2019 GT-R heads-up display distortion?

Hello all,

Longtime Mazda owner here, I have a 2019 CX-5 GT Reserve with 4K miles. The heads-up display has a "spot" where the characters stretch vertically, somewhat like a funhouse mirror effect. The best way I can explain it . if you raise your head up and down while looking at the HUD, there is one "spot" where all the numbers and letters appear to stretch vertically. For what it matters, I have perfect Lasik vision, I don't wear glasses, etc.

I've been trying to decide whether it is a windshield defect or something with the HUD itself. I intend to test it more to see if the "defect" moves when I adjust the HUD via the touchscreen, which should help separate the windshield optics from the HUD itself - but thought I would mention it here in the meantime. I'll talk to the dealership about it soon, of course.


-D

Pic?
No one has mentioned this on this forum yet.
At least I haven't seen one.

Dont see that on mine. Maybe check the projection hole in the dash and make sure theres not a piece of plastic or dust or something thats distorting it. Blow with compressed air or wipe the lens clean.

Never noticed this with HUDs on my '16 CX-9, '17 CX-5, or currrent '19 CX-5 Signature.
Definitely check and clean as Nigel Tufnel suggests.

If the issue persists, I'm curious to read whether this is a windshield or HUD projector issue.

If you've never adjusted it, it might be distorted because it isn't at the proper level for your viewing angle.

It's almost impossible to get a picture or video of, somewhat akin to trying to get a picture of how a pair of glasses or a telescope might have a defect. I've certainly adjusted it, because I have to in order to keep the distortion as far away from my normal view depending on that day's seat adjustment. I don't think cleanliness is the problem, simply because it is a distortion, not like what dirt or debris would cause. But I'll certainly look into that.

Just imagine that the main speedometer characters of the HUD are stretched 10% taller when you raise and lower your head "through" just the right spot. And it is only "blurry" right where the stretch is occurring, which is right in the middle of the characters.

So, today on the way to work, I adjusted the HUD all over the place, and the "blurry" spot was always there, I just had to move my head and eyes to a different place and angle make the stretched blurriness appear. I'm speculating that the HUD projector or the windshield could both cause this effect, but I'm not Carl Zeiss.

I hate the idea of having the windshield replaced, because there seems to always be seeping goo, and a rust problem that develops from the paint being scratched in order to replace the windshield. I'll update the post as I learn more.

I think a flawed lens on the projector is the most likely culprit from your description.

After seeing this yesterday I tried to get mine to distort and I was never able to get it to happen.

Dealer update: They verified my issue, but are saying that my particular HUD adjustment makes for worst case distortion. I'm 6'3" and using the lowest possible HUD height adjustment in order for the display to appear "centered". For whatever reason, I also prefer the rotation to be almost all the way counter clockwise.

The dealer's conclusion doesn't really agree with my testing where I can find the worst case spot by moving my head regardless of my HUD height and rotation adjustment - but the dealer is saying they tried another car on the lot, and it is doing the same thing at those settings.

The Mazda "tech line" up the chain reportedly had never heard of it, but it is apparently now logged as an issue. I'm going to change the adjustment to be less annoying and live with it for now - but I'd also like to see for myself what another car with the same HUD does with my preferred settings. I'm not aware of when this version of HUD was implemented.

If anyone wants to test their car for the same effect, adjust the display for lowest height, maximum counter clockwise, and then mimic being 6'3"-ish by raising your seat and head up and see if you find a spot where the characters stretch vertically 5-10%.

The dealer also mentioned that the windshield has some sort of coating or embedded lens, in order to accommodate the HUD. But since the blurry spot moves with the HUD adjustment, I'm thinking it is the HUD projector itself, as "shadonoz" above mentions.

I'm 6'4" and have no distortion issues with the HUD. It's my wife's daily, so I don't touch the setting. I'm also not sure why you would want it set at its lowest setting. Maybe I'll play around with it over the weekend, just for fun.

I don't want it at its lowest setting, that is just what it takes to get the entire border of the display just low enough to be fully visible at all. In the default middle setting, the speed reading is already going off the top of the page, so to speak.

I do sit tall for being 6'3", but I have a friend that is 5'11" that sits taller than I do; not because of seat adjustment, but because he has much thicker glutes and thighs, and a much deeper chest, thus raising his head because of the seatback angle.

The slight distortion you are describing is normal for your particular situation (HUD adjusted down to accommodate your height).

The system uses a complex series of mirrors to get the aspect correct and make it appear as though the readout is floating above the hood the way it does. The height adjustment is a pivoting motor for the lens, so this means that the geometry for the mirror assembly cannot be perfect for both the minimum and maximum height setting. They set it for the mid-setting as a compromise. At the extreme edge of the adjustment range you will see a bit of "ghosting" of the readout. In your case the ghosting would be appearing at the top edge of the digits right?

Basically it's a minor imperfection because of how it is designed. In order to improve the clarity further it would require an even more complex mechanism that cost a lot more to make.

Honestly the Mazda HUD is very good and has excellent clarity under nearly all conditions. I'm a very nitpicky person myself, but you really have to draw the line somewhere. It helps to know exactly how these things work, and in this case I can assure you your unit isn't defective and the minor issue you're describing is just a side-effect of the design.

If the HUD displayed this......


you better get a hold of the rebel alliance asap.