Vehicle display research: borderless interaction, accelerated innovation in display design and smart cockpit experience

Zuosi Auto R&D released the "2024 Automobile Display and Central Control Instrument Industry Research Report".

In-vehicle display has become one of the focuses of competition for major car companies to create personalized and differentiated models. In order to improve users' driving experience and human-computer interaction needs, in-vehicle display technology is constantly updated and iterated.

Judging from the product release trends at major exhibitions, major panel manufacturers, Tier 1 manufacturers and car companies have launched privacy screens, transparent displays , foldable/rollable flexible screens, liftable/sliding screens, light field screens and display screens. A variety of innovative display technologies such as integration with interiors, integration of display and lighting, etc., screen display technology is rapidly upgrading and evolving from LCD to OLED , MiniLED, MicroLED, etc. These technologies will change the traditional display and interaction methods.

Anti-peep privacy screens are available in cars, and all major manufacturers and car companies have plans

In some cars equipped with a co-pilot display screen, it is inevitable for the driver to be disturbed by the content or light displayed on the co-pilot screen while driving, which distracts the driver's attention. In-vehicle displays with anti-interference properties can effectively prevent screen information and light from distracting the driver's attention while providing entertainment services to front-seat passengers, further ensuring driving safety. At present, vehicle display Tier 1 manufacturers such as Continental, Visteon, and Marelli, as well as panel manufacturers such as LGD, BOE, and TCL CSOT, have released products with similar definitions to achieve anti-peeping privacy displays in the car to improve driving safety.

Continental Smart Privacy Screen – Comparison of privacy mode and sharing mode

Continental's smart privacy display integrates two unique backlights into a 12.3-inch screen. Just touch the switch button at the bottom of the screen to switch between the privacy/sharing mode of the passenger screen. This smart privacy display It is expected to be launched on the market in 2024.

Summary of some models on the market with privacy screens

Source: Zuosi Auto Research's "2024 Automobile Display and Central Control Instrument Industry Research Report"

Of course, this concept of privacy against prying eyes doesn’t just stop at trade show exhibits. Feifan R7, which will be launched in September 2022, has this kind of anti-peeping design for the passenger screen for the safety of the main driver. In addition, the new Xpeng G9, Mercedes-Benz E-Class vehicles, and the Audi Q6 e-tron that will be launched in China in 2024 are already equipped with anti-peep privacy screens.

Off-car interaction is evolving towards the integration of lighting + display

With the accelerated development of automobile intelligence , car lights have also entered the era of intelligent car lights with unbounded interaction and cross-domain integration . In addition to the lighting function, smart car lights also introduce display functions into the car lights through new smart headlight technologies such as DLP and Micro LED, allowing the car lights to have more interactions with the driver. The integration of display + lighting has emerged. Trend, realizing human-vehicle interaction, vehicle-vehicle interaction and vehicle-road interaction inside and outside the vehicle.

The intelligent car language system gives the car lights social attributes, greatly increasing the amount of information the car lights can carry and display, and can directly display "car emotions" and driving intentions to pedestrians. For example, the Intelligent Social Display exhibited by Magneti Marelli at CES 2024 provides new opportunities for lighting and communication in and around vehicles. The original intention of this technology is to support the transmission of information between vehicles and the outside world, and can also Support OEM custom information.

Marelli Smart Social Display

Smart social displays can show when the car is in autonomous mode, communicate driver intent, and deliver “safe to pass” messages to pedestrians when approaching intersections or crosswalks; there are many integration options for smart social displays. Automotive OEMs can customize the function and style of the display and choose to integrate it into the front and sides of the vehicle to ensure the safety and social needs of the vehicle. It can also be integrated into the rear of the vehicle to communicate environmental scene information through symbols, such as traffic jams, accidents ahead or unsafe driving conditions.

Magneti Marelli is currently working on series production with two Chinese carmakers to integrate medium-resolution displays into vehicle front-ends. In order to be integrated into the taillights or trunk surface, second-generation high-resolution displays based on mini-LED technology are being developed, which can also implement corresponding lighting functions.

Take the Zhiji L7 as an example. The DLP digital lights of the Zhiji L7 are equipped with Huayu Vision's digital signal light ISC system, which is the "intelligent interactive tail light". It is actually a DLP technology supplement for the headlights and complements the DLP technology. ISC technology can use graphics and text to display information on front and rear vehicles, pedestrians and other traffic participants. For example, when DLP prompts pedestrians to give priority to the front of the car, the rear display area can display "Please give way to pedestrians passing" on the public screen.

Zhiji L7 ISC intelligent interactive display

The personalized customized light language interactive function can realize the effect of customized tail lights, displaying different colors and patterns according to one's own mood. Zhiji L7 combines DLP with ISC to transform automobile lights from function-defining scenarios to scene-defining functions. That is to say, manufacturers only provide basic lighting hardware that can be upgraded by OTA when the car is produced and shipped . With the development of autonomous driving and With the development of vehicle-road collaboration, various traffic participants have new interaction needs. The intelligent light language interaction system can support in-depth OTA upgrades.

Zhiji L7's ISC intelligent interactive taillight is equipped with TI's automotive-grade 48-channel LED driver TLC6C5748-Q1. Through highly integrated independent LED pixel control, it drives a total of 5,000+ LED units in the front and rear of the vehicle, and can achieve 255 levels of independent brightness. Adjustment, two-color control. At the same time, due to the adoption of an LED direct drive solution, it greatly reduces the power consumption level of the ISC module, thereby ensuring that the Zhiji L7 can have a longer cruising range.

Comparison of some smart light language display products

The discrete layout of front cabin instruments + central control is the mainstream, and large-screen and multi-screen solutions are still in progress.

Since Tesla adopted the 17-inch large central control screen, car central control has entered the era of large screens. Since then, various designs have begun to appear one after another, such as horizontal screens, vertical screens, dual screens, triple screens, Integrated screen and other designs.

Layout of front-row display screens in newly launched domestic models (some models) in 2023

Source: Zuosi Auto Research's "2024 Automobile Display and Central Control Instrument Industry Research Report"

Judging from some new models to be launched domestically in 2023 and 2024, a total of 24 cars are counted here. The layout of discrete instruments in the front cabin + central control is still the mainstream. Among them, there are 3 cars that adopt the single-screen (central control screen) solution, namely Changan Qiyuan A07, Changan Deep Blue S7 and Jifox Alpha T5; there are 15 cars that adopt the discrete solution, namely Jikrypton 009, The new Weilai ES6, GAC Haopu GT, Denza N7, Geely Galaxy L6, Jikrypton 007, etc.; there are 4 cars using multi-screen design, namely Feifan F7, 2024 New Lantu Dreamer, and Haval Xiao Long MAX and Kia EV5; there are only two models with integrated through-screen, namely Jiyue 01 and Geely Galaxy E8.

Installation of front-row display screens in some models launched in 2023

Source: Zuosi Auto Research's "2024 Automobile Display and Central Control Instrument Industry Research Report"

Vehicle-mounted display screens serve as a medium for human-vehicle interaction. The rapid development of smart cars has put forward new demands for vehicle-mounted displays. Vehicle-mounted displays have also become the focus of major manufacturers' efforts to be the first to deploy. In-vehicle displays are no longer limited to traditional positions and shapes such as central controls and instruments. A variety of new application scenarios such as HUD, passenger display, rear entertainment display, electronic rearview mirrors, and transparent A-pillars have also been added to the cabin.

In the future, in-vehicle displays will tend to have better display effects, more precise human-computer interaction, more complete function integration, and integration with the interior. By implementing multiple innovative functions such as privacy protection and transparent display, it brings a richer experience to safe driving and comfortable rides.