How common is ghosting?

[Yggdrasill]

I've been driving around in my new Model X for 2-3 days now (built at the end of April), and I was surprised by the amount of ghosting. As long as it isn't raining, the ghosting is quite noticeable. (I guess the rain reduces visibility sufficiently that the ghosting isn't noticeable.) It doesn't matter if it's night or day, as long as it isn't raining, I see all sources of light in triplicate. I even see brighter reflections in triplicate, like, for instance, every car roof when the sun is behind them.

I wouldn't say it is very bothersome, but it is the only real disappointment thus far. I didn't notice any ghosting on the test drive (it was raining, so I don't know if it was better or worse), and I had some hope Tesla had managed to at least improve the issue over the past couple of years. I haven't heard anyone describe it as bad as I have it, so I wasn't aware it could be this bad.

I've also tried to sit more upright or slump a bit in my seat, so that I view through different parts of the windscreen, with minimal change.

Anyway, is it every Model X that has it this bad, and people don't care/are oblivious, or is my car especially bad? I've added a poll, to get some input.

 

[verygreen]

Anyway, is it every Model X that has it this bad, and people don't care/are oblivious

I cannot speak for every car, but mine is bad and I do care about it. But there's only so much you could do.
My X is in service right this moment for windshield replacement, and I just hope that the new one is not any worse than the old since there's no going back (apparently removal of the old glass typically breaks it).

 

[woof]

Our X's ghosting is awful. We're waiting patiently for Tesla to finally acknowledge it exists and have a true fix in place before asking for a replacement windshield.

 

[mal_tsla]

I notice it a lot less after having the windshield tinted. Pinnacle Air 90.

 

[animorph]

I find mine very tolerable. I only see one small copy of very bright highlights well above their original sources. Pretty cool in the evening, it looks like little antennas sticking up from the headlights, with a height that is dependent on distance. Has to be a bright light to really see the ghost image. Stoplights and streetlights don't seem to have enough intensity to show a ghost for me. My Porsche used to be worse. Or maybe that was my old glasses...

 

[BLKMDL3]

Don't have it now. Maybe will be different in new car. Mine is likely totaled.

 

[rainforest]

Don't have it now. Maybe will be different in new car. Mine is likely totaled.

The guy guy who hit you was texting? He admitted it?

 

[BLKMDL3]

The guy guy who hit you was texting? He admitted it?

She didn't admit it. She told me two different things. She was scared and she could have swerved. There was nobody on the left. She wasn't paying attention.

 

[verygreen]

She didn't admit it. She told me two different things. She was scared and she could have swerved. There was nobody on the left. She wasn't paying attention.

Hm, did not you have blackvues installed, pull the footage from the rear cam to see what she was doing?

 

[BLKMDL3]

Hm, did not you have blackvues installed, pull the footage from the rear cam to see what she was doing?

Didn't have one. Getting one on new X. Really sad about it. It is just a car and I will get a new one so it is all good. Here is the tread: ACCIDENT!!!

 

[BLKMDL3]

Hm, did not you have blackvues installed, pull the footage from the rear cam to see what she was doing?

She was also going VERY fast. about 40mph

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Frankly, I would wager that all Model X windshields have ghosting - it is a feature one must (so far at least) be prepared to live with. The amount can vary due to sitting height, seat settings and manufacturing tolerances, but my educated guess is that they all have it.

This is like most screen issues on internet forums. There will always be those who won't notice them, but usually when there is enough of a hooplah over them, the issue is real. Some people just don't care or won't see the issue subjectively. It takes certain perceptive individuals with enough samples to judge whether or not there actually are "perfect" examples out there. Most of the time if someone claims their's is "perfect", it really isn't. And frankly it is telling there are less people on TMC claiming their's is perfect than usually with screen issues...

Tints, glasses, seating adjustment etc. affect the issue, obviously, so those are good tips as some have pointed out (as they affect the path of the light). But the best tip of them all is to understand: buy a Model X and it will have ghosting on the windshield, unless at some future date the windshield changes. The thing about ghosting is that it pretty much only applies to pointed light that "ricochets" off the windshield layers. Have anything affecting those beams of light (blunted lights such as traditional traffic lights or - indeed as some pointed out - rain, or polarizing layers cutting light), the effect will be less or not there. But have high-powered, highly directional LED headlights blaring straight at you, and chances are, ghosting will be there.

This means it is not something that everyone will readily see all the time. One can take a daylight loaner trip on a Model X and think it doesn't have ghosting, even drive at night and not have anyone drive suitably towards you, and think it doesn't have ghosting - even if the seat happens to be adjusted just so, it might seem like there is none of it... If you avoid looking at the headlights of cars driving towards you, you probably won't see it that much. Have different glasses, drive different kinds of streets with different kinds of cars/headlights etc., all matter. Finally, the words you use to describe the issue may be different, even if the issue is the same. For someone the words unnoticeable or bad ghosting mean quite different things than to another.

Personally, I find it liberating to feel they all have it. Certainly every Model X (including my own) I've seen has had it. This means there is little point in wasting time over it. Maybe one day a better windshield revision comes out, we'll know about it in due course, but until then it is one more of those silly features Model X has due to Tesla's insistence on creating a weirdmobile.

 

[verygreen]

BTW as I am driving a model S loaner (very old from 2012), I found that it too has ghosting, but it's different than on my model X.
There I need to look to the right (thing just near A pillar looking at the traffic coming from that direction from down the intersecting road at an intersection.
All the bright spots come in triples, but as the car moves closer to the middle of windshield, it wanes and as it about approaches middle of the windshield/rerview mirror, completely disappears. The re-reflections are at 45 angle to ground, not straight up as in my X.
The sides are also curved not unlike how they are curved in model X (only in model X it's curved up, not to the sides).

So there's this data point, I guess.

 

[Algbc]

I'm sorry, but what's ghosting? What does it look like?

 

[verygreen]

I'm sorry, but what's ghosting? What does it look like?

See e.g. here: Double vision (ghosting) at night through windshield?

 

[Peteybabes]

i'm 6'3" and must just sit at a different angle or something, but i've never noticed this ghosting...

also considering get windshield tinted as well which may help more?

 

[impliedshin]

Just picked up my X this past Sat and I didn't notice any ghosting on mine. However it feels like in the upper middle portion of the windshield there is a horizontal line where everything looks a little distorted (squished for the lack of a better word). I had to adjust the seat a little lower and then I didn't notice the distortion.

 

[Peteybabes]

Just picked up my X this past Sat and I didn't notice any ghosting on mine. However it feels like in the upper middle portion of the windshield there is a horizontal line where everything looks a little distorted (squished for the lack of a better word). I had to adjust the seat a little lower and then I didn't notice the distortion.

good point, i have my seated in the lowest position and slouch a little...

 

[hill]

Photosync diminished about 70% of our ghosting ... 6'-5" & 5"-7" drivers - we borh still see it
.

 

[danbucks]

I didn't notice any ghosting at all and was happy as a clam... until I read about it on this forum, and now I see it all the time @ night, tail lights.
Thanks, Tesla Motors Club!