GM Global Technology Operations LLC has submitted a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a display system that could be incorporated into one or more windows of a vehicle as well as navigational and driver assist systems. The system, according to documentation filed with the patent and trademark office, includes light-blocking capabilities to assist with glare and more.
The system entails a liquid crystal array layer and a transparent LED layer, both in plurality with respect to pixels. A controller is then operatively connected to the liquid crystal array layer and the transparent LED layer.
“The controller is configured to selectively trigger emission of light from a selection of the LED pixels, and to selectively darken a selection of the LC pixels that correspond directly to the selection of LED pixels,” according to the patent. “Therefore, the emitting LED pixels and the darkened LC pixels match and light is emitted from the LED pixels in substantially the opposite direction of the LC array layer.”
The controller may also be configured to determine the location of a glare source. In those instances, the controller may selectively darken the set of the LC pixels in an area between the glare source and the user, according to the patent application. That means the glare source would be such that the glare source is “limited” from shining onto the user.
Furthermore, GM writes in its patent application that the system can tint the windows of a vehicle.
“By tinting several of the windows, the controller limits greenhouse effects when the vehicle is parked on sunny days, such that there is reduced energy needed to cool the vehicle,” GM writes. “Additionally, there may be situations in which the sun load is so substantial that it may be difficult for air conditioning systems to cool the vehicle to the temperature desired by the occupants.”
The system allows for safety alerts, navigational messages and more to be displayed on the windshield. It can further be configured to display a virtual vision enhancement in response to a driver having limited vision or activating the driver assist system.
GM also notes in its application that the system could be applied to buildings, not just vehicles. GM filed the patent application in 2021 and associated documents were published in October 2022.
