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BMW London

MW uses color and more intuitive symbols to make Head-Up Display driving data easier to read.

(Credit: BMW)

It's now a little bit easier to focus on the road ahead while keeping an eye on your speed and navigation--BMW is making its Head-Up Display more prominent by adding color and more intuitive symbols.

Formerly a safety feature available only on the 5-series, BMW is expanding the optional BMW Head-Up Display to almost all of its vehicles. The new system improves on the old monochromatic graphics projection by adding more realistic and intuitive images and symbols, and displaying them in a full color spectrum. The brighter images are less tiring on the eyes and easier to read. These changes will make it easier for drivers to discern the information points that are projected at the driver's eye level on the windshield.

BMW launched its first Head-Up Display in 2004. The system uses an intense light source located inside the instrument panel to shine data through a translucent TFT (Thin Film Transistor). Specially shaped mirrors project the driving information, such as speed and upcoming turns, at the driver's eye level on the windshield.

It takes a typical driver an entire second to read the information on the instrument cluster, according to BMW. During that time, a driver traveling at about 30 mph is essentially driving blind for 13 feet. The BMW Head-Up display cuts that period of distraction by half, says the auto manufacturer.