ipod workind but screen is dark

Perhaps the brightness has been turned down.

Go into Settings and look for the brightness setting. On more recent iPod, it's Settings/Display & Brightness. In there is a scroll bar, which allows you to change the brightness.

I would expect all control of your iPod when connected to a car's USB port to be from the car controls, in which case, the iPod's display will be either dark or off.

If you're having this issue when it is not connected to the car, try looking at it on while you're in a dark room, where the darkened screen while show up more easily.

Mine has done the same thing...3 or 4 times in the last month.

i checked my brightness settings..all good.

once I turn it off and on it comes back normal, but I’m concerned about why this is happening

i forgot to mention that this is happening on my 7th Generation I Pad

purchased this past March 2020