midi display visible in direct sunlight?

[Bert]

I use a rocktron MIDI Xchange to control my rack, which is generally perfect because I try to keep to 2 patches per song, and I can use the middle button to switch between them. Unfortunately, our last show was in direct sunlight, and I could barely make out the display. Ended up f'ing up a bunch of patch switches because of it. Do I need to graduate to something like the MidiMate, or are there other solutions I should consider?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

our last show was in direct sunlight

That doesn't sound very metal. How did you keep from disintegrating into ashes?

In all seriousness, there is no LCD or LED display I'm aware of that is visible in direct sunlight. You could create some sort of shade out of a piece of gaffer tape or something but as far as display technology, LCD and plasma technology gets better all the time, but it hasn't quite caught up to the brightness of the sun yet.

[Bert]

That doesn't sound very metal. How did you keep from disintegrating into ashes?

Well, the band I'm in is very UN metal (mostly classic rock), however I still play only Jacksons!

In all seriousness, there is no LCD or LED display I'm aware of that is visible in direct sunlight. You could create some sort of shade out of a piece of gaffer tape or something but as far as display technology, LCD and plasma technology gets better all the time, but it hasn't quite caught up to the brightness of the sun yet.

Yeah was worried about that. I figure the MidiMate might be OK even if you can't see the display since you can assign one patch per button to cover a lot of ground.... whereas the MidiXchange requires you to scroll much more often since it's only 3 buttons.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Oh, hell, I just thought you meant for the brightness of display.

I have similar issues with mine (bank up/down + "number" pads old-school controller) and now that I look at it the MidiMate is pretty damn cool, esp. for the price.

[markD]

i have the midiexchange and the midimate, and the mate IS a bit easier with all the buttons, but you could just make a little deflector for the exchange and save some money.

[GodWentPUNK]

I had this problem too and had to use my foot to block the sun. A pain in the ass. But I survived. I do like the 'deflector' idea but I don't typically do outdoor shows so I can survive without.

joe...

[toxikdeth]

The ground control pro works in direct sunlight I heard