In an automobile, an electronic instrument cluster, digital instrument panel or ''digital dash'' for short, is a set of instrumentation, including the

speedometer A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as standard equipment f ...

, that is displayed with a digital readout rather than with the traditional

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

gauges. Many refer to it either simply as a ''digital speedometer'' or a ''digital instrument cluster.''

History

The first application of an electronic instrument cluster, in a production automobile, was in the 1976

Aston Martin Lagonda The Aston Martin Lagonda is a full-size luxury four-door saloon manufactured by British manufacturer Aston Martin between 1974 and 1990. A total of 645 were produced. The name was derived from the Lagonda marque that Aston Martin had purchas ...

. The first American manufacturer application was the 1978

Cadillac Seville The Seville was manufactured by Cadillac from 1975 to 2004 as a smaller-sized, premium model. It was replaced by the STS in 2004. Origin of the name The name of "Cadillac's first small car" was selected over a revival of LaSalle or the GM de ...

with available Cadillac Trip Computer. In the United States they were an option in many

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of people or cargo. The ...

s manufactured in the 1980s and 1990s, and were standard on some luxury vehicles at times, including some models made by

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed ...

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. They included not only a speedometer with a digital readout, but also a

trip computer A trip computer is a computer fitted to some cars; most modern trip computers record, calculate, and display the distance travelled, the average speed, the average fuel consumption, and real-time fuel consumption. The first, mechanical trip co ...

that displayed factors like the outdoor temperature, travel direction, fuel economy and distance to empty (DTE). In 1983, the Renault 11 Electronic was the first European hatchback to have a digital

dashboard For business applications, see Dashboard (business). A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the drive ...

. Many vehicles made today have an analog speedometer paired with the latter in digital form. In the late 1980s into the early 1990s, General Motors had touch-screen CRTs with features such as date books and hands-free cell phone integration built into cars such as the

Oldsmobile Toronado The Oldsmobile Toronado is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors from 1966 to 1992 over four generations. The Toronado was noted for its transaxle version of GM's Turbo-Hydramatic transmiss ...

Buick Riviera The Buick Riviera is a personal luxury car that was marketed by Buick from 1963 to 1999, with the exception of the 1994 model year. As General Motors' first entry into the personal luxury car market segment, the Riviera was highly praised by au ...

and

Buick Reatta The Buick Reatta is a low-volume transverse front-engine, front-wheel drive, two-door, two-seater grand tourer manufactured and marketed by Buick as a coupe (1988–1991) and convertible (1990-1991) — both featuring a 3.8 liter V6 engine an ...

Advantages and drawbacks

When accelerating, digital speedometers generally step through a freeze frame of whole numbers at a constant

sample rate In signal processing, sampling is the reduction of a continuous-time signal to a discrete-time signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave to a sequence of "samples". A sample is a value of the signal at a point in time and/or spa ...

. It is as precise as the number displaced, whereas a gauged speedometer pointer could sweep through an infinite range between its major markings at 10 mph or 20 km/h intervals. The latter provides a sense of continuous acceleration albeit with less precision: a gauge reading could only be estimated to the pointer's nearest halfway point between the markings. The first digital instrument clusters were considered to be unpopular during the years when they were widely produced, and were heavily criticized by reviewers in automotive magazines. Some of the criticism they received was as follows: *They were hard to see in the strong sunlight or other bright light *They took away the sense of continuous acceleration that is provided by an analog speedometer. *They were expensive to repair in the event of a malfunction As a result of these issues, digital instrument panels were phased out of vehicles throughout the 1990s, and have been replaced with traditional analog gauges in most vehicles (with notable exceptions from French manufacturers

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

and

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...

), including those from luxury divisions. However, many vehicles are made today with a standard or optional trip computer located independently from the speedometer. Digital units received information from a variety of sensors installed throughout the engine and transmission, while traditional analog units were attached to a cable that provided information from the transmission. Modern analog displays receive information in the same manner as the digital units, with very few manufacturers still using the speedometer cable method. In the 2000s, digital speedometers were produced in some hybrid vehicles, including the

Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door sedan, it has been produced only as a five-door liftback since 2003. In 2007, ...

and

Honda Insight The is a hybrid electric vehicle that is manufactured and marketed by Honda. Its first generation was a two-door, two passenger liftback (1999–2006) and in its second generation was a four-door, five passenger liftback (2009–2014). In its ...

. Most digital speedometers have had green numbers displayed on a dark green or black background. The 8th and 9th generation

Honda Civic The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. Since 2000, the Civic has been categorized as a compact car, while previously it occupied the subcompact class. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda A ...

have a "two-tier" instrument panel. The upper digital dashboard with white numbers against a blue screen (the latter of which changes to green according to driving habits), digital fuel and temperature gauges. The lower dashboard has an analog tachometer and digital odometer. The 10th and present generation saw the two-tier design replaced with a single instrument panel, which in higher tiers is a fully digital and partially customizable design. Since the mid-2010s and early 2020s, fully customizable digital instrument clusters have become popular. The modern implementation allows the driver to choose which information to project where and how in the instrument cluster, such as navigation aid, connected phone information and blind spot camera view. The customization can also reduce distraction for the driver and allow the manufacturer to use the same hardware in different models while retaining differentiation between models.

Automotive head-up display An automotive head-up display or automotive heads-up display —also known as a auto-HUD— is any transparent display that presents data in the automobile without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name st ...

s have seen applications in several cars, augmenting analog gauges with a digital readout on the windshield glass.

LCDs

Vehicle instruments have been augmented by software-powered display panels conveying information on display panels. Digital instruments present data in the form of numeric parameters, textual messages, or graphical gauges. Unlike the electro-mechanical instrument clusters of the past, these interactive displays are much more versatile and flexible. Many modern motorcycles are now equipped with digital speedometers, most often these are sports bikes. Toyota is using electronic instruments for showing the cars parameters for its Yaris/Vitz model, the car employs a

vacuum fluorescent display A vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) is a display device once commonly used on consumer electronics equipment such as video cassette recorders, car radios, and microwave ovens. A VFD operates on the principle of cathodoluminescence, roughly ...

to indicate the speed, RPM, fuel level, odometer, etc. For the 2011 model year, Chrysler began using a common dashboard across their model line that has an integrated trip computer in addition to the analog gauges. This trip computer can also be used to show a digital speedometer, making these hybrid digital-analog dashboards. the speedometer needle to be too wide, they are relying on the digital speedometer more than the analog gauge. The French manufacturer

, is using digital indicators as speedometer for many models in its range, including the C2, C3, C4 and C6. ;High resolution displays The 2007 Lamborghini Reventon introduced one of the first high resolution LCD displays used on a production vehicle. A trend setter that would be taken seriously by mainstream manufacturers on years to come and become a selling point of consideration during the next following decade. The 2009 Lexus LFA was one of the first cars to utilize a modern LCD screen. Lexus claimed a digital speedometer was required since an analogue tachometer wouldn't be able to keep up with the rev changes of the car's engine. This statement however was mainly marketing-driven; there is no technical reason why an analog needle would not keep up with the (far heavier) engine itself. The third generation Range Rover (L322) also introduced the first use and largest TFT LCD displays used on a production luxury SUV for the facelifted 2010, and end of the cycle model. A trend setter that would follow further adaptation from other manufacturers. In 2014, Audi launched its ' virtual cockpit' on Audi TT, and has later introduced it to several other models. The technology has been developed together with th
Finnish company Rightware
using its Kanzi software suite.

Railway applications

Electronic instrument clusters are being increasingly common features on railway vehicles, in which individual instruments are replaced by various forms of digital readouts. Early uses of instrument clusters often employed LEDs to display analog-type or numeric readings for

pressure gauge Pressure measurement is the measurement of an applied force by a fluid ( liquid or gas) on a surface. Pressure is typically measured in units of force per unit of surface area. Many techniques have been developed for the measurement of pre ...

s, electrical gauges, and other displays. They have been increasingly integrated with various

cab signalling Cab signaling is a railway safety system that communicates track status and condition information to the cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive, railcar or multiple unit. The information is continually updated giving an e ...

systems and together with the installation of

multi-function display A multifunction display (MFD) is a small-screen ( CRT or LCD) surrounded by multiple soft keys (configurable buttons) that can be used to display information to the user in numerous configurable ways. MFDs originated in aviation, first in mil ...

s, have simplified the cab layout and improved

user interaction Ancient Egyptian roles * User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty * Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User" Other uses * User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...

with the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

. TGVFigueres.JPG, France: Full view of the cab controls in an

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic ...

TGV Duplex The TGV Duplex is a French high-speed train of the TGV family, manufactured by Alstom, and operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It is unique among TGV trains in that it features bi-level carriages. The Duplex inaugurated the ...

set. ICE 407.2.jpg, Germany: Various electronic displays in the cab of a DB Class 407 for ICE high-speed lines. JRE-E531-cab.jpg, Japan: Digital instrument cluster in the cockpit of a

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

E531 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was introduced by JR East on 9 July 2005 to replace the aging 403 and 415 series EMUs running on the Jōban Line from Ueno Station ...

. ЭС1 Кабина машиниста 2.jpg, Russia: Engineer at the controls of a Lastochka train from the

Siemens Desiro The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the la ...

family. IC2000 Fuehrerstand.JPG, Switzerland: Interior of an

IC 2000 The IC 2000 is a double-deck train in Switzerland and is run by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) as part of its InterCity service. Top speed is 200 km/h. The train set can be composed of up to 10 coaches and provides close to 1,000 sea ...

for the

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...

. ExCeL Centre MMB 35 Thameslink Desiro City Mockup.jpg, United Kingdom: Mockup of the

British Rail Class 700 The British Rail Class 700 '' Desiro City'' is an electric multiple unit passenger train capable of operating on from overhead wires or 750 V DC from third rail. 115 trainsets were built between 2014 and 2018, for use on the Thameslink net ...

cab for

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...

. MTA Metro North M8 Control Cab.jpg, United States: Control stand in an M8 railcar operated by

Metro-North Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority_of_the__is_a_type_of_Nonprofit_organization">nonprofit_corporation_char ...

. ETCS driver machine interface.svg, The driving machine interface used by

ETCS The European Train Control System (ETCS) is the signalling and control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). It is a replacement for legacy train protection systems and designed to replace the many incompatible s ...

and

ERTMS The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the o ...

References

External links