Prospective developments in automotive instrumentation

In this paper, we review the status of automotive instrumentation and consider future developments in emerging display technologies for use in automotive displays. In particular, we focus on the various ways in which conventional display technologies can be effectively used to replace a profusion of ancillary instruments and a number of primary indicator functions required by instrumentation engineers to overcome demands for increased information content. We take the fundamental characteristics of various prominent display technologies into account and try to identify where they may provide a suitable design solution for automotive instrumentation. We discuss the use of active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs), electrically controlled birefringent color LCDs, implementation of improved drive schemes for higher contrast ratios such as multi-line addressing, the use of reflective-only displays, and techniques for brightness enhancement using high-efficiency filters. Besides LCD-based displays, we also consider other alternative display technologies which may have automotive applications in the foreseeable future and how may they be applied. Such technologies include VFD, LED, EL, FED, LCD light valves and head-up displays (HUDs), which have the potential to introduce instrumentation which follows driver eye movement. Finally, we address issues relating to the manufacture and integration of displays for automotive instrumentation to include cost, reliability, weight, and footprint by adopting advanced packaging technologies such as flip-chip-on-glass (FCOG).