Redefining Display Technology for Automotive WindshieldsRedefining Display Technology for Automotive Windshields

Head-up displays (HUDs) show useful information, such as speed and turn-by-turn directions, on the lower part of the windshield, where it can be seen without the driver needing to take his or her eyes off the road. Automakers and their suppliers are looking for advanced solutions for next-generation HUDs to increase user experience and safety. German polymer materials manufacturer Covestro, US specialty materials company Eastman, and Scotland’s Ceres Holographics, a provider of holographic optical elements for displays, have joined forces to redefine such displays. The partners signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the commercial production of the cutting-edge Holographic In-Plan Transparent Display (HIPTD) — a laminated hologram technology that allows multiple head-up displays on a single windshield.

Technology overcomes limitations of traditional HUD systems

The new displays overcome the performance, size, and geometric limitations of traditional HUD systems, enabling the practical and scalable implementation of multiple displays in one windshield and elsewhere in side-light glazing. Proof of concepts developed with OEMs will be showcased at CES 2025 in Las Vegas from Jan. 7 to 10.

The MoU builds on years of collaboration, leveraging each company’s technologies to manufacture holographic-enabled transparent HUDs for the automotive market. It will facilitate investigating the steps needed to set up and establish the necessary facilities and manufacturing capacity, ensuring an efficient, market-ready supply chain to meet the planned production timelines of OEMs wishing to adopt the technology. The partnership aims to accelerate the commercialization of this HUD solution, with Eastman leveraging its relationships with automotive OEMs and Tier One suppliers.

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A proven solution

In 2024, Ceres and Eastman demonstrated the latest holographic transparent display HUDs to OEMs in Europe, the United States, and China. These HUDs featured multiple transparent displays within a single, fully laminated windshield, each measuring up to 400 by 300 mm (16 by 12 in.). Custom-designed holographic optical elements (HOEs) were incorporated into a single sheet of Bayfol HX cellulose triacetate (TAC)m film, laminated with Eastman’s newly developed interlayer stack, achieving the industry's largest field of view. 

This achievement was enabled by combining Covestro’s expertise in photopolymer films; Ceres’ digital mastering and HoloFlekt roll-to-roll replication system, which produces finished films up to 1400-mm (4.6 ft) wide; and Eastman’s solutions to encapsulate functional films into automotive-approved laminates. 

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“This agreement solidifies our collaboration and moves us closer to delivering a full-stack solution for innovative display implementations,” said Hemant Dandekar, Eastman's global commercial director of automotive for advanced materials, interlayers. “With the building blocks and relationships in place, we’re excited to define a path to viable holographic transparent displays globally.”

Truly transparent projection displays

“Our Bayfol HX enables next-generation truly transparent projection displays for windshields while meeting high automotive safety requirements,” said Günther Walze, head of holographic lightguiding at Covestro. “With the necessary establishment of hologram mastering and scalable mass-production replication equipment by Ceres, combined with Eastman’s windshield lamination technology, this innovation is ready for deployment to end customers.”

“We have been working closely with global OEMs for years and are now at a tipping point for adoption and scaling of this display technology,” said Andy Travers, CEO of Ceres Holographics. “This is being driven by a combination of a desire for more safety-oriented and intuitive information display features; pressure from safety regulators to reduce driver distractions; and the accelerated pace of innovation and associated need for differentiation among a new generation of car makers.”

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A fully functional transparent display windshield demonstrator laminate will be showcased at CES 2025 in both the Eastman/Ceres Holographics demonstration suite at the Venetian Hotel - Murano suite, #3201A, and Covestro’s booth in the north hall, stand 8311.