Chapter List

21.1 The Evolution to Electronic Displays

In the early automobile years, cars had analog displays that contained minimal information, usually just car speed and oil pressure. As the use of electronics increased in cars dramatically from the late 1970s on, however, the traditional mechanical or electromechanical analog displays with a circular dial face and a pointer began to be challenged by newer technologies. The major ones included gas discharge or plasma displays, vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), and more recently, head-up displays (HUDs). These newer technologies made it possible for car makers to give drivers a broad spectrum of information, including sophisticated graphics.

In 1978, the first production electronic digital display, a gas plasma device, was used in the Cadillac Seville; in 1984, the first standard equipment production LCD cluster was used in the Chevrolet Corvette; and in 1985, the first full-color CRT was used in a production vehicle, the Toyota Soarer. ^[1]

The initial rush by car makers to use electronic displays has now abated somewhat. Drivers, in many instances, did not take kindly to overkill with electronic displays any more than they did to electronically generated voice messages and today's use of displays tends to be more conservative. In fact, one approach fast gaining popularity is electronic analog displays rather than strictly digital ones.

This chapter will describe typical electronic displays used in cars. It is...