Bringing the future into focus

From holographic HUDs, to transparent displays, to new tech that allows driver visibility of passenger screens to be switchable.

There was no shortage of display tech on, well, display at the 2025 CES—and a lot of it previewed the future of in-car screens. Here are the top automotive (or promising, would-be automotive) display technologies we spotted at the electronics show:

Holographic Head-Up Displays

Sorry, if you’re picturing a Princess-Leia-like 3D depiction of infotainment, prepare to be disappointed. Two companies at CES 2025 showed “holographic displays” in various states of readiness.

Each reflects two-dimensional info back from a screen either mounted on or sandwiched inside the windshield. Neither produces an image that appears to float out over the hood—info on both appears to be right on the windshield. Both displays look way brighter than today’s typical reflected HUDs, and each remains clearly visible through polarized sunglasses regardless of head tilting. Crucial to each is the incorporation of a holographic optical element (HOE), designed to diffract light back toward the driver within a specified field of view. This optical diffraction ensures more light reaches the observer’s eyes than is possible with current technologies that merely reflect some percentage of light projected at the windshield inward back toward the driver or passenger, and the directional nature makes passenger-side displays inherently invisible to the driver (and vice versa).

Read the full article here >