Foursprung: Next Generation of head-up displays

Here comes the next generation of head-up displays.

With the improved head-up display (HUD) Siemens VDO is demonstrating how the safety, comfort and convenience of future virtual displays in the driver's direct field of vision can be realized. A modular concept, new optical variants and a reduction of the installation space enable adaptability to every vehicle class.

The head-up display provides important driving-related information, such as speed, navigation data and warnings directly in the driver's field of vision. This allows the driver to concentrate more completely on traffic. This in turn leads to increased safety, as it takes an average of one second to read the information on the navigation system, which at 50 km/h means the vehicle already has traveled approximately 14 meters. With the improved HUD, system safety, comfort and convenience will no longer be only reserved for luxury class vehicles, but also will be available for smaller models.

The challenge in accomplishing this was to decrease the installation space requirements and system costs of the head-up display by roughly half. Even with the restricted space in the cockpit, there has to be at least a minimum amount of room for the optical system in order to project a virtual image. A display generates an image that is guided to the windshield using several mirrors. Like glancing in a rearview or side mirror, the driver sees the virtual image, but not as a flat, static picture on the windshield. Rather, the driver perceives it as "floating" over the hood at a distance of about two meters.

New in the second generation HUD is that drivers can now adjust the position of the virtual display to their seat position. This enables the driver to adapt the display to his own height for a more comfortable viewing angle.
This additional comfort is made possible by using a new mounting for the mirror installed in the head-up display, which allows the mirror to be tilted and the projected height of the virtual image to be adjusted. By employing various optical versions, the head-up display can be developed in line with the automobile manufacturer's specific requirements.

In smaller vehicle models, a variant with only two mirrors and one lens is feasible. The optical components project the driving information from a thin-film transistor (TFT) display to the windshield, which is then magnified. In particular, a lens - a new optical component - ensures the virtual image attains the necessary size, definition, sharpness and optical fidelity with a smaller number of magnifying mirrors, thus reducing the system volume.

Despite the new head-up display's reduced volume, the driver sees a high-quality image in a horizontal format about 9 by 20 centimeters in size. Due to the size, improved display resolution, sharper color contrast and more variability in the color schemes, the image is even more readable.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR, head-up display

Source: all4engineers

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