HUD bezel reflecting on windshield

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2020 CX-5 GTR
Hi- Wondering if any of you owners that have active display (HUD) have noticed this and if you get used to it. It's kind of making me crazy today. I've attached a photo of what I'm seeing (and the photo is very much the worst case -not usually this noticable). I have had my 2020 GTR for about 3 months and find that the bezel and housing/cavity for the active display (HUD) reflects off the top of the dashboard onto the windshield. This is most annoying when the car and sun are oriented in a manner that allows for sunlight come through the windshield and land on the HUD bezel and housing and the recess cavity that is located on top of the dash directly over the steering wheel. It is not an issue on cloudy days or if the sun to the back of car. It can show up to some degree with sun on the sides. The key is that the light striking the HUD unit's plastic bezel (escutcheon) is brighter than the ambient illumination of the rest of the upper dash surfaces. If you look at how the unit is finished, the material is not an exact match to the material on the top surface of the rest of the dash. In fact, if you tap on it with your finger, you'll feel that it is a not covered at all but is is a hard plastic finish with a grain relief molded into it. It is also ever so slightly more reflective / shiny.

To be fair, even when it is most apparent, I typically can look through the portal like opening that intrudes on the window. It is clear enough to see through without out any safety issues. However my eye compares the rest of the window which is unobstruced to this a blob and I must admit it pretty made me a bit crazy today. I think I've been too distracted to notice as I've been concentrating on the driver's seat (trying to find a comfortable position which I think I found but it is not long lasting on extended rides). Today the sun was just right and it really popped into view. The picture I attached is probably the worst that could be expected and rarely looks this bad. It gives you an idea what I'm talking about and that is why I've included it.

Thank you in advance - this would probably not be an issue except on GT with premium package, GTR and Signature model. I would be curious on those that just have the rounded dash (no HUD option), if you ever see the rounded part of the dash show up on your windshield.
 

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Yes it happens with the HUD - under specific time of the day, specific direction/angle and of course on a sunny and very bright day. My seat is to the lower most position and it helps a bit, not perfect but better for my height.
 
You could try muting it with some mat black felt or maybe gaffer’s tape ... ?

I was on a road trip in an old Impala years ago and the sun was reflecting off my dash something fierce ... I threw a black long-sleeve t-shirt I had handy over the offending spot.
 
I have some reflection in my CX-9's windshield with the HUD, but it doesn't bother me at all. The black felt suggestion is something I would try - you can probably get some inexpensive felt or some matte black posterboard at a hobby store and just cut a piece to fit over the reflective bits to see if it helps.
 
Yes it happens with the HUD - under specific time of the day, specific direction/angle and of course on a sunny and very bright day. My seat is to the lower most position and it helps a bit, not perfect but better for my height.
I tried lowering my seat as it was kind of high. When the phantom image appears, I am now pretty much looking through the 'aperture' and it is is less distracting. Thanks for the suggestion !
 
I have some reflection in my CX-9's windshield with the HUD, but it doesn't bother me at all. The black felt suggestion is something I would try - you can probably get some inexpensive felt or some matte black posterboard at a hobby store and just cut a piece to fit over the reflective bits to see if it helps.
You could try muting it with some mat black felt or maybe gaffer’s tape ... ?

I was on a road trip in an old Impala years ago and the sun was reflecting off my dash something fierce ... I threw a black long-sleeve t-shirt I had handy over the offending spot.
Thank you - I looked up gaffer tape on Amazon and it seems like it would pull off with little or no residue. Lowering my seat has helped too. If it still bothers me I'm going to try some carefully placed gaffer non-reflective tape. I'll let you know how that goes.
 
Thank you - I looked up gaffer tape on Amazon and it seems like it would pull off with little or no residue. Lowering my seat has helped too. If it still bothers me I'm going to try some carefully placed gaffer non-reflective tape. I'll let you know how that goes.
Sorry for the late reply.

Gaffer’s tape is AWESOME ... but still, probably a good idea to find a discreet place to test it. Don’t know how fragile the soft-touch is; and when you remove the tape, after the heat cycles of the dash if you don’t use a good sunshade (the CoverCraft ones are the bomb), it might leave behind some gooey adhesive ... which is easily removed with GooGone; but again, I don’t know how the soft touch dash parts would react. The harder plastic should be fine ... but again, safety first.

I love the stuff on all my camera gear, electronics, and carbon fiber camera helmets, and when I just need a good black tape to cover up scuffed up or shiny bits of hardware or furniture legs ... but occasionally when removed after a really long time (months or years) some of that adhesive stays behind. It shouldn’t mar, but to adhesive remover might. And if the top layer of the soft-touch material is really thin, and the bond between the tape and top layer is stronger than the bond between the top layer of the dash and whatever is below, there’s a small chance of pulling it up with the tape. Hopefully not, but I’d be cautious.
 
Wear polarized sunglasses...HUD becomes very subdued even if cranked up. :)
Of course, then you also can’t see the directions (and all the other info in the HUD, unless you tilt or turn your head 45° to the display. Frustrating.

Is the HUD windshield so much more expensive because the windshield itself is polarized? Is that how it works? Because I don’t see the polarization artifacts I see through my polarized glasses like I do when looking out the sunroof ... but I do have difficulty viewing the HUD (it gets WAY dimmer).
 
Sorry for the late reply.

Gaffer’s tape is AWESOME ... but still, probably a good idea to find a discreet place to test it. Don’t know how fragile the soft-touch is; and when you remove the tape, after the heat cycles of the dash if you don’t use a good sunshade (the CoverCraft ones are the bomb), it might leave behind some gooey adhesive ... which is easily removed with GooGone; but again, I don’t know how the soft touch dash parts would react. The harder plastic should be fine ... but again, safety first.

I love the stuff on all my camera gear, electronics, and carbon fiber camera helmets, and when I just need a good black tape to cover up scuffed up or shiny bits of hardware or furniture legs ... but occasionally when removed after a really long time (months or years) some of that adhesive stays behind. It shouldn’t mar, but to adhesive remover might. And if the top layer of the soft-touch material is really thin, and the bond between the tape and top layer is stronger than the bond between the top layer of the dash and whatever is below, there’s a small chance of pulling it up with the tape. Hopefully not, but I’d be cautious.
Thanks - yes the long term effects of the adhesive and the sun/heat are a concern. I probably wouldn't be disciplined enough to put sunshade in place on a regular basis but I probably should. I will look into the covercraft offerings though because it makes perfect sense to protect the leather and plastics in the car. I keep my cars a long time.

I believe the area I'd be taping in the HUD assembly is a hard molded plastic. At least is sounds like it is when I tap on. The area that would be taped is smooth plastic (the ledge from top of HUD unit downward at about a 30degree angle to plane of dash) . This piece is the most apparent when sun hits top of dash. Although there are other areas that show up on windshield in addition to this one - I can live with those. Don't want to go overboard and slap tape on the whole dashboard LOL. This area is hidden to the anyone including me when sitting in the car so it wouldn't look trashy.

I'll let you know how it goes.

For now I'm just trying to adjust without any mods and see how much it really bothers me and how often.
 
Of course, then you also can’t see the directions (and all the other info in the HUD, unless you tilt or turn your head 45° to the display. Frustrating.

Is the HUD windshield so much more expensive because the windshield itself is polarized? Is that how it works? Because I don’t see the polarization artifacts I see through my polarized glasses like I do when looking out the sunroof ... but I do have difficulty viewing the HUD (it gets WAY dimmer).

I tried so many different tactics to address this. I purchased transparency film, polarized film and a few other things to counter act the effect of polarized lenses. No dice. I cut a piece of each of the films to the shape of the HUD itself and laid it in the cavity. No matter what, I couldn’t counteract my sunglasses. Oh well. I’ve learned to live with it.
 
I tried so many different tactics to address this. I purchased transparency film, polarized film and a few other things to counter act the effect of polarized lenses. No dice. I cut a piece of each of the films to the shape of the HUD itself and laid it in the cavity. No matter what, I couldn’t counteract my sunglasses. Oh well. I’ve learned to live with it.

Me too. When turned to maximum brightness I can at least see all the HUD info with my polarized glasses. It’s quite a shock though seeing how bright the info is when I use my non-polarized on a gray day!
 
I just helped my dad put a dash-topper on his Ford Edge for the same reason. I don't know why car manufacturers don't just put some kind of non-reflective material on the dashboard. Forget the seats, put the Alcantara on the dash!

Anyway, the dash topper fixed the problem, no more reflection. It'll save it from getting baked in the sun too.
 
I've never been bothered by the reflection, but polarized sunglasses definitely mess with the HUD. There's really no cure due to the way polarizing works. You can try an experiment by looking at your computer monitor or LCD TV through your sunglasses and rotating them. When you do that you'll see the image dim then disappear completely as the polarizing elements in the glasses get out of alignment with the display lines.

I noticed that the first time I went into a McDonalds with LCD displays being used as menus. They were rotated 90 degrees and were completely black. I thought their menu system was down then had an "Ah Hah" moment. Took off my sunglasses and - BAM - menus visible.

So with the HUD your glasses are likely slightly misaligned with the pixels in the display, hence the extreme dimness. I haven't actually tried this but I bet tilting your head one way or the other will make it more or less visible.

Science is fun ain't it? 🕶
 
I wear Maui Jim polarized sunglasses a lot (even on grey days) due to a sensitive dry eye problem. I find if the HUD is cranked up to the maximum, all the icons/lettering are certainly visible.
 
Whenever the Sun reaches that time of day when it drives you crazy over your HUD, here's a simple fix. Turn around immediately and drive the opposite way until the Sun sets. :cool:
 
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