GM's 38-inch OLED infotainment screen

In the process of entering this research, the current visualized cockpit is a very important part of evaluating the flagship models of car companies. This part actually includes three parts: screen, cockpit controller hardware and software system. I think it is better to start with GM, and it is also a good opportunity to evaluate the historical development of its cockpit system to see the degree of progress of traditional car companies in this field. As shown below, we can divide GM's cockpit into several generations, which is called Next Generation infotainment when dividing. It has been iterated for 3 generations to the 2020 system. In reality, what really makes people feel different is the 38-inch curved OLED screen (divided into three parts) on the 2021 Escalade. This generation of system is called Infotainment 3.5; then the display screen of Lyriq on the subsequent pure electric vehicle platform consists of a 5-inch, 33-inch long curved display screen.

Figure 1 GM's screen iterations

Part 1 Composition and Function of Three Curved Screens

This OLED display is divided into three parts (14.2 inches, 7.2 inches, and 16.9 inches), all of which support AR perspective. The 16.9-inch CID screen on the far right supports touch. In a sense, this design is still a transition from the functional design era. From a functional point of view, the middle one is the instrument (light display), the right one is the central information display (CID), and the left one is the vehicle control (HUD, night vision system, and instrument control)

Figure 2 Integration of this screen

This picture has a relatively clear explanation. The left and right screens can be operated by gestures and touch. The middle instrument and CID are mainly controlled by the touchpad and knob on the armrest. The instrument has 4 modes (normal, navigation, night vision and AR navigation 4 display modes)

Figure 3 Functional classification

These are the main parameters of the CID 16.9-inch screen. Compared with LCD screens, the contrast of OLED is much improved, and it can be seen more clearly in strong light conditions inside the car.

Figure 4 Parameters of a 16.9-inch CID

Figure 5 Four modes of the instrument

Part 2 Hardware Disassembly

As shown in the figure below, there are three panels set up around the design of the screen.

Figure 6 Cadillac display assembly

The internal screen driver boards mainly consist of three corresponding to the CID board, instrument panel and control board. The main functions of these boards are still communication and touch response. The main control or system functions are still implemented in AVN.

Figure 7 The interior of Cadillac's OLED display assembly

1) PCB of CID

As shown in the figure below, it mainly includes the Cypress screen control and a main control MCU in the middle (main frequency 24MHZ). The two connectors are also mentioned in the specifications above, one is a 12-pin image connector and the other is a 20-pin connector for connecting the battery and high-speed HS-CAN signal.

Figure 8 CID PCB board

Figure 9 Corresponding pin signal list

2) Small control panel on the left

The small PCB board on the left mainly consists of two boards, one is the Cypress touch and gesture control chip and the other is the screen driver chip, which is TLi2464nch made by LG.

Figure 9 The two boards below the left control screen

3) Instrumentation

The instrument PCB contains a complete control system. The main chip is Intel's Apollo Lake series A3940, including Micron's 8GB DRAM, which is integrated on a motherboard in the middle.

Note: The mark on the lower panel is not clear

Figure 10 CID board

This design is actually a transitional design, which combines the several separate designs of NGI3 into one complete assembly. According to the information currently announced by GM, Qualcomm chips will be used and the Virtual Cockpit integrated controller will be introduced.

Summary: It is quite interesting to read these materials, but you can only find some relatively simple introductions on the Internet, so it is difficult to gain a deeper understanding.