Heads-up display
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
A heads-up display, or HUD, is a transparent display that presents data while minimizing any obstruction to the user's view. Virtually all armor systems used by the United Nations Space Command armed forces incorporate a HUD, including the MJOLNIR armor, SPI armor and the ODST armor. Ordinary UNSC infantrymen from the Army and Marine Corps may utilize shooting glasses which have head-mounted displays projected on their tactical goggles or eye-screens. The Covenant also employ HUDs in combat armor, such as the Sangheili combat harness.
MJOLNIR armor[edit]
In the various models of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, the sensors augmented into the Spartan's body display the soldier's vital signs on the HUD. Additionally, the HUD also reports the strength of the wearer's shields through the energy signatures it emanates. Weapons' heat and ammunition levels, as well as grenade type and count are also detected through sensors placed in the Spartan's gloves. In the MJOLNIR HUD, each type of weapon that the gloves detect has its own unique aiming reticle in relation to the type of ammo that it projects and its statistics. The reticle is also compatible with the scope of ranged weapons when installed.
The motion tracker is another important feature displayed on the HUD. Located in the right-hand armor gauntlet, it can be configured to sense and track movement in a variety of radii, depending on what the user wants it to be. Due to the insertion of IFF tags in UNSC soldiers, the radar can distinguish friend (yellow or blue) from foe (red). Finally, the way point indicators are an on-screen directive that point out important objectives or locations in the Spartan's mission, and are extremely useful, measuring the distance the Spartan is from the objective.
When operating in teams, Spartans employ a system of status lights on their HUDs. The lights (blue/green, amber and red)[1] can be manipulated by the wearer at will and are most prominently used to acknowledge orders or report complications.[2] The SPARTAN-IIs and IIIs also use them as an efficient channel of non-verbal communication, using combinations of the lights as a messaging system.[3]
The standard MJOLNIR armor contains the following readouts:
- A meter displaying the relative vitality of the user.
- A gauge displaying shield integrity status. (absent from armor systems with no shields)
- A gauge tracking the quantity of ammunition available for weapons carried.
- A motion tracker.
- A counter tracking the number and type of grenades carried.
- A targeting reticule which changes relative to the weapon currently in use.
- Acknowledgment lights from other members of the wearer's team.
- Maps and information uploaded over the wearer's TACCOM.
- Zoom function.
BIOS[edit]
The Mjolnir heads-up display runs on a piece of firmware known as a Basic Input/Output System. The following is a list of Mjolnir armor with known BIOS.
Marine and ODST helmets[edit]
The heads-up displays used by conventional UNSC infantry, including the UNSC Marine Corps and ODSTs, are largely similar to that of the MJOLNIR system, displaying weapons and grenades carried by the user as well as their ammunition, and projecting a targeting reticle to assist aim. Many infantry HUDs, such as those used by UNSC Marines[4] and the cadets at Corbulo Academy, incorporate a motion tracker,[5] although at least some models of the ODST helmet lacked one as of 2552.[6] The shield bar is absent in armor systems which do not possess energy shielding, though health information is displayed. The HUDs also typically include a compass wheel in the center of the upper portion.[5]
Heads-up display visuals are provided through the Marine's UNSC tactical eyepiece or ballistic goggles. UNSC Pilots operating Pelican dropships are able to utilise the Integrated Helmet and Display Sight System to allow the craft's on-board mounted M370 autocannons to track the gunner's eye movements and aim accordingly.
Additionally, some HUDs including the one used in the ODST armor system, integrate a sophisticated battlefield intelligence system, the VISR, that improves the users vision in low light areas, also outlining objects in the immediate area - green outlines are "friendly" units, red outlines are "enemy combatants" and blue outlines are discarded or abandoned equipment and weaponry that can be used. The system can also track data and display tactical information, such as maps and waypoints.
BIOS[edit]
UNSC heads-up displays typically use a BIOS firmware interface to function. The following is a list of armor types with known BIOS.
Gameplay[edit]
The heads-up display is the main source for information in-game, though the appearance of the HUD has changed dramatically between each game.[7][8][9][10]<