Nav System Zoom Options Question

[kapinossa]

I have been driving my genesis for two weeks now with the tech package and just noticed that when I zoom out past the third zoom level (counting from the left) there are essentially no roads displayed on the map other than interstates. I was wondering if others have experienced this same observation? This makes the last twelve zoom out levels worthless. I am not in a metro area but the majority of roads are highways with four lanes of traffic (two in each direction) in the 50 mile radius. I have never seen this lack of detail on any GPS that I have used. I usually zoom back a bit to determine alternate routes and currently my displace shows no roads within twenty miles whenever I zoom out pass the three (700 ft scale). Is my map defective or is this product with an 8 inch screen this poor? OBTW, the first three levels work fine but I am really disappointed I did not notice this feature before I purchased.

 

[Nabber]

I live in Eastern Iowa and have the same issue. My 10 year old Garmin Streetpilot does a better job with roads at farther zoom levels.

 

[hokienutzz]

I live in Eastern Iowa and have the same issue. My 10 year old Garmin Streetpilot does a better job with roads at farther zoom levels.

That's because Garmin's rock. But to answer your question, this is not an error, this was intended. The streets do tend to melt away quickly as you zoom out, but it is a necessity. If you lived in a city with a lot of highways and such, the detail has to disappear quickly as the XM traffic information display will quickly turn your screen into goop. For example; if I were sitting in traffic trying to get across the 14th st bridge and I wanted to see how backed up the traffic was ahead of me, I would zoom out, which gives me nice red, yellow and green highways. If it left every street in there as well, I wouldn't know WTF I was looking at.

I guess it is a shame that detail is not user adjustable. Maybe it is if you turn off nav-traffic?

 

[kapinossa]

That's because Garmin's rock. But to answer your question, this is not an error, this was intended. The streets do tend to melt away quickly as you zoom out, but it is a necessity. If you lived in a city with a lot of highways and such, the detail has to disappear quickly as the XM traffic information display will quickly turn your screen into goop. For example; if I were sitting in traffic trying to get across the 14th st bridge and I wanted to see how backed up the traffic was ahead of me, I would zoom out, which gives me nice red, yellow and green highways. If it left every street in there as well, I wouldn't know WTF I was looking at.

I guess it is a shame that detail is not user adjustable. Maybe it is if you turn off nav-traffic?

Thanks for the feedback from two different parts of the country. I live only 60 miles south of Washington DC and have more rural roads. I did expect to have someone in the city say that their data is ok but I am not sure that I understood the Nav Traffic impact. I have used Streets and Trips for over two years with the same traffic inforamtion to get around Washington DC and Baltimore MD with very impact on my computer display due to overcrowding. I know this question (original post) is kind of off the wall but why have 75% of the zoom levels unusable with only Interstates displayed for all levels. In my opinion, the first three levels of zoom work as I expect them to hide smaller roads but as soon as I go to the fourth zoom out position the map is worthless. I was hoping that users in metros areas would say that they have significant roads displayed when zooming out for most of the zoom levels and my results are poor since I live in a rural type area. I will report addtional findings on my next trip around the I495 and I695 but I suspect my observations to repeat the poor or non-existent road display other than the interstates which is really a poor approach to using a 8 inch display versus a portable 4 inch display results. I would appreciate anyone elses thoughts on this shortcoming (my opinion only) to help improve the product that I just spent thousands of dollars to obtain.

 

[kapinossa]

Just a followup to my original post. This past weekend I drove around the Washington DC metro area and headed out to Dulles airport. Based on my observations in a metro area, I agree that NAV traffic does impact the display of roads and potential confusion when zooming. However, the zoom levels even remove the nav traffic information when you zoom out to see if traffic info has been received before you arrive within the traffic area. In my opinion, the display of information on the map when you zoom out past the 0.5 mile per inch level is poor at best. Overall, anything out past this level is just about worthless and is very poor compared to other products. I spent several trips looking for nav traffic information only to realize it is not available at several usable zoom levels. Don't get me wrong, this GPS unit does somethings very well but zooming out should display something other than interstate roads. I am trying to figure out how improvements can be requested since this is a limiting factor in my opinion and I am surprised that people who use their GPS for other than following directions would not be dissapointed. Just trying to see if others have the same concerns and what we can do to try to force constructive changes.

 

[wallymn]

I live in rural MN. (commuting to city for work)

at 2 mile display I still show MN state highways such as 56, 16, but loose county roads (the type of road is really the same a 2 lane highway).

past 2 mile display I only show US state highways such as 63, (still a 2 lane highway). after 4 miles only major interstates such as 90 are shown....


At 2 mile display I can see about 25 miles in any direction, my commute is 45 miles so it works for me.

 

[kapinossa]

Wallymn,
Thanks for your observations. I am pretty sure they are consistent with mine but not having anything other than four lane highways on a map past the 0.5 mile level seems to me to be too limiting. However, I am glad that it meets your commute requirements and I seem to be in a minority on the subject. I would prefer a user selectable option to have a higher density population of roads on the majority of the zoom levels above 0.5 mile level (two lane roads with 50 mph limits with a state ID should be on the map for several levels). This option is on the most basic units I have experience with. Bottom line, we all use our GPS differently and I wish I could select some of the features that I have seen on units and features that I use several times a month to avoid congestion. Thanks for your thoughts, they work for you and I am glad that it meets your requirements.
Steve

 

[Gwaneum]

I'm in SoCal - and I see every minor street @ 700 ft or below. Major arteries @ 0.25 and 0.5 miles. The most important arteries (AKA ones with highway numbers) @ 1 and 2 miles. Freeways only @ 4 and 8. Major freeways only @ 16 and up.

It's worked fine for me - but then, I am in an urban jungle. NavTraffic goes up to 4 miles.

I do like the software/hardware of the Nav, the visibility issues may be from the way the vendor programmed the map. The map uses NAVTEQ data but is compiled by MapNSoft - and that company is typical of a cut-rate smaller Korean firm where nobody speaks decent English. (Companies like those, including MANY in the Korean-American community, make me pull out my hair in frustration - I deal with such companies ALL THE TIME.) I can't wait for NAVTEQ to sell Hyundai Nav maps direct...

 

[Gimli]

The main problem with showing smaller roads at higher zoom levels is one of processing power. Unfortunately most GPS units have fairly slow processors and the bigger the screen, the more stuff it has to process in order to show you real-time images. That's the reason an older GPS unit with a smaller screen may be able to show more details at higher zoom levels but the unit in the Genesis can't.

If it did show smaller roads at higher zoom levels you would probably end up with much slower image updates and lag in the directions.

 

[kapinossa]

Gwaneum and Gimli,
Thanks for the feedback. I agree totally with your inputs. I guess I always want one device to do it all. Other than zooming and trying to obtain more situational awareness of the calculated track, I love the unit! A little more tweaks is all it needs in my opinion.
Thanks, Steve

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