Car manufacturers have been offering head-up display technology on top-spec models for a few years now. Almost every brand has their own version of the tech – including mainstream marques – and you might now find cars with this feature on the used market.
A head-up display projects driving information you will usually find on the digital instrument cluster or infotainment screen – like speed, speed limit, battery charge or fuel information and navigation – onto the windscreen or a small transparent screen just above the steering wheel, so that you don’t have to take your eyes off the road.
This tech can make your driving safer in theory by keeping vital information within the your line of sight when on the road. That said, a head-up display rarely comes as standard (if at all), meaning you will have to opt for a more expensive model to get one, and it displays information already available with a quick glance at the digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel or the infotainment screen.
So, what is it exactly?
While this technology is only now becoming widespread across the new car market, head-up displays have been around for a pretty long time. First used in fighter planes, airliners and tanks, the first head-up display for a passenger car was developed back in 1999 by General Motors.
While that system was limited to a speedometer graphic, the head-up displays you can spec on a new car today show several different driving variables, and can be customised to show you the information that you want to see regularly, depending on the manufacturer.
A head-up display consists of three parts:
- A projector that generates the display’s graphics
- Mirrors or lenses that reflect those graphics onto the windscreen or a small transparent screen above the steering wheel
- A control interface that communicates with the car’s computer to collect information
What is Augmented Reality (AR)?
Some upmarket brands, like Mercedes-Benz and Audi, have now introduced augmented reality-based head-up displays for select models. These AR head-up displays have the same functions as standard head-up displays – displaying crucial or customised driving information – but also project visualisations onto the windscreen using a camera that monitors the road ahead.
These visualisations can include route markers (usually in the form of an arrow or chevron) to show you where to turn and markers for detected vehicles.
Will it improve my driving experience?
This always comes down to a driver’s preferences, and while it’s a rather convenient piece of kit to have, a straight-forward head-up display isn’t likely to have a big impact on your driving experience. Unless you are someone that gets particularly distracted by the car’s screens, a head-up display shouldn’t justify opting for a more expensive trim level on its own.
Keep in mind that other car settings you might regularly glance at, like media playback and climate control, still need you to momentarily take your eyes off the road (though these settings can me changed using a car’s infotainment voice assistant, if included). Head-up displays often adjust their brightness and contrast automatically based on ambient light conditions to insure good visibility, but those drivers who wear sunglasses won’t be able to see the projected display in some cases.
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