The early 90s Beretta digital cluster wasn't all that bad. Provided a "bar graph" style gauge system, with a numerical readout on the speedometer in addition to the graph. It was easily switchable between imperial and metric units (changing which numbers lit up next to the bar graph and providing the appropriate numerical readout), the gauges to the left would blink their symbol if there was an issue, and the info center on the right offered things like calculated fuel range, instant and average MPG, and a digital readout of the tachometer. It was pretty novel.
Then... you had the digital display in the Daytona Shelby Z. Stupid little robotic voice yelling "PLEASE CLOSE YOUR DRIVER DOOR." "PLEASE CHECK YOUR DISC BRAKE PADS." "YOUR OIL PRESSURE IS LOW. ENGINE DAMAGE MAY OCCUR." "YOUR KEYS ARE IN THE IGNITION." That last one is funny because the light that lights up on the little "location" thing (shows a wireframe view of the car) lights up the engine bay area. It had a gauge on the lower right for fuel and a "combo" gauge on the lower left that could be shifted between voltage, oil pressure, and temperature.
80s Chrysler New Yorker had the same crap. "YOUR FUEL, IS LOW." except with the addition of beeps and blips for dummy lights like you're playing Pong.
And then those new Volvo digital dashes... an LCD screen acting as your cluster. There's a big round "gauge" dead center flanked by two other side spots. What's weird is there's different themes, but selecting different themes not only changes the cluster appearance but changes what's displayed. For example, you can't have the thermometer displaying on ECO or Performance themes, unless they can be manually selected later. Then you gotta click this thumb wheel thing to get little stats to roll up above the clock and outside temp which are shown at the bottom of the outboard "gauges," and then roll the thumb wheel through various metrics. It's all.... engaging to say the least, but distracting overall. It's just a little complicated to use.
However, one thing which is interesting is the integrated GPS. The center of the central "gauge" will show you turn-by-turn directions in addition to voice instructions, and more novel is that it uses the GPS data to gather speed limits on the road you're on, and will show a marker next to the limit on the speedometer. In the "performance" setup the central outer "gauge" is turned from a speedo to the tach, with a digital speed readout in the center. It'll still tell you the speed limit in the lower corner, though. Overall setup of the vehicle itself though? Pretty dang fancy.
