Use of dual-HUD cockpits drives sale, production of digital head-up displays for civil aircraft

NORWALK, Conn., 19 Jan. 2012. The production rate of head-up displays (HUDs) for commercial transport aircraft has increased substantially, driven by the increased use of dual-HUD cockpits and the expanded production rate for commercial aircraft, according to Insight Media’s new report. In the business jet market, the recession has had more of an impact, with production rates of HUDs now slightly lower than in 2009. Insight Media’s “2012 Digital HUDs for Civil Aircraft” report provides conservative, expected, and optimistic unit HUD forecasts, as well as a revenue forecast and product analysis and forecasts for HUDs in commercial transport and business jet platforms.

In this update, an overview of the civil aircraft HUD landscape is offered, describing the value proposition for HUDs and the use of advanced capabilities such as Enhanced Vision System (EVS) and synthetic-vision systems (SVS), which enable the HUD to combine flight-deck-generated symbology and overlay it on either real world images or synthetic, database-driven images of the terrain. Analysis includes descriptions of the various HUD products that have been developed for the civil aircraft market, their strengths, weaknesses, and state of commercialization.