The present invention relates to a display for a vehicle windscreen, often referred to as a windshield, especially for cars or automobiles.

Vehicles usually have a clear windscreen to allow the driver to view the oncoming road, and the windscreen is fitted with wipers to clear the windscreen of dirt, rain or other precipitation.

This arrangement has worked well for many years. The present inventor has, however, recognized that the provision of cameras for acquiring external views from the vehicle, and one or more OLED panels to the windscreen for displaying the external views allows for the display of one or more views to the driver irrespective of what can be viewed through the windscreen. With the use of such OLED panels, the driver can be provided with one or more views even in conditions where the driver cannot see clearly ahead of the vehicle, such as because of the windscreen being dirty, falling precipitation, or in circumstances of reduced visibility, such as for or darkness. Indeed, this arrangement allows for the omission of wipers for cleaning the windscreen.

In one aspect the present invention provides a vehicle comprising a windscreen through which an occupant, in particular a driver, can view externally, optionally forward ly, of the vehicle, and a display system for acquiring one or more external images from the vehicle and displaying the one or more images to the occupant, wherein the display system comprises a plurality of cameras for acquiring external images from the vehicle, at least one display which is provided to the windscreen for displaying one or more of the acquired images, and a controller for controlling the at least one display to display images from the cameras.

In one embodiment the windscreen comprises a transparent panel, such as a glass or plastic panel. In one embodiment the cameras comprise high-definition (HD) cameras, optionally with at least 4K resolution.

In one embodiment at least ones of the cameras comprise infra-red cameras.

In one embodiment the cameras are disposed to a periphery of the windscreen.

In one embodiment the display system comprises at least 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 cameras.

In one embodiment the at least one display is a transparent display through which the occupant can see a real external view, and optionally one or more views can be overlaid in relation to the real external view.

In one embodiment the at least one display is an OLED display.

In one embodiment the at least one display is applied to an inner surface of the windscreen.

In another embodiment the at least one display is laminated within the windscreen, whereby outer layers of the windscreen provide protection to the at least one display.

In one embodiment the display system comprises a single display.

In another embodiment the display system comprises a plurality of displays.

In one embodiment at least ones of the displays are separated by intervening spaces. In one embodiment at least ones of the displays are juxtaposed so as to present a single, continuous display panel.

In one embodiment a plurality of the displays display different views from different ones of the cameras.

In another embodiment a plurality of the displays display a single view, optionally the single view is stitched together from images acquired from a plurality of the cameras.

In one embodiment the controller controls the at least one display to present images from a plurality of cameras sequentially, so that, in the event that one of the cameras has an obscured view or becomes defective, the occupant continues to be presented with a continuous view.

In one embodiment the controller controls the at least one display to display images from a plurality of cameras at a rate of at least 25 images per second.

In one embodiment the controller monitors the acquired images for clarity and/or integrity, such that only images from cameras which have sufficient clarity and/or integrity are continued to be utilized in the image sequence which is presented to the occupant.

In one embodiment the controller utilizes images from a selected set of cameras which represent only a fraction of the total number of the cameras, such that, at any one time, spare ones of the cameras are available for use as and when any of the selected set of cameras present images which lack sufficient clarity and/or integrity or become defective.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described hereinbelow by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Figure 1 illustrates a vehicle in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 2 illustrates the display system of the vehicle of Figure 1.

The vehicle comprises a windscreen 3 through which an occupant, in particular a driver, can view forward of the vehicle, and a display system 5 for acquiring one or more external images from the vehicle and displaying the one or more images to the occupant.

In this embodiment the windscreen 3 comprises a transparent panel, such as a glass or plastic panel.

In this embodiment the display system 5 comprises a plurality of cameras 7 for acquiring external images from the vehicle, at least one display 7 which is provided to the windscreen 3 for displaying one or more of the acquired images, and a controller for controlling the at least one display 7 to display images from the cameras 7.

In this embodiment the cameras 7 comprise high-definition (HD) cameras, optionally with at least 4K resolution.

In one embodiment at least ones of the cameras 7 comprise infra-red cameras, which allow for the provision of one or more images with reduced visibility, such as when foggy or dark.

In this embodiment the cameras 7 are disposed to the periphery of the windscreen 3.

In this embodiment the display system comprises at least 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 cameras 7. In this embodiment the at least one display 9 is a transparent display, which allows the occupant, when the windscreen is clear and visibility is good, to view externally of the vehicle. In this embodiment one or more views can be overlaid in relation to the real view.

In this embodiment the at least one display 9 is an OLED display.

In this embodiment the at least one display 9 is applied to an inner surface of the windscreen 3.

In an alternative embodiment the at least one display 9 is laminated within the windscreen 3, whereby the outer layers of the windscreen 3 provide protection to the at least one display 9.

In this embodiment the display system 5 comprises a single display 9.

In an alternative embodiment the display system 5 comprises a plurality of displays 9.

In one embodiment at least ones of the displays 9 are separated by intervening spaces.

In one embodiment at least ones of the displays 9 are juxtaposed so as to present a single, continuous display panel.

In one embodiment a plurality of the displays 9 display different views from different ones of the cameras 7.

In one embodiment a plurality of the displays 9 display a single view. In one embodiment the single view is stitched together from images acquired from a plurality of the cameras 7. In this embodiment the controller 11 controls the at least one display 9 to present images from a plurality of the cameras 7 sequentially, so that, in the event that one of the cameras 7 has an obscured view or becomes defective, the occupant is still presented with a continuous view.

In this embodiment the controller 11 controls the at least one display 9 to display images from a plurality of the cameras 7 at a rate of at least 25 images per second, such that the occupant is not able to discern there being any defective image and be presented with a clear view.

In this embodiment the controller 11 monitors the acquired images for clarity and/or integrity, such that only images from the cameras 7 which have sufficient clarity and/or integrity are continued to be utilized in the image sequence which is presented to the occupant.

In this embodiment the controller 11 utilizes images from a selected set of the cameras 7 which represent only a fraction of the total number of the cameras 7, such that, at any one time, spare ones of the cameras 7 are available for use as and when any of the selected set of cameras 7 present images which lack sufficient clarity and/or integrity or simply become defective. In one embodiment, with this redundancy, new cameras 7 can be swapped into the display system 5.

Finally, it will be understood that the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiments and can be modified in many different ways without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.