Original post by @sag@lemm.ee.
For some reason, the pict-rs instance on lemmy.today would not accept the jpg image that sag had uploaded. I'd have to convert it to an inefficiently-stored format or recompress it and lose quality, so I used Tineye to track down a copy of the original, so you're getting a high-resolution image rather than what sag originally uploaded here.
A modern car with a UI like this would kill in sales. I don’t know why car companies don’t see it.
I think that to some extent, the designs were a product of the technology.
VFDs could be in color, but only one color, so designers made those big areas of carefully-lined-up stuff that could be off or on. They were notable for having really good contrast: they could have a really black background. And they were sharp and crisp (compared to, say, a CRT displaying an arbitrary image).
That (a) forced certain designs to adapt to the technology, but also (b) I'm not sure that it'd be possible to create quite the same experience with later display technologies.
I think that CRTs were probably too heavy, and wouldn't have been as sharp.
LCD displays don't have the kind of contrast to produce quite the same "lights glowing in inky blackness" effect at night.
OLED displays actually can manage to not only equal VFDs in contrast, but surpass them. And they can be high resolution enough that you can actually get a pretty sharp image. And they have more longevity than VFDs. And, bonus: you aren't restricted to a single, pre-designed image the way VFD displays were. So with a modern OLED display, you could maybe recreate an experience similar to VFDs.
Large OLED displays aren't cheap, though. Maybe if one used small elements and didn't have things that spanned them, or at least had "gaps" between elements so that there aren't visible seams, one could use multiple smartphone-sized OLED screens in the dash.
kagis
This says that VFDs have improved since that time, and now last longer:
https://lglstudio.com/blogs/what-is-a-vfd-screen-unveiling-the-technology-and-charm-of-vacuum-fluorescent-displays/vfd-display-enthusiast
So maybe if someone wanted, they could go back and do it with modern VFDs and pre-designed images, though they'd have to be competing with cars that could display arbitrary images.