The colour accuracy of DLP Cinema DMDs in HUDs

20th April 2015

Siobhan O'Gorman

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The first DLP chipset engineered and qualified for automotive HUD (Head-Up Display) applications has been introduced by Texas Instruments. Combining the imaging qualities of DLP technology with automotive reliability, the chipset enables HUDs with the industry's widest FOV up to 12°. It also enables high brightness, colour and contrast levels and provides manufacturers with a scalable platform.

The DLP3000-Q1 chipset consists of a DLP 0.3” WVGA DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) and DLPC120 controller and enables a new generation of HUD.

The flexibility of the DLP3000-Q1 allows for the industry's widest FOV HUD range, up to 12°. A wide FOV HUD of this range allows augmented-reality elements such as navigational indicators and real-time landmark details to be displayed in the driver's line of sight, with a depth perception of 2 to 20 meters ahead to help keep the driver focused on the road.

A HUD based on the DLP3000-Q1 features the same core technology that powers more than eight out of 10 digital movie theatre screens worldwide. This results in a HUD capable of producing 15,000cd/m2 of brightness, a dynamic dimming range of 5,000:1, high contrast greater than 1,000:1 full on/full off and 125% NTSC colour-gamut performance that will not degrade over temperature for clear images in various viewing scenarios over the typical life of the vehicle. In addition, DLP technology does not require polarisation of light which helps automotive OEMs design in HUDs with displays that are visible while wearing polarised eye-wear.

DLP technology is light source-agnostic; therefore, it can leverage reliable LEDs while providing a future path to using lasers once they are available for automotive-qualified HUD applications. In addition, with the DLP3000-Q1 as the core component of the HUD picture generation unit, the whole system can be integrated into a variety of mechanical form factors such as a windshield or combiner HUDs. This is possible across vehicle model lines, potentially resulting in greater returns on manufacturers' investments.

To accelerate end-product development, TI maintains an extensive ecosystem of design houses. The DLP Design Network provides developers a diverse network to support their hardware and software integration, optics design, system integration, prototyping, manufacturing services and turnkey solutions to support current and evolving customer needs.

The DLP3000-Q1 chipset for automotive HUD applications is sampling now with automotive manufacturers and tier-one suppliers. The DLP 0.3” WVGA DMD will be offered in a Type A package and the DLPC120 will be available in a ZXS package.