Add a Fighter Jet style HUD to your car (2012 Video - old info) 

What I love most about these old videos is that they reference even older videos that no longer exist.

The window film thing is to stop the double image reflection.You need to spray soapy water on the windshield and put the plastic film in position and then get a firm object to press it to the window and remove all the air. After you've done that you wont see the double image.

A HUD for a car isn't just for fun but a nice safety feature to keep your eyes on the road

I know this is an old video. I'd like to see a review on what a modern one is like. Hopefully they have improved.

UPDATE - I've just checked the sheet again and it's definitely without any shadow of a doubt a single thickness sheet of plastic, there is nothing to peel. It doesn't become sticky when coated with water either. I suppose it might somehow attach to the windscreen if attacked with a hair dryer...but I don't want to permanently alter/damage my car just to do a review, and as I demonstrated in the video it's badly crinkled, so could never look good anyway.

from my personal experience, this is necessary. i found my driving experience more relaxing when i stopped to look down through the spaces and holes on the steering wheel just to get a read of my current speed.

Thanks for the info, but an additional info: This double-image effect is not due the laminated windshield, it happens in any glass. The laminated blades have all the same or almost-the-same "index of refraction" (or "refraction index"?. Sorry, english is my second language). So once they are perfectly glued together with vacuum, the blades differences or boundaries are unnoticeable. Glass has a high percentage of transparency and a low percentage of reflexivity. Which means: A lot of light passes through its surface and a little of this light bounces back on its surface. OK? So, consider the glass-body in its thickness as a room, and in this room we have the front window and the back window. The light will get into the front window, cross the room, and come out from the back window. OK? Both windows let a good part of light passing through and a small part of the light to be bounced back. Right? The same happens in the thickness of the glass: The light bounces to get in the glass, *AND* to get out. It is reflecting on the opposite surface INSIDE the glass when trying to get out of it. If it is hard to believe in me, please: Get a bottle of wine those which have dark-green glass, and get under a lamp and stare to the reflection of this lamp onto the bottle surface. Thou wilt notice that the double-reflection, one of them will be in white, and the other one will be in green. (And in an empty bottle, the reflection of the opposite wall, one will be in green and the other one will be in dark-green.) Now back to the solution for this device: A couple of years ago I faced the same problem when I was thinking about an invention like this in my 40 years old car (which means: Tempered windshield instead of laminated windshield) and this double effect occurred. My suggestion would be to apply those plastic films for car windows. ("Tainted glass"? Don't know the name for that all around the world) These films for darkening or mirroring the windows are flawless in comparison to this silly "reflective film" that comes with the product. So the same way the bottle of vine one of the reflections gets green, if we use a "graffiti" or "dark-gray" film, it will cause the second reflection to be "dark", thus it won't confuse the projected image. Not all countries allow have films on the front window (windshield), so apply it only at small rectangular area. (Just like this "reflective film" intended to be.) Sorry for being too long, but I hope I helped. Ace

I had a '93 Silvia once, and I had the same issue with the double-characters when I changed the analog gauge cluster out for the digital. I simply sat in the drivers seat with a dry-erase marker to mark four 'corners' where the HUD would be, then cut a square piece of tint. Worked pretty nicely.

This video was uploaded in November 2012. I no longer have the HUD, the window tint material or the car. I have a car with a built in HUD now. www.techmoan.com/blog/2015/8/22/demonstrating-the-head-up-display-in-a-mini-cooper.html

Thank you for reviewing these, i didnt even know they existed. Im checking them out now.

Hi, apologies for that. I've corrected the link now - and added it to the video description too.

Great Video! your way of telling a story around the product is extremely compelling.

For someone like me this is actually something I'd need, as I find it hard to pay attention to the road and my speed at the same time.

I remember that one, but it more than 7 years ago! I was hoping for a newer version of the Helmet-HUD.

There was one, the Sportvue MC1, but it didn't work very well. Webbikeworld have a good write up on it.

I know that people have already mentioned using cell phone screen protectors instead of the packaged window film, but a friend of mine used a matte anti-glare screen protector for an iPad mini and that really works well.

get a mirror tint film for doing window tint... works like a charm... just cut it small enough to display the HUD...

yeah..i saw the little screen pop up on the mini....just like a jet fighter display of the older f14 type.really a neat little gadget. i have two friends with the mini's.one has the stick and the other the automatic.auto seems to be problematic.factory replaced the trans under warranty and so far..so good.the stick car had an alternator go bad but otherwise seems to be holding up well.hope yours treats you right :-) btw...we share the love of gadgets for audio systems.mine is a bi-amped technics I/A system fed from a computer(new class"A" both-sa350 on the mid/high duty-sa-r330 on the mid bass/bass duty).ar-1 turntable with linn arm and denon dl301 mc cartridge.behringer ultra-gain right after the sound card and before the amps to sort the bandpass for the room and my ears. level led's....fluorescent display on the 330..software spectrum analyzer on the second computer display...only for the show,of course. recently hit the subscribe button so i am playing catch-up.nice work and worth the effort.thanks :-) =dok=

Oh what a tease. I had high hopes for this one. Nice review in any case.

About the reflective film. "Just add water" to hold it in place.

Enjoy all your reviews. Regarding the double image: Experiment with the angle of the projection device in relationship to the windshield glass. Rather than setting the unit "flat" on the dash, there should be an optimum angle where the image is hitting both layers of the windshield laminate such that the dual images converge more favorably. Thanks for posting your review!

Techmoan - remove the insulating film from protective sheet so you can fix it to your windshield. imagine fixing a sticker paper to a wall with out removing the backing sheet., there is a configuration of day and night so it is brighter in the day and dimmer at night. Read the manual.

The problem with these makeshift HUD devices is that the virtual image is projected far too close to the driver - it isn't much better than looking at the dash as you still have to refocus your eyes to read the display clearly, which defeats the purpose of the thing. True HUDs would project the image much further into the distance so the image appears to be floating over the road rather than just above your dashboard. Also the reflection of the sun and sky off the glass/plastic surface onto the windscreen during the day would get annoying pretty quickly :-/

The idea behind the tint, IIRC, is that it provides a dark surface so you can see the HUD during the daylight. Otherwise it just becomes too washed out to read. I've used my Android phone before with various apps to produce the same results, and it works remarkably well--but only at night. A dedicated HUD wouldn't be too bad of an option.

Thanks, love your reviews. Cheers from Brazil!

the plastic film is tint for window you have to put it with water like car window tint

I've always used my android phone for a HUD (+ bluetooth obdii bridge) which actually works quite well. I didn't have the double vision issue you had...

Excellent review as always.

6:03 What you really need is a solid opac patch applied on the windscreen and as it doesn't go through it you don't get the double image thing

I need this... only a good version of it... Maybe i should get a car first tho...

Yes...you can see me peeling it off at the beginning of the video.

Great to have such device for my Honda City.

Clear & Concise review good stuff

Not bad....it might be worth a try.

Hi Mr.Techmoan, Thank You very much for Uploading such wonderful Videos.I have seen few of your Videos and enjoyed them very much.Looking forward for more Videos.And get in Touch with you from Time to Time. Regards, Yogesh.Chugani.

I think your reflective film might be backwards, giving you a double image effect. Just an idea.

I had a 240sx with HUD, and I broke the windshield. Just that reflective thing embedded in the glass made it cost $600 more than a normal one. Needless to say, I installed the normal one, and it still worked fine with no double image.

Thanks buddy, there is nothing like OEM stuff

Good idea, but I think I'd need something to replace the 'reflective' sheet, it's not worth trying to stick this to the window now.

Ahh, my weekly dose of Techmoan, just what my sunday evening needs. Perhaps an iPad screen protector will do the trick.

I've added this to my Renault modus, because instruments are in the centre, the 2018 A8 model projects very well, was £31 and hardest thing to do was change from kph to mph I position it so the info is just under the tyres of the vehicle in front, a gimmick on most cars I feel it's a must on this modus

Great stuff man, keep this up please!

They already have had it on the Corvette ZR1 for several years, and several other manufacturers as well for safety, and for track use as well, you can just glance at info like RPM and speed

I have something like this on my motorcycle. I like it and it works just fine on the windscreen seeing that it is not laminated.

A wet touchscreen is not a problem, as long as water does not get inside the device itself. You can run resistive touch with normal gloves, and capactive touch through thin covers. A digital dash is not the same as a HUD though. You get basic low-res eyepieces similar to what Google goggles are, those might be more fitting to this. Then you can tie a few hand-gestures to operate some basic functionality, or even bind it to some kind of bluetooth device for input.

Problem with this is that the image is not projected at infinity. You have to re focus your eyes to use it. A proper HUD projects the image at infinity so it appears to be in the far distance.

You could use a small piece of window tint on the windscreen. They did this with the Gm Corvette

That's what I asked on my blog....if anyone has a car with an HUD that shows on the windscreen could you fill us in on how it's implemented. I know the Citroen DS5 uses a pop up tinted screen on the dash.

Great review. Thanks!

Great product to have.

Hey Technoman, the 'piece of plastic' looks like a piece of 'solar control window film' that needs the pressure sensitive adhesive exposed by pulling of a the liner sheet. If you then spray it with a solution of water and a small amount of dishwashing liquid, it can be slid into position. Just squeegee out the water, and clean the glass carefully. However, the attempts to stick it may have damaged the film. If you go to a 'window tinting' company they can give you a similar replacement.

you should be able to use a piece of window tint (i.e. 3M) they have a FX line that should work.

I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know.

You could take appart an old laptop display, behind the lcd panel, there are a number of plastic sheets you could try to use with this thing, maby there is a sheet of reflective plastic that works just fine for this device!

Thanks mate you just saved me $150

That would make sense...but I could find no way of peeling it apart. It just seems like a single sheet (to my old eyes anyway). The instructions make no mention of it at all.

That's very likely, but it's going to do nothing to help with the wrinkled house-of-mirrors type reflections though.

Awesome channel, subbed

Also what I think you can use is a cut out piece of tint for the window one that would be dark enough

use some lumar metallic window tint film lol that may work and would be neat gadget for anyone that has a bad panel or even has a custom dash too

There was no setup - I just plugged it in and it worked.

Great review. thanks :)

Actually we were sposed to see HUDs on all cars back in the 90s. They had a HUD on a Buick, but I don't remember which model in the 1990's. One of those oversized old folks cars Im sure, since they dont look at the speedometer, they just slow down when there's a car ahead of them, otherwise there foot is to the floor and there always going way to fast.

James May?

I bought one similar from eBay over Christmas for my Audi. The reflective film on mine had a peel-off, self adhesive backing, so I wonder if yours wasn't slightly "used". My biggest issue with these, are the don't display at "infinity focus", instead I have to refocus my eyes to read the display, then again for traffic. It's less movement that looking at instruments, but novelty factor only. Paid £13 for mine from a UK seller. I was robbed!

The reflective film sticks just fine if you spray water on the windshield first, then apply the film. Push out the bubbles, voila.

nice review, thanks

What a shame it did not work as expected. I ve wanted something like this for years. I ve already got a gps digital speedo but this would be better, if it worked properly of course. Nice video.

Yes- some upmarket models of car come with a HUD built in, so...

Im sure your in for thousands of comments along these lines, but here it goes. The been there, done that, side of me suggests that there has to be some sort of make shift material you could use for the reflective film that would do better. I see someone suggested an ipad screen protector and he may be on to something. What about a small patch of window tint film? Im not sure if one direction would work better than the other or if it would work at all but it may be worth a shot! GREAT VID!

Great vid

Use a dark screen protector from some kind of phone or gadget big enough to see the HUD. You could also use a semi mirror screen protector as well, but it wouldn't look all that great in the day because of the reflection.

There was one, the Sportvue MC1, but it didn't work very well. Webbikeworld have a good write up on it. Techmoan in reply to PyroSA 1 day ago

What about some sort of slip of acrylic, like the kind available in home improvement stores? Of course, there is the problem that plastics of any kind age, yellow, and get brittle. But, I would assume that the home improvement acrylic would be fairly easy to change out when it looks degraded.

Hey Techmoan, as an alternative to this, you may want to check out the Android app called Torque, along with one of those cheap eBay bluetooth OBD readers. I've been using that and I love it. It even has an HUD mode where it flips all the text for reflection. Much better option than this.

Thanks for adding the "AFFLIATED" LINKS in the links section, Techmoan! HAR! HAR!

Can solve this with tinting screen on its most light shade available. Some shades are so light that you cannot see it on the window. That will work for sure. Have a try!

Nice product

A lot of the problem with the double images is that the angle and distance that the unit sits at is wrong. If you look at a real HUD in a good car that has one, you will see it is recessed quite far into the dash - you can't even see it clearly from the driving position and the angle is properly matched to that of the windshield and the driver's viewing position. Also, as someone else said, you should have used detergent and water to fit the sheet to the glass - that's how tinting films are applied.

The sheet (technically the 'combiner') is meant to reflect the frequency of light from the display back towards you but let other frequencies pass freely, so if it was any good at it's job no light from the display should get through it to reflect off the windscreen, laminated or not. Maybe they mismatched the device's display colour and sheet in the factory?

There are apps with the same functionality in both ios and android platform and the are quite decent. Regards

You need 2 polarizing plastic sheets. One to polarize the light from the device and one as a reflector. This should be suppress the double reflection.

What I'd really love, is something similar to this, but for a bike helmet.

You could take several files and stack them and cut them to size and stick it with clear tape that should solve the problems

You could try to get a big glossy screen protector off ebay( something like for the Galaxy Note or Nexus 7) and try that, they should stick much better and can be removed.

Hi again! Hey you should make a video of HUD for motorcycle helmets!

my helmet has the HUD built into the visor it hooks up to the MCC and mirrors the HUD in the aircraft so you can toggle one or the other

Nice job thank you

I am in the process of making a android based motorcycle onboard computer with GPS and rear view camera for my Suzuki DR 650. It will have 7" OLED display and some nice big buttons on it. I was going to make it touchscreen, but than i decided that a wet touchscreen is not a good thing. Hope to have it done by the next season! Than maybe i'll sell a few to a selected group ;)

For a replacement for the film using a cell phone screen protector would work nicely. theyre the right size and sticky enough. plus you can get a very wide variety of them on ebay for little to nothing cost wise.

Thanks for the review it will save money for many guys for this poor product.

i did the same thing with my android phone (app is called torque) and my blutooth obd2 (elm327) and iphone plastique screen cover it work very well

Might need to peel off something from the sheet but might be a good idea to get someone with good eyes or a magnifying glass to see if theres any seperation between the two sheets.

I wonder if hot water would soften it and the crinkle would go away when it was pressed to the window. There are a lot of other films that you could get. I am not sure that you need something reflective. For example if you had a 30% tint the second reflection would be cut by 49%, because of the 2 passes. Also it might be possible to make the inner surface mat with some sort of spray so that you only say the reflection of the outer layer. I really want one because I can't see my speedo.

I'm tall and the steering wheel blocks the view of the odometer. So I got myself a "kiwi mpg" I love it. works great. Plus safer I don't have to look down to see the speed.

thanx man

Try simply wetting the back of the reflective film. It may cause it to stick. I love your videos, keep up the good work.

HUDway will be introducing a (well, what else) from it's Glass fundraiser. Your phone does the heavy lifting.

O.o i know it is something nobody needs, but it would be useful to me though, i drive mostly half asleep and keeping the eyes on the road the longer without looking down to check on my speed would certainly help me be more alert. hate having to press the brakes on the highway cause some noob got in front while i was checking dashboard.

I'd really like to get something like this, but getting a good image reflected back is a problem. Maybe there's another place you can get it from, separate from the original display.