Patent ID: 7893890

Claim:
A dimmable head-up display, comprising: a display portion configured to provide head-up display information to an operator, the display portion to enable the operator to view a field-of-view through the display portion where the field-of-view is situated such that the display portion is located between the operator and the field-of-view; and a dimmable portion coupled to the display portion and configured to adjust a transmissivity of light thorough the display portion, the dimmable portion including a plurality of dimmable segments configured to independently vary levels of transmissivity of light through each of the plurality of dimmable segments based at least in part on a measured level of ambient light, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of dimmable segments form an elliptical viewing area within the dimmable display to define an outer segmenting parameter and an inner segmenting parameter that is surrounded by the outer segmenting parameter, the inner segmenting parameter accommodating the operator's direct line of sight and the outer segmenting parameter accommodating the operator's peripheral vision, and wherein at least one of the inner segmenting parameter or the outer segmenting parameter is subdivided into sub-segments that independently vary levels of transmissivity of light through each of the sub-segments.