Because these billboards are just monitors rotated 90 degrees, they’re invisible to polarized sunglasses. It’s like a real-life ad blocker!
@sandofsky With the added bonus of not being able to see your car console while driving because that is also a monitor now!

@Unabart @sandofsky thankfully I do not need a car. Lucky me.

BTW this reminds me of the movie They Live
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Live

They Live - Wikipedia

@prefec2 @sandofsky I love my car. I’m lucky I have one. It’s been a tremendous benefit to my livelihood. I would be fucked without it.

@Unabart @sandofsky This is unfortunate for you that you need a car and that they use screens with polarised light so many sunglasses can render them unusable. Unfortunately, this issue does not disappear with OLED. Of course this can be avoided with another type of sunglasses, but that can be quite expensive when you need special ones tailored to your eyes.

BTW thanks for reminding me of this issue. I would have missed that otherwise.

@prefec2 @sandofsky I don’t have polarized glasses. I can see everything as intended!
@prefec2 @Unabart @sandofsky why does OLED use polarized light?
@taixzo @Unabart @sandofsky honestly I did not understand why, but it seems it does. I found multiple sources pointing that out and one that explained it. Also I did not find sources which claimed the opposite. However, if someone can provide a comprehensive and understandable explanation, I would be delighted to read it.
Three polarizing filters: a simple demo of a creepy quantum effect

YouTube
@gerdcastan @prefec2 @taixzo @Unabart @sandofsky do you have a link to a written explanation?

@prefec2 @taixzo @Unabart @sandofsky Most OLEDs use polarizers and wave plates to reduce reflections which would otherwise come from internal components. You lose brightness (~50%), but gain contrast. This is one of the reasons why the efficiency of OLEDs is lower than one might naively hope.

Here's one model: https://optics.ansys.com/hc/en-us/articles/5845197523731 (Note that the front of the display is at the bottom of the diagrams, and unfortunately the OLEDs themselves are left out.)

@prefec2 @Unabart @sandofsky

Just one more reason to drive a classic car :
Physical gauges aren't polarized.

@prefec2 @Unabart @sandofsky

Then I'm really lucky. My car is old enough - not having any digital screens in it πŸ˜‚