FAQs

About AMETEK VIS

What does AMETEK VIS do?

AMETEK VIS (Vehicular Instrumentation Systems) designs and manufactures advanced vehicular electronic solutions for on-road and off-road vehicles. Its products include HMI displays, camera displays, instrument clusters, gauges, message centers, CAN keypads, and I/O and power control modules. VIS works closely with OEMs to integrate these technologies into complete vehicle instrumentation and control systems. The company also offers highly configurable standard products and architectures that enable rapid implementation of solutions tailored to each customer's specific requirements.

Who is AMETEK VIS and what is its history?

VIS, or Vehicular Instrumentation Systems, is a brand of AMETEK's Instrumentation & Specialty Controls Division and is part of AMETEK, Inc., the same global parent company as Motec and NSI-MI Technologies. The company began in 1964 as Dixson, a privately held manufacturer of automotive and heavy-truck gauges. AMETEK acquired Dixson in 1995, and it evolved into the VIS brand. Today, VIS is recognized as a world leader in the design and manufacture of precision instrumentation, controllers, and display systems for demanding vehicle applications, backed by approximately 50 years of field experience.

Where is AMETEK VIS located?

AMETEK VIS is headquartered in Grand Junction, Colorado, USA. The company operates world-class manufacturing facilities in Reynosa, Mexico, and has additional production capacity throughout North America and Latin America. This extensive footprint, combined with an international network of distributors and representatives, supports responsive manufacturing and delivery. VIS also maintains regional websites for China, Japan, Spain, and Brazil in addition to its primary U.S. website.

Which industries and vehicles does AMETEK VIS serve?

VIS products are used daily in thousands of over-the-road (Class 7–8) trucks, off-highway vehicles, recreational vehicles (RVs), buses, military vehicles, and specialty vehicles. The company serves major OEMs across the commercial vehicle, construction, agricultural, and military sectors. Through these industries, VIS supplies the displays, gauges, control modules, and instrumentation systems that vehicle operators depend on for reliable performance and efficient operation.

Is AMETEK VIS certified to quality and environmental standards?

Yes. VIS adheres to ISO 9001 quality management and ISO 14001 environmental management standards. The company also utilizes Lean-Sigma manufacturing methodologies to drive continuous improvement and operational excellence. In addition, VIS validates its designs for environmental conditions, EMI/RFI compliance, and shock and vibration resistance in its in-house vehicular electronics laboratory. These processes allow VIS to verify products throughout development and maintain a strong commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.

Does AMETEK VIS design custom systems for OEMs?

Yes. VIS follows a design philosophy known as “Custom Is Standard,” which means its standard products are highly configurable to meet customer requirements without the expense of custom tooling. When necessary, the company also develops fully customized designs for specialized applications. Many OEM customers view VIS as an extension of their own engineering teams. VIS supports development programs with dedicated engineering resources, strict design standards, and experienced project managers who help keep projects on schedule and aligned with customer objectives.

Displays & Instrument Clusters

What displays does AMETEK VIS offer?

VIS offers a range of vehicle displays, from compact CAN-connected gauge displays to large color smart displays and full digital instrument clusters. Key products include the MDDE3084 digital 8″ heavy-duty smart display, the MDDE3124 digital 12.3″ smart instrument cluster, the C-COM GX CAN Communicator displays, and the C-COM LMC lightbar message center. These displays present vehicle data, camera views, and operator messages, and are designed to withstand harsh vehicle operating environments.

What are the MDDE3084 and MDDE3124 smart displays?

The MDDE3084 is a digital 8-inch heavy-duty smart display, while the MDDE3124 is a digital 12.3-inch smart instrument cluster. Both are programmable color displays that present CAN-based vehicle data, gauges, warnings, and camera images on a single high-resolution screen for on-road and off-road applications. These smart displays can be customized to a vehicle's specific instrumentation layout and can combine instrumentation, messaging, and camera viewing into a single unit.

What is an instrument cluster and what does AMETEK VIS offer?

An instrument cluster is the panel of gauges, indicators, and displays located in front of the driver that provides information such as vehicle speed, engine performance, warnings, and operational status. VIS offers digital instrument clusters including the MDDE3124, along with the configurable Universal Instrument Panel (UIP) family, available in Basic (UIP-B), Message Center (UIP-MC), and Color Display (UIP-CD) versions. The UIP family enables OEMs to select the appropriate level of instrumentation while maintaining a common, configurable platform.

What is a message center or lightbar message center (C-COM LMC)?

A message center is a display that provides operators with text alerts, warnings, and status information from the vehicle network. The VIS C-COM LMC (CAN Communicator Lightbar Message Center) is a CAN-connected message center that presents this information in a compact lightbar format. Message centers help improve safety, efficiency, and uptime by translating CAN data and diagnostic codes into clear, actionable information for the driver.

What are AMETEK VIS camera displays and Vision Solutions?

VIS Vision Solutions enhance vehicle visibility through camera-based systems that display live camera images on VIS smart displays, helping operators monitor blind spots and work areas. The vision solution portfolio is built on Motec camera systems, a fellow AMETEK brand known for rugged camera-monitor systems used in commercial vehicles and mobile machinery. This integration enables VIS to provide instrumentation and camera viewing within a single, unified vehicle display system.

Gauges

What gauges does AMETEK VIS offer?

VIS offers both CAN-connected digital gauges and traditional analog gauges. Its CAN Communicator (C-COM) gauge lineup includes the C-COM 2G 2-inch graphical gauge, C-COM 2A and 3A gauges, and the C-COM 3AD gauge. The company also provides the Next Generation Instrumentation (NGI) system and a range of legacy and analog gauges. This broad portfolio allows OEMs to combine modern CAN-based graphical instrumentation with traditional analog styling, all from a supplier whose gauge expertise traces back to the founding of Dixson in 1964.

What is the Next Generation Instrumentation (NGI) system?

The Next Generation Instrumentation (NGI) system is VIS's modern modular gauge and instrumentation platform designed to create customized vehicle instrument panels using CAN-connected components. It gives OEMs a flexible and configurable method for assembling the exact instrumentation required for a specific vehicle application. As a modular system, NGI supports rapid configuration, easy expansion, and a consistent appearance and network architecture across the entire instrument panel.

Does AMETEK VIS still offer analog and legacy gauges?

Yes. In addition to its advanced CAN-based digital instrumentation products, VIS continues to offer legacy and analog gauges. This enables customers to maintain traditional gauge styling preferences while also providing replacement options and continuity for existing vehicle platforms. VIS's ongoing support for analog instrumentation is backed by its long-standing gauge heritage, which originated with the Dixson automotive and heavy-truck gauge business established in 1964.

Can AMETEK VIS gauges and instruments replace those from other or older systems?

In many cases, yes. VIS's highly configurable instrumentation platforms and extensive experience in the heavy-vehicle industry allow the company to support both current and legacy vehicle programs, including Class 7-8 trucks. VIS also provides dedicated technical-support resources for Class 7-8 truck products. For a specific replacement application, customers should contact VIS or an authorized distributor with details about the vehicle type, existing instrumentation, and available data sources, such as the CAN network, to determine the most suitable replacement solution.

CAN Bus and Vehicle Networking

What is a CAN bus and why is it used in vehicles?

A CAN (Controller Area Network) bus is a rugged, two-wire digital communication network that allows a vehicle's electronic modules, sensors, gauges, and displays to communicate over a shared connection rather than through individual point-to-point wiring. This approach reduces wiring complexity and weight, improves reliability, and makes it easier to add, update, or reconfigure instrumentation. CAN serves as the backbone of modern vehicle electrical systems, and VIS designs its instrumentation and control products to communicate efficiently across CAN networks.

What is SAE J1939?

SAE J1939 is a higher-layer communications standard built on the CAN bus that is widely used for networking electronic components in heavy-duty on-road and off-road vehicles, including trucks, buses, construction equipment, and agricultural machinery. The standard defines how information such as engine performance, transmission status, and vehicle diagnostics is formatted and shared across the network. Because VIS specializes in heavy-vehicle instrumentation, its CAN-based gauges and displays are designed to operate within J1939-style vehicle networks. Customers should refer to individual product datasheets to confirm protocol support.

What is a AMETEK VIS “CAN Communicator” (C-COM) product?

C-COM, which stands for CAN Communicator, is VIS's family of CAN-connected instrumentation products that read vehicle data directly from the network and present it to the operator. The product family includes graphical and analog-style gauges such as the C-COM 2G, 2A, 3A, and 3AD, as well as C-COM GX displays and the C-COM LMC lightbar message center. Because these devices obtain information through the CAN bus, a single network connection can support multiple gauges and displays, simplifying installation, integration, and future system expansion.

What is the benefit of CAN-based instrumentation versus traditional wiring?

CAN-based instrumentation replaces large bundles of individual sensor wires with a shared digital communication network. This reduces wiring weight, lowers installation costs, minimizes potential failure points, and allows gauges and displays to be added or reconfigured through software rather than extensive rewiring. CAN-based systems also support more advanced diagnostics, messaging capabilities, and operator information. For OEMs, these advantages result in faster vehicle assembly, easier customization, simplified maintenance, and the ability to deliver more vehicle information through a single network connection.

Control & I/O Modules

What is the Intelligent Control Module (ICM-200)?

The Intelligent Control Module (ICM-200) is a programmable VIS module that adds logic, input/output, and control functionality to a vehicle's CAN network. It enables OEMs to implement vehicle-specific control functions and integrate sensors and actuators into a unified instrumentation and control system. As an intelligent network node, the ICM-200 helps centralize vehicle control logic, reduce wiring complexity, and provide greater customization without the need for additional standalone controllers.

What CAN control modules does AMETEK VIS offer?

VIS offers a variety of CAN control modules designed to extend the capabilities of a vehicle's networked electrical architecture. These include the Smart Dual Pressure Transducer (SDPT), which measures and reports two pressure channels over CAN, the CAN I/O Expander Module (CAN I/O X), which adds input and output points to the network, and a Compass Module that provides heading information. These modules allow OEMs to add sensing, I/O, and operational data to a CAN-based vehicle system without redesigning the core network architecture.

What are I/O and power control modules used for?

Input/output (I/O) modules are used to add switch inputs, sensor inputs, and output controls to a vehicle network, while power control modules manage and switch electrical loads such as lights, motors, pumps, and actuators. Together, these modules enable CAN-based systems to monitor vehicle conditions and control equipment through a centralized network rather than extensive dedicated wiring. VIS supplies these solutions so OEMs can build complete, integrated vehicle electrical systems that work seamlessly with VIS displays, gauges, and instrumentation products.

What is a CAN keypad?

A CAN keypad is an operator input device that connects directly to a vehicle's CAN network and provides configurable, backlit buttons for controlling vehicle functions and equipment. Because the keypad communicates through the CAN bus, it can manage multiple functions over a single network connection instead of requiring individual switch wiring for each feature. VIS offers CAN keypads as part of its vehicular electronics portfolio, enabling OEMs to create efficient, user-friendly, and fully networked vehicle control systems.

Bargraphs

What are AMETEK VIS bargraph products?

Bargraphs are solid-state display indicators that show values such as level, pressure, temperature, or position using illuminated bar segments rather than traditional moving-pointer gauges. VIS offers commercial and nuclear-grade bargraph products through its affiliated Solid State Controls Inc. brand. These products provide clear, at-a-glance visualization of critical operating information in a compact and reliable format. Because solid-state bargraphs have no moving parts, they offer long service life, reduced maintenance requirements, and dependable performance in demanding applications. Nuclear-grade bargraph versions are specifically designed and qualified to meet the stringent reliability, safety, and performance requirements of nuclear industry environments.

Buying & Support

Where can I buy AMETEK VIS products?

VIS products can be purchased through the company's online store at store.ametekiscd.com as well as through its international network of authorized distributors and representatives. For OEM programs, large-volume purchases, or custom-designed solutions, customers can work directly with the VIS sales and engineering teams through the Contact Us page. While the online store provides a convenient option for standard products, distributors and VIS representatives offer additional support for complex and customized vehicle instrumentation programs.

Does AMETEK VIS provide instruction manuals and technical support?

Yes. VIS provides product instruction manuals, technical documentation, and support resources through the Technical Support section of its website. Dedicated support resources are available for Class 7–8 truck products as well as bargraph product lines. Additional assistance can be obtained through the Contact Us page. To ensure the most accurate support, customers are encouraged to have the product model number and relevant vehicle information available when requesting installation, configuration, or troubleshooting assistance.

Does AMETEK VIS support legacy and Class 7-8 truck products?

Yes. VIS maintains dedicated technical-support resources for Class 7–8 heavy-duty truck products and continues to support legacy and analog instrumentation solutions. This ongoing commitment reflects the company's long history in the heavy-truck instrumentation market, rooted in the Dixson gauge business founded in 1964. Customers seeking assistance with legacy products should contact VIS technical support and provide details about the vehicle and existing instrumentation to help identify available documentation, support options, or suitable replacement products.

How do I contact AMETEK VIS or request a custom design?

Customers can contact AMETEK VIS through the Contact Us page on the company's website to discuss products, technical support needs, or custom design requirements. VIS works closely with OEMs and often serves as an extension of their engineering teams to develop configurable or fully customized vehicle instrumentation and control systems. When requesting a custom solution, it is helpful to provide details such as vehicle type, required functions, CAN or J1939 network requirements, operating environment, and projected production volumes so VIS can recommend the most appropriate standard or custom-designed solution.