HUD add on

[zafar ahmed]

Hi, can a HUD be added on a vehicle which has not got one at the moment but there is a cut out slot  on the dash board in front of the steering (currently covered with a blank ?

[cruisermark]

Possibly - if the car is offered with that option then it maybe possible to add it by purchasing all the parts - this may involve a replacement compatible windscreen aswell.

I know alot of owners have done the modification on their GS in USA.

I don't know why all new cars dont come with HUD - It is very useful and simple technology - I've bought a OBD plug in one for my 430 and it works great - but trailing wires and having to put a sticker on my screen put me off - but it works perfectly.

[NemesisUK]

I imagine retrofitting the OEM parts would get expensive.

[Herbie]

It is possible. One of the forum members on here has done it - or it may have been one from the American forums, I can't remember.

It's possible to find the components needed via breakers yards, but the end result isn't perfect unless you also replace the windscreen with the special HUD version. If you don't replace the windscreen the readout looks blurred, like you've got double-vision, which is due to the reflection/refraction of the light.

The photo below is from an American forum where the windscreen from a HUD car had been replaced with a standard one rather than a HUD-compatible one.

[Barry14UK]

I have HUD fitted to my car as standard for the model but when I wear my decent quality prescription drivers sun glasses, I can't read it.  In these circumstances I rely on my TomTom which not only clearly shows navigation and directions with verbal instructions but shows speed (close enough to actual) and road limit.  Furthermore, it indicates speed cameras and provides free updates.  It did require a little thought to make a supporting frame but can be seen in peripheral vision  without hardly moving your eye balls.  The actual navigation is much better than the Lexus effort.  It would also be cheaper than to retrofit the Lexus HUD. 

 

[stringbender]

HUD is excellent - when I can see it ! My flip up polarised sunglasses eliminate the display entirely.

I had no idea that the screen is special to avoid blurring. Does this mean a replacement has to be from Lexus ?

[Barry14UK]

18 minutes ago, stringbender said:

HUD is excellent - when I can see it ! My flip up polarised sunglasses eliminate the display entirely.

I had no idea that the screen is special to avoid blurring. Does this mean a replacement has to be from Lexus ?

Yes my ones that lose it are polarised too so that must explain it.  Generally they are otherwise very good glasses.  I have not bothered with getting non polarised prescription ones as the 6 inch TomTom serves well.

You are probably right that the Lexus HUD system requires a suitable screen but maybe non Lexus screens can incorporate this feature, something that should be established before fitting replacement screen. 

[Clunkfish]

I think the disappearance of the HUD when using polarised glasses must be because light is polarised by reflection, and the HUD image is a reflected one and thus polarised. If the HUD polarisation is opposite to that of the glasses, then the image will not be visible. You can test this by viewing the HUD through one of the polarised lenses then rotating the lens - after roughly 90 degrees of rotation, the HUD image should reappear. That's because the polarisations are now aligned.

(I knew that A Level in Physics would come in handy - when I took it 50 years ago!)