Anybody have the Heads Up Display?

[Starflyer]

IF you're thinking of getting prescription sunglasses from Costco, be sure they're not polarized! I just got a pair thinking I could use them in my Genesis G80 Sport. Nah, nah! About $150 down the drain. Slightly torqued about it. A few years back when I didn't need prescription glasses, I bought a designer pair there that are NOT polarized and they still work fine in seeing the HUD.

 

[Mcc]

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.

That’s sounds correct. Nothing special about the Lincoln implementation except it may be brighter. “The Lincoln head-up display is one of the brightest and largest in its class and allows drivers to see the display even through polarized sunglasses.” If you turn up the brightness on your Genesis it should work better with polarized glasses.

Seems pretty idiotic that whoever supplies these HUD systems didn't anticipate the issue with polarized sunglasses.

I am sure they did anticipate the problem with polarized glasses (the phenomenon has been known for over 200 years) it’s just that there is no (easy) workaround to images produced by reflection being polarized.

Polarization of Light by Reflection - Not Just a Good Idea, ITS THE LAW! (of physics)

 

[EdP]

IF you're thinking of getting prescription sunglasses from Costco, be sure they're not polarized! I just got a pair thinking I could use them in my Genesis G80 Sport. Nah, nah! About $150 down the drain.

Can they be converted? IIRC, the polarization comes from a coating on the lens. Maybe it can be polished off? If the price is reasonable you at least have a spare pair.

I wear Transitions but they change very little in the car. The anti glare coating helps a lot. Works for me. I wish I could get mine for $150.

 

[larrymg1]

Nothing special about the Lincoln implementation except it may be brighter.

Sorry to disagree. Read the details of the system Lincoln is using. Entirely different system.
"Replacing previously used TFT LCD technology, the DMD generates graphical elements in the same way as digital cinema projectors, based on mirror optics and a picture generating unit (PGU). Thanks to an intermediate screen, sequential color management and a lens-based optical path, the image is brighter and sharper than with conventional head-up displays. The Lincoln head-up display is one of the brightest and largest in its class and allows drivers to see the display even through polarized sunglasses."

 

[Mcc]

Read the details of the system Lincoln is using. Entirely different system.

Yes I did read it. The way I read it is that you can use polarized lenses because it is brighter and it is brighter because they are using a different projection system. Other than the light source which is DMD and inherently brighter instead of TFT it still is reflected off the windshield and thus will be polarized.

I guess you could sit in a Lincoln with your polarized sunglasses and tilt your head to see if the image gets lighter and darker. My guess is when it’s darker it is still bright enough to be seen.

 

[Gianttama]

Ok I tried the HUD again with polarized sunglasses:

- keep the display color in white, that produces the best result. Green is not as good but still tolerable. Forget about orange, you can't see shit.

- when set in white at highest brightness, under direct bring sunlight, you can still kinda see the HUD, it is not the best but still tolerable.

 

[devellis]

That’s sounds correct. Nothing special about the Lincoln implementation except it may be brighter. “The Lincoln head-up display is one of the brightest and largest in its class and allows drivers to see the display even through polarized sunglasses.” If you turn up the brightness on your Genesis it should work better with polarized glasses.



I am sure they did anticipate the problem with polarized glasses (the phenomenon has been known for over 200 years) it’s just that there is no (easy) workaround to images produced by reflection being polarized.

Polarization of Light by Reflection - Not Just a Good Idea, ITS THE LAW! (of physics)

I saw some old posts on a BMW forum where several people reported success by putting a plastic sheet over the display. It was the type of sheet used to make overhead transparencies on laser printers. You had to determine the correct orientation, but when properly oriented, several folks (and all who tried it) reported that it solved the problem. The main difficulty was that this stuff isn't readily available anymore (and this was several years ago), although some found it at office supply stores. Some of the people were using it for displays on the faces of their radios, where wearing polarized glasses blacked them out. But others were using it on their HUDs.

I actually found the same thing described on an Audi forum. The difficulty with it is that it's hard to keep the stuff in place, it tends to degrade over time, it can cause reflections on the windshield if it isn't perfectly flat, etc. But the fact that it works at all suggests that there is a way to counteract the polarization that occurs when light is reflected off of the windshield (as with a HUD) or passes through a plastic lens (as with the radio displays). The issue with polarized light isn't that the light is "gone" but that it is at the wrong orientation to pass effectively through the lenses on the sunglasses. If these sheets can re-orient the light waves to a better orientation, that would do the trick, as it seems it does. If these relatively cheap sheets of plastic work, at least until they degrade from having the sun beating down on them, it seems like some more durable solution would be feasible.

Of course, the other fix would be for sunglasses manufacturers to offer lenses that were polarized at a different orientation than the light coming at you from the HUD. Assuming that the polarization angle is pretty standard for various HUDs in various cars, this seems like a great opportunity for them to have a marketing advantage to drivers of cars with HUDs.

 

[Mcc]

Of course, the other fix would be for sunglasses manufacturers to offer lenses that were polarized at a different orientation than the light coming at you from the HUD. Assuming that the polarization angle is pretty standard for various HUDs in various cars, this seems like a great opportunity for them to have a marketing advantage to drivers of cars with HUDs.

The problem here is that if you rotate the lenses so they pass the light from the HUD then they will also pass all the glare from the road, sky, etc. since their light is reflected (and therefore polarized) at the same angle as the HUD and thus destroy any of the advantages of wearing polarized glasses in the first place.

 

[devellis]

The problem here is that if you rotate the lenses so they pass the light from the HUD then they will also pass all the glare from the road, sky, etc. since their light is reflected (and therefore polarized) at the same angle as the HUD and thus destroy any of the advantages of wearing polarized glasses in the first place.

I don't know a lot about optics but it isn't obvious to me that the reflections from objects outside the car would be at the same angle as the light coming from the HUD. The sun is the source of illumination for those external reflections, all of which are at different angles relative to one another. The HUD is s separate light source whose geometry is fixed. What am I missing?

 

[SVTong]

Any links that describe exactly what they did? My wife is a teacher, so I have tons of those overhead transparency sheets in my house. I'd like to try this today.

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[Mcc]

Any links that describe exactly what they did? My wife is a teacher, so I have tons of those overhead transparency sheets in my house. I'd like to try this today.

I would bet it’s polarized film an just transparency film. I would also bet it’s not going to work if my physics serves me correctly. It will either keep the light the same or making black. Therereason it works on radios is that it is a different situation.

Sorry for the downer.

 

[devellis]

Any links that describe exactly what they did? My wife is a teacher, so I have tons of those overhead transparency sheets in my house. I'd like to try this today.

Here's the thread that described how it worked for the radio display. I think the same logic applies for the HUD: Find the orientation for the film that's optimal and then cut and attach the film.


DIY: How to see your radio screen w/Polarized Sunglasses

 

[SVTong]

Well, for how little effort it takes, I'll give it a try. I'm skeptical as well, but it's worth a test at least.

 

[Mcc]

Here's the thread that described how it worked for the radio display. I think the same logic applies for the HUD: Find the orientation for the film that's optimal and then cut and attach the film.

I don’t think it is the same logic since the the HUD uses a window reflection as the last step but maybe someone will prove me wrong.

The simplest solution is to crank up the brightness and chose a bright color. That will allow the maximum amount of light polarized by the windshield to get to your polarized glass. The glasses will still cut out a lot of the reflected HUD display but more in means more out.

 

[SVTong]

Ok, so I tried the transparency trick and the results were...interesting. it made more of a difference than I thought it would, but not enough to make it a viable fix. It made the display bright enough that I could see the speed, but not much else. It was still about half the brightness that it would be without polarized lenses.

In short it helped, but not by much.

 

[devellis]

Ok, so I tried the transparency trick and the results were...interesting. it made more of a difference than I thought it would, but not enough to make it a viable fix. It made the display bright enough that I could see the speed, but not much else. It was still about half the brightness that it would be without polarized lenses.

In short it helped, but not by much.

Good to know. Thanks for reporting the results.

 

[Edmguy]

One more vote for getting the HUD here. This is my second car with it and it is a must have imo.

2 of the biggest benefits that haven't been mentioned yet are that the speed limit is displayed here (info from the nav, not read street signs like some cars) which I find very useful as that info is displayed no matter which screen is displayed (radio, settings, etc) or even if you are using Android Auto. Also, the green steering wheel to indicate active steering is shown up here. If you don't have the HUD the green steering wheel is on the bottom left of the screen on the IP. So low that it is hard to see and notice when it turns on or off. Not having the HUD would definitely make the active steering less valuable imo.

 

[Windchaser]

I too have found that I really like the HUD. This is my first experience with one and it will be on my list of must have's in the future. I have found that if I turn the brightness all the way up I can still see the HUD with my polarized glasses, though it is dimmer. I am planning on getting a pair of non-polarized for driving.

 

[PD705]

I can see my HUD clearly enough with my polarized Maui Jim shades as long as brightness is set to max. Even in ultra-direct sunlight where it's hardest to see, the slightest head tilt is all that's needed to bring it into view. It's not enough of an issue that I'd ever trade sunglasses over it.

 

[Edmguy]

The speed is pretty easy to see with polarized lenses, but lane markers and steering wheel are very hard to make out I find even with the brightness as high as possible.