I just got a 2010 tracker that has a Lowrance HDS-5 on it from I think 2010 because that's what year the boat is. My old boat has a Humminbird 798ci si. I finally got the new boat out and I can't see the screen at all in the sun. Is this normal? My Humminbird had this problem sometimes but nowhere near as bad. I was going to keep the Lowrance and try to figure out how to use it but if I can't even see the thing I am thinking maybe I should just switch everything over to Humminbird. Has anyone else had this issue? If yes how did you resolve it? I tried adjusting contradt which didn't help.

Don't know about the old HDS-5 but the Humminbird has the LED backlighting and will be as bright as you will find in the industry.

All the current HDS models have the bright screens.

 

If your issue is when wearing polarized sunglasses, both units will look dark if you tilt your head to the right. That is because of the way the screen is made. Both will look brighter if you tilt your head to the left. It more aligns your sunglasses polarization with the screen pixels.

I run hds units and with sunglasses I sometimes can't see anything.  It is the angle.  Try looking at it from a different angle.

I just played with it in my driveway. It had nothing to do with the sun. The guy before me must have had the brightness turned all the way down. It has the adjustment right when you turn it on and I must not have seen it. Much better now. I still like the Humminbird better but going to stick with this for now to avoid having to patch screw holes from structurescan transducer and snaking wires. Thanks for the advice.