An A319 first officer reported that repeated write-ups regarding excessively bright pfd and nd scree...

Narrative:

The captain and I noticed that our pfd's were too bright after we took off and got clear of the ground lights. I also noticed that my nd was too bright. All three instruments would not dim enough to a night-time flying intensity. Fortunately; it was clear at our destination and with all the ground lights the intensity was usable; but still too bright. If we had done an IMC approach to minimums it would have been unsafe due to impairment of night vision. The next day we took the same aircraft back and noticed the sign off by the mechanic; to wit: 'F-O pfd screen cks good on gnd'.of course this mechanic checks the pfd with the bright ground lights at the airport and it looks fine to him. Does no one care that two crew members said the instruments were too bright in flight? Does it only matter that they check good in the chocks? What in heck is going on here? This is not the first time I've written these pfd's up.many captains I fly with complain as well; but have given up writing them up. Nothing is fixing the problem. This is unsafe. I sure hope someone takes notice of this problem and fixes these unacceptable screens.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A319 First Officer reported that repeated write-ups regarding excessively bright PFD and ND screens go unaddressed by Maintenance. He believed mechanics view the screens in the gate area where brighter ambient lighting disguises the problem that pilots deal with under truly dark conditions.

Narrative: The Captain and I noticed that our PFD's were too bright after we took off and got clear of the ground lights. I also noticed that my ND was too bright. All three instruments would not dim enough to a night-time flying intensity. Fortunately; it was clear at our destination and with all the ground lights the intensity was usable; but still too bright. If we had done an IMC approach to minimums it would have been unsafe due to impairment of night vision. The next day we took the same aircraft back and noticed the sign off by the mechanic; to wit: 'F-O PFD screen cks good on gnd'.Of course this mechanic checks the PFD with the bright ground lights at the airport and it looks fine to him. Does no one care that two crew members said the instruments were too bright in flight? Does it only matter that they check good in the chocks? What in heck is going on here? This is not the first time I've written these PFD's up.Many Captains I fly with complain as well; but have given up writing them up. Nothing is fixing the problem. This is unsafe. I sure hope someone takes notice of this problem and fixes these unacceptable screens.

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.

Attributes
ACN	913985
Time
Date	201010
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cockpit Lighting
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 7000 Flight Crew Type 800
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

An A319 first officer reported that repeated write-ups regarding excessively bright pfd and nd screens go unaddressed by maintenance. He believed mechanics view the screens in the gate area where brighter ambient lighting disguises the problem that pilots deal with under truly dark conditions.