aHead Photonics has reached a significant milestone in its intellectual property–driven innovation strategy: the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted two key European patents covering the company’s core head-up display (HUD) technologies. This decision validates the technological direction on which aHead Photonics is building its next-generation, wide field-of-view and AR-capable HUD systems.
The two granted patents address two fundamental and closely related challenges in current HUD technology: image quality and optical reflections. Together, they establish a robust optical and system-level foundation that is essential for enabling true, windshield-integrated augmented reality displays in future vehicles.
Improved Image Quality HUD System (HUD1)
The invention registered internally under ID-2019/1, entitled “Improved Image Quality HUD System” and referred to within development as HUD1, has been granted European patent protection under application number 20821057.5.
HUD1 focuses on one of the most critical limitations of today’s HUD systems: maintaining high image quality under increasing complexity, wider fields of view, and challenging lighting conditions. Conventional projection-based HUD architectures often require compromises in sharpness, contrast, and image stability, particularly when transitioning from simple symbols to spatially interpreted, augmented reality content.
The HUD1 patent describes novel optical and system-architecture solutions designed to significantly improve projected image quality, reduce optical distortions, and enhance visual clarity. These capabilities are fundamental to ensuring that a HUD functions not merely as an auxiliary display, but as a natural extension of the driver’s visual field.
The grant of this patent confirms that the HUD1 concept introduces technically novel and non-obvious solutions that go beyond current industry practice and provide a long-term competitive advantage.
Reduced Reflection HUD System (HUD2)
The second granted patent covers the invention registered internally under ID-2021/1, entitled “Reduced Reflection HUD System and Method for Reducing Reflections in a HUD System”, referred to as HUD2. The European patent has been granted under application number 22734675.6.
Unwanted reflections and glare represent one of the most persistent and safety-critical challenges in HUD technology, particularly under strong sunlight or high-contrast environmental conditions. Glare not only degrades image readability, but in extreme cases can render a HUD ineffective at precisely the moment when reliable information is most needed.
The HUD2 invention addresses this issue at a system level. The patent defines methods and HUD architectures aimed at significantly reducing and controlling unwanted reflections. This approach goes beyond incremental tuning and enables stable, high-contrast image perception across a wide range of real-world lighting conditions. As such, HUD2 directly contributes to improved usability, reliability, and driving safety.
Two Patents, One Coherent Technology Platform
HUD1 and HUD2 are not isolated inventions. Together, they form a coherent technological platform that underpins aHead Photonics’ vision for next-generation head-up displays. Improved image quality combined with effective reflection control enables HUD systems to move beyond narrow field-of-view, compromise-driven designs and towards truly wide-angle, spatially integrated augmented reality displays.
“The future of head-up display technology does not depend on how much information we can project onto the windshield, but on the optical quality and natural perception of that information by the driver.” said Pál Koppa PhD, Founder and Managing Director of aHead Photonics.
“The HUD1 and HUD2 patents address exactly those fundamental challenges — image quality and reflections — without which truly wide field-of-view, AR-capable head-up display systems cannot exist. The European Patent Office’s decision is a clear validation of the technological path aHead Photonics is pursuing.”
A Strong Foundation for Future Development
The granting of these European patents reinforces aHead Photonics’ intellectual property–centric strategy and provides a solid, defensible foundation for future research, development, and industrial partnerships. HUD1 and HUD2 represent more than individual technical solutions; they are core building blocks of a broader concept aimed at redefining the role of the head-up display in future vehicles.Building on this protected technological base, aHead Photonics is working to transform the windshield into a true intelligent information surface — one that enhances road safety, reduces driver cognitive load, and enables a new level of immersive, yet intuitive, driving experience.
