Question for those who have HUD

[1m4tr]

I had to turn mine off last night since it was really rainy on some dark roads. I couldn't see through the HUD very well. When it is really rainy like that, I tend to look lower, closer to the hood of the car and the brightness of the HUD was interfering with that.

But at night w no rain, the HUD is great. No interference.

[Swancoat]

As far as polarized sunglasses go... The HUD is horizontally reflected light - exactly the kind of reflections that polarized lenses are supposed to diminish. So if you can see the HUD with your polarized glasses, they're either knock offs and not polarized, or the angle of polarization of the lenses is not ideal and those glasses aren't doing what they're supposed to. Or you drive around with your head cocked to the side.

[solstice]

I'm pretty old school in my taste ( passive suspension, hydraulic steering, gasoline engines etc ) and I thought I would find HUD just a big distraction. Surprise, suprise, I like it . The normal mode has just the right amount of info for my liking and the default brightness was fine but I lowered the location to just above the hood and tilted it a bit counter clockwise ( or was it clockwise ). The M mode I would have liked for DCT but for the 6MT I keep it in normal mode.

I only wear polarized sun glasses for endurance sports my casual once are not polarized so I had no issues with that. Can I do without HUD? Absolutely, don't have it in the pig and don't miss it much but as a freestanding option I would still value it at $500 or so.

[RickMonet]

So...do polarized sunglasses interfere with HUD or not?

Seems like we have mixed results.

Does anyone have a friend working at Sunglass Hut who can perform a case study?

[Vectors2final]

Originally Posted by Swancoat

As far as polarized sunglasses go... The HUD is horizontally reflected light - exactly the kind of reflections that polarized lenses are supposed to diminish. So if you can see the HUD with your polarized glasses, they're either knock offs and not polarized, or the angle of polarization of the lenses is not ideal and those glasses aren't doing what they're supposed to. Or you drive around with your head cocked to the side.

Well, I have REAL Ray Ban Ps, and I could see the HUD just fine.


I'm no genius regarding polarized light, but for some brand it might be possible that certain types of lenses do not have an effect on the HUD because of the type of polarized light. From what I understand, uses a cluster of LEDs and projects the image using a thin film transistor LCD display. Yes, polarized lenses typically have an issue with that. However, you are not directly looking at the display. In order to get desired results with polarized lenses, you need the right angle. Light is either vertical or horizontal. The lenses do the best job at 90˙. Light polarized different angles.

My take on this, which may be wrong is this... We are all different heights, our seating positions are different, the shape of the lenses are different, the way they sit on your face is different, and the way the light is refracted is different. I know that many would not want to change the way they sit in the car, either. There are too many variables that play into this.

Maybe move your head around, adjust the HUD and see what you come up with? I could be wrong, but that is my best guess.

I also found this...

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...nglasses+radio

Maybe certain companies are using a film to change the way certain types of light are seen through the film. I can't really explain this without sounding retarded, but it's like the example with the film in the above link.


Then I found this...

Polarized glasses show light vibrating in 1 plane usually either vertical or horizontal. Try this with your LCD watch or phone look at the display thru your polarizing glasses. Rotate the screen. Details should come into maximum focus at 1 point usually at vertical or horizontal. If you can't see the HUD, go shop for glasses that have the opposite axis. Use your LCD watch or phone to check they are the opposite of what you have now. Sorry if I'm not that clear.

Light can be polarized in any direction. However, linearly polarized light at and angle can be described by horizontal and vertical components. For example, Linearly polarized light of intensity, I, 45 degrees from horizontal can be described as the sum of the two components I/sqrt(2) horizontal + I/sqrt(2) vertical. More generally with incident linearly polarized light at angle, a, and intensity, I, the transmitted light through the polarizer is I*(cos(a))^2. Regular 'unpolarized' light is thought to have polarized components in all directions. This unpolarized light is cut in half when transmitted through a linear polarizer.

Additionally, most sunglasses are not ideal polarizers and don't block all the light that they would in theory. You can see this if you take two lenses and hold them perpendicular to each other. Looking close it's easy to see that light is still getting through at the position where it is darkest.

Which is what I was trying to describe when I was talking about the right angle and the 90˙

Ehhh, either way... I have glasses that work for me.


EDIT: I'm trying to figure out whether or not having a near clear tint on the windshield would improve this. SahkirM4 has this on his car, but I don't think he has HUD.

[Needsdecaf]

Thanks for the opinions guys, keep them coming.

I have driven HUD on several different cars, with several different polarized glasses (Maui, Revo, Costa) and the results are, well, different.

Audi's white HUD is completely invisible behind all glasses I have had.

BMW's...it has depended. Sometimes invisible, sometimes faint, sometimes can sorta see it. But always distorted.

Cadillac's full color HUD? Can see it like I wasn't wearing glasses at all. NO idea how they do that, but it's tremendous.

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by Vectors2final

Well, I have REAL Ray Ban Ps, and I could see the HUD just fine.


I'm no genius regarding polarized light, but for some brand it might be possible that certain types of lenses do not have an effect on the HUD because of the type of polarized light. From what I understand, uses a cluster of LEDs and projects the image using a thin film transistor LCD display. Yes, polarized lenses typically have an issue with that. However, you are not directly looking at the display. In order to get desired results with polarized lenses, you need the right angle. Light is either vertical or horizontal. The lenses do the best job at 90˙. Light polarized different angles.

My take on this, which may be wrong is this... We are all different heights, our seating positions are different, the shape of the lenses are different, the way they sit on your face is different, and the way the light is refracted is different. I know that many would not want to change the way they sit in the car, either. There are too many variables that play into this.

Maybe move your head around, adjust the HUD and see what you come up with? I could be wrong, but that is my best guess.

I also found this...

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...nglasses+radio

Maybe certain companies are using a film to change the way certain types of light are seen through the film. I can't really explain this without sounding retarded, but it's like the example with the film in the above link.


Then I found this...





Which is what I was trying to describe when I was talking about the right angle and the 90˙

Ehhh, either way... I have glasses that work for me.


EDIT: I'm trying to figure out whether or not having a near clear tint on the windshield would improve this. SahkirM4 has this on his car, but I don't think he has HUD.

Good stuff here. I agree that various brands affect the HUD differently. Thanks for the research.

[Aralan]

Originally Posted by Damasconian

The rev display is not great, as it fills in segments rather than a smooth line from 0 to redline.

How do you mean? M View on the HUD in my car looks pretty smooth to me.

[Wah]

I wear Oakley polarized sunglasses, and I can see the HUD. Barely, but I can see it.

[Aralan]

Originally Posted by Wah

I wear Oakley polarized sunglasses, and I can see the HUD. Barely, but I can see it.

It's really badly dimmed though. I swapped the lenses in my Oakley glasses to non-polarized so that I could see the HUD better.

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by Aralan

How do you mean? M View on the HUD in my car looks pretty smooth to me.

I think it looks great until it goes into motion.

Its not a smooth linear progression. Its segmented into gray bars that fill up as you accelerate. I was hoping for a more even display.

[Axelf]

I have Oakley sunglasses and the first time I wore them in the car looking at the HUD I thought it was broke... I was trying all the settings to make it brighter.. Then I took the glasses off to google it on my phone that's when I reallised that the glasses were causing the difference in the brightness.. I can still see the HUD with them on but it is very dim

[Wah]

Originally Posted by Aralan

It's really badly dimmed though. I swapped the lenses in my Oakley glasses to non-polarized so that I could see the HUD better.

I don't mind so much... it makes the hud less obtrusive but still usable.

[rz3]

I have Oakley, Ray Ban, and Maui Jim polarized sunglasses. I can see the HUD just fine with all of them. It's slightly diminished, but very readable. I also have a tint on the front windshield so that may have something to do with it.

[BEMR]

I have seen front window tint on M3, no sign of the tint anywhere, and no sign of anything darker looking forward, just cuts glare and brings back HUD to about 80% when your wearing polarized eyewear. Was pretty amazing will probably be doing soon.

[Carl L]

I wear Ray Ban Polarized and I can still use the HUD. It is fainter though, by about 50%, but it is definitely visible. I forgot how much I liked the HUD from the E60, really glad the Exec pkg forced me to get it again this time around as it's even better now.

[Aralan]

Originally Posted by Damasconian

I think it looks great until it goes into motion.

Its not a smooth linear progression. Its segmented into gray bars that fill up as you accelerate. I was hoping for a more even display.

Think I get what you are saying. I was curious just how many segments there are so I tried revving as slowly as possible in my car and I was able to count at least 10 segments per 1000rpm. I don't think we need better granularity than 100rpm increments on a tach. I don't need better than 1 second granularity on my wristwatch either, but like to see a smooth second hand sweep, so I respect your opinion.

[ASAP]

Real Raybans
Prescription Lenses that are Polarized

Could not see the HUD at all. Absolutely 0.

[Vectors2final]

Originally Posted by rz3

I have Oakley, Ray Ban, and Maui Jim polarized sunglasses. I can see the HUD just fine with all of them. It's slightly diminished, but very readable. I also have a tint on the front windshield so that may have something to do with it.

Was wondering about the tint... This might actually help with polarization.

[tkhan456]

Originally Posted by Andrew115

I can confirm it dims and brightens based on the lighting conditions around you. Also in idrive you can set the starting brightness point.

How did you confirm this, because it doesn't seem to do it for me. Wondering if I should take it to get checked out. It's on a new F82

[sh55]

Originally Posted by Aralan

Think I get what you are saying. I was curious just how many segments there are so I tried revving as slowly as possible in my car and I was able to count at least 10 segments per 1000rpm. I don't think we need better granularity than 100rpm increments on a tach. I don't need better than 1 second granularity on my wristwatch either, but like to see a smooth second hand sweep, so I respect your opinion.

I agree, looks plenty smooth to me. If you want it smoother just accelerate faster

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by solstice

I'm pretty old school in my taste ( passive suspension, hydraulic steering, gasoline engines etc ) and I thought I would find HUD just a big distraction. Surprise, suprise, I like it . The normal mode has just the right amount of info for my liking and the default brightness was fine but I lowered the location to just above the hood and tilted it a bit counter clockwise ( or was it clockwise ). The M mode I would have liked for DCT but for the 6MT I keep it in normal mode.

I only wear polarized sun glasses for endurance sports my casual once are not polarized so I had no issues with that. Can I do without HUD? Absolutely, don't have it in the pig and don't miss it much but as a freestanding option I would still value it at $500 or so.

Off topic I know, but are you a triathlete?