Kyocera International announced a new line of high-performance, high-resolution liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels specifically designed for automotive Head-Up-Displays (HUDs). These LCDs offer high light transmittance, high resolution, and the industry’s widest operating temperature range for optimal performance in automotive HUD applications, it is claimed.
Developed originally for Defence aircraft, HUD technology can improve automotive safety and reduce driver fatigue by projecting vehicle speed, navigation and other data directly onto a car’s windshield, where drivers can view it in their line of sight. This requires a display that performs well in lighting conditions ranging from full sunlight to total darkness. Additionally, since data and images are scaled up when projected onto a windshield, HUD technology requires high-resolution imaging to allow enlargement with no perceptible loss of detail or sharpness. Meeting these requirements in the automotive environment requires imaging components that deliver exceptional luminance, contrast and pixel density, with an extremely wide operating temperature range, since vehicles may travel to the coldest and hottest climates on Earth.
Kyocera’s new HUD LCDs provide light transmittance up to an ultra-high 8.5%, and typical contrast ratios of up to 1700:1. Their low temperature polysilicon technology delivers pixel density of approximately 300ppi – about twice that of conventional LCDs – and an 85-degree viewing angle with no colour shift, through Kyocera’s Advanced Wide Viewing technology (AWVII). Additionally, Kyocera HUD LCDs offer an operating temperature range of -40ºC to +105ºC, the broadest currently available among automotive displays.
“Kyocera brings four decades of LCD innovation to the automotive engineer’s unique challenges when integrating HUD technology into any vehicle platform,” said Kazuaki Ohara, manager of Kyocera’s automotive display sales division. “We are partnering with tier-one automotive brands to help bring this exciting new technology into all vehicles.”