MEMS the word for next-gen HUDs
16AUTP10_04
10/01/2016
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New high-speed, quad-channel laser diode drivers are designed to beat the LCD and DLP incumbents for next-gen vehicle head-up displays.
Nearly 30 years after the first automotive head-up display (HUD) for production cars was offered by GM on the 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Pontiac Grand Prix-and 55 years after the first airborne HUD appeared on the British Navy's Blackburn Buccaneer strike fighter-HUDs are steadily gaining popularity in the industry. They're available as standard or optional equipment on a growing list of mainly luxury car models and being incorporated into an expanded suite of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to help keep drivers focused on the road ahead rather than looking down at their dashboard instruments.
Distracted driver studies have shown that taking your eyes off the road for more than two seconds doubles the risk of a crash. The automobile HUD places driving speed, warning signals, and indicator arrows on the driver's windshield directly in their line of sight. One of the newest HUDs uses laser diode drivers to pulse high-intensity red, green and blue (RGB) lasers that project high-definition (HD) video onto the windshield.
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- Citation
- Yee, J., "MEMS the word for next-gen HUDs," Mobility Engineering, October 1, 2016.