A flat panel display for presenting graphical renderings of aircraft flight, operation and system status data to an aircraft pilot renders the data at various predetermined brightness levels depending on the category of data assigned to that data. Primary data appears on the screen at a full brightness level and secondary data appears on the screen at a brightness level less than the full brightness level. In this manner, a wide variety and range of aircraft flight, operation and system status data can be simultaneously conveyed to the pilot on a single display screen through selective illumination of particular classes or categories of the data on the display at predetermined brightness levels, thereby advantageously directing the pilot's attention specifically to the primary data which is presented at full brightness. In various implementations and embodiments, the brightness of the secondary data can be selectively increased manually by a pilot, as by activation of a switch or touching of a touch-sensitive display screen in the region of the secondary data of interest, or can increase when pilot-initiated changes to manually-entered data are initiated or being made, or can be increased automatically in the event detection of an abnormal or emergency condition involving the secondary data.