I personally leave the MFD off, as it's distractnig and I want to maximize its lifespan. How 'bout you?
The LCD screen should last the life of the car without any problems. LCD technology doesn't suffer from burn-in as CRT and Plasma does. The most common failure to be expected with aging LCD's is "stuck" or "dead" pixels. This can happen wether you use the LCD screen or not because the liquid crystal still ages. The backlighting will also gradually dim, just like on any sort of display.
Well, the backlighting will eventually fail too, but the bulb in most LCD displays (at least as far as computer monitors go) is rated for around 60,000 hours, which is almost 7 years of being on 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year. Since most people don't drive their cars like this, it's not likely to be a problem If you drove your car for 4 hours a day, your screen would probably last somewhere in the range of 40 years - I'd be thinking about a new car before then Of course, the screens in the car may be manufactured to different standards, and certainly temperature variations have an effect, however it's probably nothing to worry about. Dave
It's never even crossed my mind to turn it off to "save" it. It's part of the car and is made to be used.
what other have said... it's 1) part of the fun of the car (and the FE game) and 2) it should outlast the car with the few hours/day it's in use
I'd get a sunshade for the windshield. I'd be more worried about heat than screen usage. The screen and surroundings can get pretty darn hot in the summer.
I normally leave it on. If it was a situation where I would be using the radio for a long time without being in "Ready" (at a drive-in movie, for example), I would turn the MFD off. But that would be to save power, not the screen.
Turn it off if you find it distracting. That's a safety issue. But if you turn it off to "save" it, what are you saving it for? To be able to make a television set out of it when the car dies, 250,000 miles from now? It's there to use. I'd rather have it die (if it's going to) when the car is old and nearly worn out, than not be able to use it now, and in ten years have an old junker with a perfectly-functioning MFD.
My wife and I leave it on, but, we opted for a screen protector. I bought it from sigma-automotive online. It doesn't interfere with the touch screen functions and is UV protected. Plus, you can't even tell it's there. Not bad for $12 IMO.
Same here. I only turned it off once, and only to verify that it could be turned back on again by pressing any of the buttons around the display.
I've never turned it off to "save" it, but there was one time when I was driving on some really dark roads that I felt the need to turn it off to be able to see the road well.
