Anybody have the Heads Up Display?

[Electrode]

Do you find it useful, easy to focus on and does it work with polarized sunglasses? If the HUD was a separate option, how much value would you give it?

 

[EdP]

Do you find it useful, easy to focus on and does it work with polarized sunglasses? If the HUD was a separate option, how much value would you give it?

Does not work with polarized glasses, very smart to ask though. I just ordered new glasses and gave the HUD priority over having polarized Transistions lenses.

Now, we all have different priorities, but I'd not by a car that did not have a good HUD. There i a lot of information, easy to see. I'd easily spend at extra $300 to $500 for it. One of the nice features is when using navigation, the next turn and distance is right there. Before you say no, drive a car with it.

 

[Mcc]

Does not work with polarized glasses, very smart to ask though. I just ordered new glasses and gave the HUD priority over having polarized Transistions lenses.

Now, we all have different priorities, but I'd not by a car that did not have a good HUD. There i a lot of information, easy to see. I'd easily spend at extra $300 to $500 for it. One of the nice features is when using navigation, the next turn and distance is right there. Before you say no, drive a car with it.

Ditto what EdP said. I had it on my last car and it was my top requirement when I got my current car. Great safety feature, your eyes never leave the road for speed, blind spot, and cruise control.

 

[mbreckon]

This is my first car with a HUD, went on a road trip, and the nav info in my wind shield was fantastic, eyes didn't have to wander. Its a great feature. I would probably pay 500-1000 for it as an option.

 

[larrymg1]

I will echo the other posters. This is my second car with HUD and I don't know how I drove as efficiently as before. Information is always in your direct line of sight and in the case of Genesis, both my '15 3.8 and my new G80 Sport, the display is clear, easily discernable, definitive. It does not work with polarized lenses. Small trade out. would never be without HUD again.

 

[drewaz]

I also have it .... excellent for navigation and lane departure. On my car it's dimmed with polarized lenses but I can still see it.

 

[KDX]

It's awesome and I like it a lot.

 

[ACCHRM]

Everyone will tell you different things about it, I've always wanted one, then I got one in my Camaro, and I never turn it off, it's always on, but guess what. It's one of those things that seems super cool and useful and then you don't even use it. Mine is constantly on, but I never see it, it's like my eyes see right through it, If I need to see my RPMs or speed, I automatically look down.
Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but unless that comes with something else on my next car, I won't be getting it.

 

[Gianttama]

HUD is like 360 camera and backup camera. Do you need them? No. But once you tried them, you will never go back.

 

[devellis]

My brother's car has HUD and no 360 camera. Mine has the 360 camera and no HUD. We've each driven the other's car for considerable distances (like thousands of miles). I'd really miss the 360 camera if I didn't have it. The HUD is nice and I'd rather have it than not but I never felt it was even close to being a necessity.

And for me, the polarized lenses issue is substantial. I really like wearing polarized sunglasses for driving. Not only does it reduce glare from reflective surfaces, it generally enhances contrast and improves visibility. Both outside reflections and those within the car, from the windshield and dash, are greatly reduced. If a HUD were incompatible with polarized lenses, I'd continue to wear the sunglasses and just ignore the HUD. In my brother's car, there's the ability to rotate the HUD display. The images displayed don't rotate but I guess the lens they're passing through must. It enables you to optimize the image for polarization. It helps, but in my brother's car (Mazda CX-9 Signature), I still found that the display was considerably brighter and more functional if I tipped my head slightly to the side. Really annoying, actually. I found myself just ignoring it.

I think road glare can be more of a safety hazard than having to glance elsewhere for information. Research suggests that taking your eye off the road for 2 or 3 seconds isn't much of an issue. Presumably, you do it when you've already seen that the road ahead is clear and peripheral vision will alert you to a change. And most glances re probably considerably shorter than that unless you're reading information rather than just "capturing" an image. You can take in the information with a series of very brief glances rather than fixating on it for longer. It's not hard to imagine situations where it could be a problem to look away for 3 seconds, of course, but in testing the real issues start to crop up as you approach and exceed 6 seconds with eyes off the road, as when texting. I'd definitely enjoy a good HUD but, as I said, I wouldn't stop using polarized lenses to do it.

Does the Genesis system have the rotation feature? It's a good idea and would work perfectly in my brother's car if the rotation went about another 5 degrees. I also wonder if different sunglasses have slightly different polarization orientations so that trying out multiple pairs would yield one that worked. My brother has switched to nonpoalized sunglasses since getting his car wit the HUD but they don't do the same job. On a long drive, road glare is a killer and nothing eliminates it as well as polarization.

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[SVTong]

Unfortunately, there is no option to rotate the polarizing filter on the G70. I would love to have it - my glasses work perfectly with it if I tilt my head about 20 degrees. That being said, it might be a fun summer project for me to open the dash and manually remove and turn the filter slightly....

 

[Mcc]

Unfortunately, there is no option to rotate the polarizing filter on the G70. I would love to have it - my glasses work perfectly with it if I tilt my head about 20 degrees. That being said, it might be a fun summer project for me to open the dash and manually remove and turn the filter slightly....

I might be wrong here but I don’t think there is any filter. They don’t purposely polarize it. It is a natural consequence (physics) of light reflection. The light is polarized 90deg when it is reflected from your windshield just as it is polarized when reflected from the road or the sky. You could rotate your sunglass lenses but then they would not be effective for viewing anything else.

 

[devellis]

I might be wrong here but I don’t think there is any filter. They don’t purposely polarize it. It is a natural consequence (physics) of light reflection. The light is polarized 90deg when it is reflected from your windshield just as it is polarized when reflected from the road or the sky. You could rotate your sunglass lenses but then they would not be effective for viewing anything else.

That makes sense, but my brother's Mazda has an electronic control, accessible from the infotainment system within the HUD settings section, that's labeled "Rotation" and that does change the brightness of the HUD as its settings are changed. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, it's about 5 degrees shy of allowing the full brightness to pass through polarized sunglass lenses. Tilting your head gets it there. ("Rotation," I should note, is separate from the "Brightness" setting for the HUD.) If you change the rotation setting from that optimal position, it takes a much more substantial head tilt to get a seeable brightness. So some kind of polarization axis is adjustable, at least on the Mazda. It's a shame if the Genesis doesn't offer something similar and also a shame that the Mazda's version still comes up just a bit shy.

 

[Mcc]

Tilting your head gets it there. ("Rotation," I should note, is separate from the "Brightness" setting for the HUD.) If you change the rotation setting from that optimal position, it takes a much more substantial head tilt to get a seeable brightness.

At least on the G90 and I am guessing other models, there is a brightness and rotation control. I think the rotation just changes the orientation of the image but not the polarization but I could be wrong.

 

[Gianttama]

There is brightness and rotation on the g70. Rotation only changes orientation (like making it italic) you can change the color of the HUB (white, orange, green).

I was having a hard time reading the orange display when wearing polarized sunglass during my test drive under very sunny condition , I couldn't see shit at all. I should give it a try this weekend with the white and green option.

 

[devellis]

Seems pretty idiotic that whoever supplies these HUD systems didn't anticipate the issue with polarized sunglasses. It's not like they're a new or rare item. Of course, Genesis isn't alone in this.

There may be an opportunity here for sunglass manufacturers to offer something that will work better and that would also set them apart from their competition. Clearly, changing the orientation of the lenses makes a big difference, as the head-tipping results demonstrate. It's a solvable problem if someone just would take it on.

 

[Electrode]

Too bad about HUD washing out with polarized. I wonder what pilots use?

 

[larrymg1]

The best research I can find. Only the Lincoln Navigator and Continental have solved the problem so far.
"Lincoln is the first manufacturer to use digital light projection (DLP) technology in its head-up display. DLP technology allows the display to be visible in more ambient lighting conditions than the systems offered by competitors, even when the driver is wearing polarized sunglasses."

 

[devellis]

I've been reading up a bit and I think I was flat-out wrong about the Mazda display. I must have just found a brightness setting and seating distance that allowed more light to pass through the polarized lenses.

I'm not sure what Lincoln is doing but the vast majority of HUDs seem to have this problem. Be virtue of being reflected off of the windshield, the display becomes polarized and polarized lenses will interfere. Pilots are advised (and in some cases required) not to wear polarized lenses because it causes problems with HUDs and instrumentation. They can also interfere with visibility through certain types of reinforced glass.

Some people have found that circular-polarized lenses work okay. These apparently are available on some very expensive sunglasses but none I've found that fit over prescription glasses. I've given up on getting prescription sunglasses because ofo the cost and ease of loss, so I exclusively use the type of nonprescription shades that fit over my prescription glasses. But the vast majority of those are polarized and none seem to have circular polarization. So, virtually all of those would have a problem when used with the HUD.

I'm now looking into amber/brown tinted lenses that are recommended for pilots. I seem to have found a brand of fit-over-style glasses that have them but I'm not sure whether or not they're also polarized. I have an inquiry in to the supplier. They're under $20 and seem like a workable solution if they're not polarized -- a big "if" at this point.

This will all be moot if I decide not to get the G70 but if I do, I'd like to know if its feasible to find a way of using the HUD when wearing shades. It's pretty sunny in this part of the country and I find that I get a lot of eye fatigue if I drive for long stretches without any sunglasses.

Well, just got word back and the ones I found are, indeed, polarized so not a solution. I'll keep looking and report back if I find anything.

UPDATE: So, I found these on Amazon that aren't polarized and are $18. I ordered a pair, figuring that I'd at least give them a try at this price. I'll let you know what I think of them after I've worn them a bit. They're described as for driving but I'm not sure I'd take that too seriously. The description does explicitly say that they won't interfere with displays.

https://www.amazon.com/Medium-Polarized-Sunglasses-Around-Frame-Non/dp/B07C9668LM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1530986825&sr=8-8&keywords=amber+fit+over+sunglasses&dpID=41LGKDwj8TL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch&th=1

 

[larrymg1]

I've been reading up a bit and I think I was flat-out wrong about the Mazda display. I must have just found a brightness setting and seating distance that allowed more light to pass through the polarized lenses.

I'm not sure what Lincoln is doing but the vast majority of HUDs seem to have this problem. Be virtue of being reflected off of the windshield, the display becomes polarized and polarized lenses will interfere. Pilots are advised (and in some cases required) not to wear polarized lenses because it causes problems with HUDs and instrumentation. They can also interfere with visibility through certain types of reinforced glass.

This will all be moot if I decide not to get the G70 but if I do, I'd like to know if its feasible to find a way of using the HUD when wearing shades. It's pretty sunny in this part of the country and I find that I get a lot of eye fatigue if I drive for long stretches without any sunglasses.th=1

Here is a detailed description of the Lincoln system:
Continental Head-Up Display with DMD Technology Goes into Production for the First Time with Lincoln
You can still wear sunglasses with HUD. Just not polarized.