RE: Time for Tea? All hail the digital dash!
Discussion
It seems car manufacturers have been let off the hook when it comes to designing a unique dash. The apparent love for the analogue layout has made their job far easier in my opinion.
I really hope we don't all end up driving cars with digital screens showing an analogue speedo, a la MB S Class.
I really hope we don't all end up driving cars with digital screens showing an analogue speedo, a la MB S Class.
I spent my early years on the Tomy Turnin' Turbo Dashboard driving simulator of 1983!
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-ten...
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-ten...
The_Burg said:
TBH i still can't see why traditional style car instruments exist.
TFT panels are peanuts to buy and it would be fully customisable to display what you actually need to know for instance for average drivers, full techno overload for the car geeks.
TFT panels that operate at -40c and are Automotive EMC compliant, aren't cheap!TFT panels are peanuts to buy and it would be fully customisable to display what you actually need to know for instance for average drivers, full techno overload for the car geeks.
I loved the head up display in the 1991 (God I feel old) Pontiac GTP, it was so annoying I stuffed the car trying to turn the bloody thing off on a minus 15 night in the middle of a German forest!!
On a brighter note I swear the dash in the ur quattro was so slow to react that you could be decelerating hard and the thing was still showing you were increasing speed :-)))
On a brighter note I swear the dash in the ur quattro was so slow to react that you could be decelerating hard and the thing was still showing you were increasing speed :-)))
topalwaysdown said:
Only ommission I can think of is the early 90s Prelude, can remember a friend's mum having one back then. I loved the dashboard design, though always thought the exterior was ugly. I thought I remembered the speedo and rev counter being digital too, though it seems it's just the fuel and temperature.
Exactly what I thought, and probably one of the more obvious modern ones.Quite shocking how many of the examples are Americans.
Why has no one mentioned the amazing LFA dash?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0CAjww1ulQ&fea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyy1dMvGls8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0CAjww1ulQ&fea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyy1dMvGls8
Mr Sparkle said:
Killer2005 said:
My daily view
I love these dashes, I have the AP1. Wish they had included a clock though on the earlier cars. What gear are you in there, rations are different from mine.Edited by Mr Sparkle on Tuesday 14th August 19:22
The problem with digidash's is that an analog speedo is simply an easier device to use. You don't look at your dash to see what speed you're doing (esp not to x decimals of precision!!) - you look at it to see if you're "close to the limit" or "over the limit" or whatever.
Digital dashes feed too much information - no-one needs to know they're doing 31,30,31,30,31,32,31,30,29,30,29,30.
Rev counters are different tho - they're arguably useless unless you're at maximum attack (e.g. racing) and even then you need shift lights, not a needle or a rev readout.
We're entering a brave new world with dashes tho - what I can never figure out is why cars are always so far behind the curve with this stuff. My smartphone has some amazing data realisation/touch interface Apps - wheras cars have something which feels like early Flash - at best.
It's like radios - why did manufacturers wait until digital radio was dead to put digital radios into cars again?? When will they realise all we want is a jack socket?
p.s. there's a test you can do, as a passenger - similar to the 'watch test'.
In the 'watch test' you wait until someone you're with looks at their watch and then immediate afterwards, ask them the time. 99.9% of the time they'll have no idea and look at their watch - because they didn't look to see the time, they looked to see if they were early or late for an appt/bus/train or simply to see how long since they did something/before they need to do something.
Same theory with drivers - wait until they look at the dash and then ask them what speed they're doing - or worse, how may revs. I guarantee they'll have no idea - ditto all the other 'information' on their dash which they're utterly ignoring such as "Is the car at normal temp" or "Is the seatbelt light on?" etc. etc.
Designers need to understand people better before they make these things - tho all those pics are awesome (and almost uniformly awesomely bad).
Digital dashes feed too much information - no-one needs to know they're doing 31,30,31,30,31,32,31,30,29,30,29,30.
Rev counters are different tho - they're arguably useless unless you're at maximum attack (e.g. racing) and even then you need shift lights, not a needle or a rev readout.
We're entering a brave new world with dashes tho - what I can never figure out is why cars are always so far behind the curve with this stuff. My smartphone has some amazing data realisation/touch interface Apps - wheras cars have something which feels like early Flash - at best.
It's like radios - why did manufacturers wait until digital radio was dead to put digital radios into cars again?? When will they realise all we want is a jack socket?
p.s. there's a test you can do, as a passenger - similar to the 'watch test'.
In the 'watch test' you wait until someone you're with looks at their watch and then immediate afterwards, ask them the time. 99.9% of the time they'll have no idea and look at their watch - because they didn't look to see the time, they looked to see if they were early or late for an appt/bus/train or simply to see how long since they did something/before they need to do something.
Same theory with drivers - wait until they look at the dash and then ask them what speed they're doing - or worse, how may revs. I guarantee they'll have no idea - ditto all the other 'information' on their dash which they're utterly ignoring such as "Is the car at normal temp" or "Is the seatbelt light on?" etc. etc.
Designers need to understand people better before they make these things - tho all those pics are awesome (and almost uniformly awesomely bad).
Edited by 405dogvan on Tuesday 14th August 20:58
I think these are highly under-rated - there's a choice of about 7 different backlight colours to suit day/night driving (or just your mood?) and despite the obvious drawbacks of a digital speedo, it's one of the nicer ones to actually use.
Would be cooler if the binnacle/clamshell above it opened and closed like the flap over the radio.
Edited by BonzoG on Tuesday 14th August 21:16
topalwaysdown said:
The geek in me loves stuff like this 
Pleased to see all variations of the S2000 and even the similar Mk1 Insight included too. I hadn't realised quite how many older cars had digital dashes. The Lagonda is my favourite, it looks like a game of Space Invaders!
Only ommission I can think of is the early 90s Prelude, can remember a friend's mum having one back then. I loved the dashboard design, though always thought the exterior was ugly. I thought I remembered the speedo and rev counter being digital too, though it seems it's just the fuel and temperature.
After six months of driving with a digital dash, I much prefer it and think it's quicker to read. It's a plain number on the screen, it's lit up and easy to see out of the corner of your eye without having to look right at it. And the S2000 rev counter, despite being digital reacts in the same way as an analogue one would. I actually find it hard work driving other cars now, because I have to concentrate on the dials, particularly in the X Trail where they're offset in the centre.
Yeah, whenever I give someone a lift in mine they always go ooooo at the dash. It's great! For a 16 year old car I think it's spot on!Pleased to see all variations of the S2000 and even the similar Mk1 Insight included too. I hadn't realised quite how many older cars had digital dashes. The Lagonda is my favourite, it looks like a game of Space Invaders!
Only ommission I can think of is the early 90s Prelude, can remember a friend's mum having one back then. I loved the dashboard design, though always thought the exterior was ugly. I thought I remembered the speedo and rev counter being digital too, though it seems it's just the fuel and temperature.
After six months of driving with a digital dash, I much prefer it and think it's quicker to read. It's a plain number on the screen, it's lit up and easy to see out of the corner of your eye without having to look right at it. And the S2000 rev counter, despite being digital reacts in the same way as an analogue one would. I actually find it hard work driving other cars now, because I have to concentrate on the dials, particularly in the X Trail where they're offset in the centre.
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