Narrative:

During preflight setup in the cockpit; I noticed my primary flight display (pfd) was a bit bright in the ramp area at it's dimmest setting. I knew from experience that airborne against the night sky it would be like a flashlight shining in my face the whole flight. I tried turning it off; dimming it; etc.; to no avail. I called maintenance and told them we were writing it up as too bright. A mechanic came up and asked what was up; and agreed it was too bright; approximately 5-7 times brighter than the captain's pfd at it's dimmest setting. He said we'd have to take a delay or refuse the airplane because he didn't think they had time to change it; but he would find out. In the mean time a maintenance supervisor came up and looked at it; and personally didn't think it was too bright based on his experience in cockpits and simulators. I advised him that of course it isn't too bright here in the ramp with all the bright lights; but at altitude against the night sky it was unsafe. He also said we'd take a big delay and he was swamped with broken airplanes that night. The captain and I decided that they needed to fix it; and I will add that the captain deferred the decision to me if I could fly with it like that. After some discussion; the mechanics agreed that they had a part to replace it (pfd scope) and they would; but it was going to be a big delay. They replaced the pfd; which had correct brightness qualities and tested it. In the discussion; this mechanic said they come from the vendor that way and the only way to get them fixed was to replace the bright ones and send them back to the vendor to get adjusted correctly. This bright pfd is an ongoing problem on the airbus. I have been on this airplane for about 20 months and have had to fly too many times with bright pfds and decided it is unsafe to do so. I wish someone; somewhere; with some pull; would have maintenance; or pilot training check out the pfds in the aircraft; before a delay is taken. Also; the mechanics have told me that the first person to see if the pfd works after it comes out of the parts warehouse; after shipped from the vendor; is the pilot. No one else is quality checking these pfds before they are put in the airplane. Mechanics should block out all the windows on the ground and dim the cockpit lights to a night setting to see if all the scopes (displays) are at the correct intensity. This would save delays when a pilot encounters a scope that is too bright. Many pilots; both captains and first officers complain about the intensity of these scopes as too dim in the day time and too bright at night. Recently a company pilot; who jumpseated on another air carrier; noticed their scopes were great; intensity-wise and asked about them. The captain of that air carrier informed him that they are not being adjusted correctly and you have to insist on it from the vendor; or you keep getting junk. [The] mechanics of this air carrier have figured out how to keep the bright or dim ones out of the cockpits and send them back to the vendor.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A First Officer reports about an ongoing problem with cockpit Primary Flight Displays (PFDs) on A319 and A320s being too bright for night flights; or too dim for daylight flights. First Officer notes the issue is a safety problem and he feels pilots are constantly being put in a position to have to 'refuse' an aircraft.

Narrative: During preflight setup in the cockpit; I noticed my Primary Flight Display (PFD) was a bit bright in the ramp area at it's dimmest setting. I knew from experience that airborne against the night sky it would be like a flashlight shining in my face the whole flight. I tried turning it off; dimming it; etc.; to no avail. I called Maintenance and told them we were writing it up as too bright. A Mechanic came up and asked what was up; and agreed it was too bright; approximately 5-7 times brighter than the Captain's PFD at it's dimmest setting. He said we'd have to take a delay or refuse the airplane because he didn't think they had time to change it; but he would find out. In the mean time a Maintenance Supervisor came up and looked at it; and personally didn't think it was too bright based on his experience in cockpits and simulators. I advised him that of course it isn't too bright here in the ramp with all the bright lights; but at altitude against the night sky it was unsafe. He also said we'd take a big delay and he was swamped with broken airplanes that night. The Captain and I decided that they needed to fix it; and I will add that the Captain deferred the decision to me if I could fly with it like that. After some discussion; the mechanics agreed that they had a part to replace it (PFD scope) and they would; but it was going to be a big delay. They replaced the PFD; which had correct brightness qualities and tested it. In the discussion; this Mechanic said they come from the vendor that way and the only way to get them fixed was to replace the bright ones and send them back to the vendor to get adjusted correctly. This bright PFD is an ongoing problem on the Airbus. I have been on this airplane for about 20 months and have had to fly too many times with bright PFDs and decided it is unsafe to do so. I wish someone; somewhere; with some pull; would have Maintenance; or Pilot Training check out the PFDs in the aircraft; before a delay is taken. Also; the mechanics have told me that the first person to see if the PFD works after it comes out of the parts warehouse; after shipped from the vendor; is the pilot. No one else is quality checking these PFDs before they are put in the airplane. Mechanics should block out all the windows on the ground and dim the cockpit lights to a night setting to see if all the scopes (displays) are at the correct intensity. This would save delays when a pilot encounters a scope that is too bright. Many pilots; both captains and first officers complain about the intensity of these scopes as too dim in the day time and too bright at night. Recently a company pilot; who jumpseated on another air carrier; noticed their scopes were great; intensity-wise and asked about them. The Captain of that air carrier informed him that they are not being adjusted correctly and you have to insist on it from the vendor; or you keep getting junk. [The] mechanics of this air carrier have figured out how to keep the bright or dim ones out of the cockpits and send them back to the vendor.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.