Abstract
Head-up display (HUD) is the most suitable visual interface of navigation system in terms of safety consideration. Drivers can receive information without moving their line of sight from the road and it helps to reduce driver visual strain and improve driving reaction time. This thesis proposes a new architecture of HUD unit, which is compact enough as a portable device which can be mounted on the dashboard of most car models for after-market service. This HUD unit also can provide multicolor and picture grade resolution so as to integrate more functions in the display unit. A transmissive TFT LCD is used as the image source, and white LEDs are used as the illumination light source. A tapered light pipe is used for mixing illumination light for uniformity. An aspheric lens is positioned in front of the LCD panel for magnifying the image and placing the virtual image at a desire viewing distance in front of the driver. As compactness is one major concern, the light path, including illumination and imaging light path, could be folded for minimizing the overall volume of the device. Two HUD models using the abovementioned concept and configuration have been built. Due to its powerful display capability, this proposed HUD can show all the necessary navigation information just like a popular portable navigation device. Hopefully, it will appear on the after-market recently.