display on your head unit? Mine does not with my Kenwood and I wish it did.

 

The dash dimmer does not dim the radio, but the radio should dim when you turn the parking lights on. If it does not dim at all, then the dimmer wire is not connected or connected to the wrong wire.

 

The radio does dim when the lights come on, but it's so little it's barely noticeable and still uncomfortably bright when driving at night. Maybe it's a Kenwood thing, I found the dimmer control options in the display menu but nothing to adjust brightness. Gotta be a way, I'm probably just not finding it yet.

 

My Kenwood is the same way.
There are adjustments, that you found, for the dimmers, but there are only like 4 brighter and 4 dimmer levels.
Even on the lowest dimmest setting, it is still pretty bright.

One of the few advantages of the Pioneer HUs is more control over stuff like that.
They have way more adjustments for colors, brightness, screen layout, etc.
But the Pioneer screen lag sucks and the screen layout is too animated for me...

 

I just went and looked at mine.
It has a fixed screen, but there is a viewing angle setting, which might help.
Also when you are choosing the dimmer selection, there are separate backlight settings for the parking lights on and the parking off.
It's the same setting, but it retains selections separately.
So, adjust with the lights on at night and adjust with them off during the daylight.

I hope that makes sense..

 

Thanks! This has been driving me nuts.

 

That was exactly what I needed. Had to access the brightness setting by clicking the “Menu” button then the settings icon that pops up in the upper left corner of the screen. Set the brightness with the lights on and then again with the lights off. Perfect.

 

Dimming adjustments were a PITA for me. I have the Pioneer 7600 in my 2020. I adjusted the brightness with the lights on and off. The problem that I had was if using the lights during the day, the screen was too dark. Pioneer has a manual dim button in the app section. I added that to my home screen so all I have to do is turn it on if its too dark during the day, and it doesnt affect the day/night settings.

 

I don't have any issues with either the Kenwood or Pioneer being too bright or dim. I noticed the dimmer setting but didn't fiddle with it. I have noticed the Pioneer's lighting changes with the parking light engagement.