HUDs & Windscreen Technology
The cars of today are becoming more and more technologically advanced so much so that Heads Up Displays (HUD) have moved from cockpit to cabin. Coupled with this are improvements in windscreen glass technology.
A joint European project saw AUD$180M spent on researching HUD by Pilkington in Britain back in the mid 1990’s
The prototypes were simple with the projection of the cars speed on to the windscreen by a sensor that monitors the cars speedometer. The image is created by an LCD and using a system of mirrors the image is projected onto the windscreen.
The windscreen was coated with a transparent ink that improves the clarity of the image. This technique stopped the production of a double image caused by the layers that make up the total piece of glass.
One of the issues considered was that with HUD’s the driver may fail to pay attention to the other important facets normally displayed in the dash displays.
Well things have advanced since then and today we see many car manufacturers beginning to install HUD’s as standard in their models. The type of display has increased from simple speed of the vehicle to full on road maps. It’s believed these features have improved driver awareness with less time spent looking down to check speed. A great way to keep those Multanova cameras at bay.
As well as providing crucial information in an easy-to-read form, heads-up displays can also be useful in conditions of bad visibility, like heavy morning mists and heavy rain, because they’re usually connected to systems that use radar and infra-red sensors, so the driver can tell where the road markings are.
If your car is fitted with a heads up display you need to ensure that you not only keep you windscreen clean and chip free on the outside, but clean on the inside as well. A mist like substance can appear on the inside of windscreens caused by oils used inside the vehicle on dashboards, cigarette smoke and other chemicals.
These can cause the display to become blurry and lead to eye strain.
If you have a vehicle equipped with a HUD and you need to replace it, then ensure you use a quality replacement company like D&C Autoglass.
