Head Up Display - From High Tech Jet Fighters to Your Car Windshield

Michel Van Russelt, Solutia Europe SA

The Head Up display technology has long been used in Jet fighters to project instrument and gun sight readings onto the canopy. It is becoming more and more practical in automobiles as we move into the era of Satellite Navigation Systems. Rather than having to look away from the road for directions shown on a small screen placed generally in the middle of the instrument panel, the car driver can now see road directions and other important information directly on the windscreen of the car in front of his eyes.

The virtual image is projected from the instrument panel onto the windscreen. But as windscreens are not flat or perpendicular to the drivers eyes, the image must be corrected to ensure that it is sharp and easy to read. By use of a special wedge shaped PVB, one can change the geometry of the glass and provide the optical correction needed for image reflection and sharpness.

This paper describes the technology of Head up display and the specific criteria needed to define the wedge angle required to obtain a sharp virtual image on the car windscreen.

Full-Text Article [236 KB]

The Authors

Mr. Michel van Russelt Automotive Market Development Director Solutia Europe Sa Michel Van Russelt obtained his Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Louvain (Belgium) in 1970 and work on a PhD Thesis int the laboratory of High Polymers on an industry-University prog... Read more