Fred931 Posted March 21, 2014 Report Posted March 21, 2014 Red cellophane over the VFD in the HUD... Quote
94 olds vert Posted March 21, 2014 Report Posted March 21, 2014 Cool. How does it affect daytime visibillity? Quote
RobertISaar Posted March 22, 2014 Report Posted March 22, 2014 cellophane might not be so bad, but there still has to be a noticable drop in output. the VFD puts out a blue-green light, the cellophane acting like a filter will take out a lot of the output. the only light that can pass through it is red light(or a different colored light's red wavelengths). Quote
rich_e777 Posted March 22, 2014 Report Posted March 22, 2014 I took my lone unit apart with the intention of changing to a brighter bulb, boy was I wrong. I dig the old school digital look and color but the red is cool. Didn't the GTP Huds come only in red? Quote
ManicMechanic Posted March 22, 2014 Report Posted March 22, 2014 Not that I am aware of, but Aztec HUDs did. Quote
rich_e777 Posted March 22, 2014 Report Posted March 22, 2014 SAD SAD vehicle that Aztec is. Anything they could throw in to sell it I guess, probably the same unit out of the later gen grand prixs. Quote
94 olds vert Posted March 22, 2014 Report Posted March 22, 2014 Aztecs got cool red HUDs and the rest of us were stuck with green blueish colored ones. Wheres the gay seal meme when you need it... Quote
Night Fury Posted March 22, 2014 Report Posted March 22, 2014 That said, I have a soft spot for Aztecs and would totally rock one. Quote
ManicMechanic Posted March 22, 2014 Report Posted March 22, 2014 That said, I have a soft spot for Aztecs and would totally rock one. Quote
Psych0matt Posted March 22, 2014 Report Posted March 22, 2014 By the title of the post I was expecting something funny... It wasn't very descriptive Quote
Night Fury Posted March 23, 2014 Report Posted March 23, 2014 Yes, this is actually pretty awesome Quote
intern8tion9l Posted March 25, 2014 Report Posted March 25, 2014 Typical tgp low fuel and check gauges lights Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted March 25, 2014 Report Posted March 25, 2014 That looks pretty good! I meant to do that to my TGP awhile back, to both the HUD and VFD DIC. Bought some red adhesive vinyl from eBay. Tried it out and... PINK! Looks like whatever you used works a lot better. Quote
Fred931 Posted March 25, 2014 Author Report Posted March 25, 2014 Forgot about this thread entirely so now I can go back and clarify things. It's about 4 thin sheets to get the solid red that I like here, 3 minimum to get something that looks red and 1 sheet to turn the green-blue to white, if you want that instead. You can't just swap back panels or the entire assembly or anything, so some form of filter is the only way to get the color different. I have heard of the use of "lighting gels" or "lighting filters" specifically for getting the job done on VFD displays. The visibility is affected, but it isn't so dramatic that the gauge is no longer visible. Imagine moving the brightness setting down about 4 clicks (Or better yet go out to your HUD if you have one and try it yourself). Quote
RobertISaar Posted March 25, 2014 Report Posted March 25, 2014 how much has clarity changed? filters tend to cause some distortion, but i don't know how badly in this application. Quote
Fred931 Posted March 25, 2014 Author Report Posted March 25, 2014 The cellophane isn't like tape or anything; it doesn't blur up unless you do a poor job making each layer flat with whatever adhesive you use. I went with something called MultiGrip which can be removed easily with some rubbing alcohol to pack the 4 sheets together, followed by sticking that stack to the VFD. Putting the material anywhere else in the mirror chain does not work. Quote
RobertISaar Posted March 25, 2014 Report Posted March 25, 2014 it is still a surface that light has to pass through, i'm sure some light is being scattered, but different materials have different amounts of it happening. sounds like what you're using isn't turning crisp edges into fuzzy edges? i really should take one apart and see how easy it would be to replace the VFD with a 3-position 7-segment LED for vehicle speed and discrete LEDs and a little mask over them for the other indicators. would allow for any color combination possible. Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted March 25, 2014 Report Posted March 25, 2014 Those VFDs are really bright without a filter. I haven't ever seen a 7-segment LED that's anywhere near as bright as a VFD, even with a filter on it. Converting one to use LED could work, you'd need to convert signals and pinouts since VFDs don't use the standard 7-segment LED pinouts. Definitely would need some kind of daughterboard for your conversion circuitry and rerouting of pins. Quote
Fred931 Posted March 25, 2014 Author Report Posted March 25, 2014 Robert, you know from the EFI forum that I'm planning a carputer build. I am even considering (consider being the key word) replacing the contents of the HUD assembly with a handheld projector either wired or hooked up via WiFi hotspot or even Miracast adapter if the protocol supports small resolutions. Then, hook that up to the tablet, and voila: completely customizable TunerPro HUD. OR, just replace the actual dash with a display(s) and leave the perfectly not-broken HUD alone. The analog gauges are what's shit anywho. This is why I need a full time job; not for money, but to keep my mind from coming up with all this crazy stuff. Quote
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