HUD (computing)

In computing, the HUD (head-up display) is the method by which information is visually relayed to the user as part of a program or OS' user interface. It takes its name from the head-up displays used in modern aircraft.

HUDs and burn-in

Prolonged display of HUD elements on certain CRT-based screens may cause permanent damage in the form of burning into the inner coating of the television sets, which is impossible to repair. Also players who pause their games for long hours without turning off their television or putting it on standby risk harming their TV sets. Plasma TV screens are also at risk, although the effects are usually not as permanent.

Burn-in can still happen on LCD monitors, but only when the same image is displayed for weeks.

Mac OS X

In Mac OS X applications, heads-up displays (or HUDs) usually take the form of miniature, darkly-colored, transparent windows which are revealed outside the window of the currently-running application. Their purposes vary, from simply displaying information concerning a currently-running task, to displaying the tools for carrying out the task. HUDs often overlap with palettes, a similarly-functioning GUI element that usually fits the general interface of the main parent application (see Dashboard).

HUDs can also figure in larger settings, such as the display modes for the Exposé and Dashboard applications.

Transparent floating HUDs

In recent years, Mac applications have started to utilize HUDs as displays for buttons and controls, such as in QuickTime, which shows the user a transparent, rounded, and rectangular control bar that floats within the bottom of a video but does not touch the very bottom of the application window; this is usually the main means of control of the video playback when in full-screen mode.

Applications which use the HUD element

Widgets (List of …)

Command input	Adjustment handle Button Context menu Drop-down list Hamburger button Menu Pie menu

Data input-output	Checkbox Color picker Combo box Cycle button Date Picker Grid view List box List builder Radio button Scrollbar Search box Slider Spinner Text box

Informational	Balloon help Head-up display in computing Head-up display in video games Icon Infobar Label Loading screen Progress indicator Progress bar Splash screen Throbber Sidebar Status bar Toast Tooltip

Containers	Accordion Disclosure widget Frame/Fieldset Menu bar Menu button Panel Popover Ribbon Tab Toolbar Window Workspace

Navigational	Address bar Breadcrumb Hyperlink Navigation bar Pager Tree view

Special windows	About box Alert dialog box Dialog box File dialog Inspector window Modal window Palette window

Related concepts	File viewer List of graphical user interface elements Layout manager Look and feel Mouseover Widget toolkit WIMP

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