Cars to get LED Displays

A prototype of a new type of Heads-Up Display (HUD) using LED technology was unveiled at a trade show held by Oki Digital Imaging Corp (ODI).

The LED display itself is no more than 1.1 inches in size and it is able to take advantage of an ODI bonding technique which does not require adhesive or wire bonding, allowing for the unit to take up far less space.

Current in-car HUDs, which use LCD technology combined with LED backlighting, consume around 10 times as much energy as the new LED display. This improved efficiency means that less heat is generated by the LED display and a simpler method of dissipating the heat is required.

Other advantages of LED displays also apply to the new HUD, including a thinner construction and fewer components.

A spokesperson for ODI explained that in the current market it was only viable to install the LCD HUDs in luxury vehicles, but with the new LED display technology in place the ODI unit will be cheap enough for installation on a wider range of cars.

The prototype LED display offers a higher resolution than previous HUD technology and thanks to vastly better contrast and brightness, it will be perfect for use in all lighting conditions, perhaps with automatic adjustment built-in.

This prototype is the first in what ODI expects to be a long line of trials continuing over the next 12 months, with pre-production samples shipping towards the end of 2010.

ODI has ambitions to implement the technology used in this HUD across more platforms, with mobile devices and phones next in line. This will involve the use of colour LEDs and of course an enlargement of the screen size to accommodate the needs of mobile users. It is anticipated that an additional 3 to 5 years of development is needed before such products are marketable.