[Redex]

Voted doesn't matter as there was no option to vote " no touchscreen"
Touch screens are an unnecessary dangerous distraction.

[blogslogger]

I prefer horizontal. Vertical screens are not quite ergonomic in the sense that eyes have to do a lot of up/down movement which hampers our peripheral vision. Sideways movement means less possibility of losing sight of the road. Also, except for maps, other UI elements look better in horizontal orientation.

Another factor is the feeling of space. Since dashboard is anyway pretty useless in terms of placing things, a screen occupying more length gives us more space below the screen such as a wireless charger of a shelf of some kind.

[darthvader001]

Ideally it shouldn't matter if the OEM implements the orientation and the design appropriately. If the Infotainment screen doesn't stand out and feels in-place then people will like and adapt to either of the orientation.

People comparing the Infotainment screens with LED TVs or mobile screens are not being fair. The Infotainment screen is different in its own.

1. They want to integrate most controls and do away with any physical buttons/knobs/dials. Vertical allows them to have something like climate control at a fixed position in the bottom, while others are on top.

No. There are vehicles with horizontal orientation and without physical controls (knobs).

Overall, Orientation depends on the design culture and language of the Vehicle. The design studio team will keep the exterior and interior in mind and plan how the vehicle should look inside and outside. Of course, there can be a factor of cost saving by removing the physical controls but that cost alone is not the factor.

[Ashwin Morey]

Horizontal with a dash of physical buttons!
(sounds like I am ordering a drink )

I guess going vertical would leave little option for the designers and they may be compelled to go fully touch whereas a Horizontal screen would leave enough real estate for sensible designers to put necessary physical buttons there.

[vj196]

I would prefer to have an integrated infotainment screen and not a floating one. The floating screen feels like an afterthought.

Considering that, I think a horizontal oriented touchscreen would fit well into the dash. I generally notice the vertical screen in a car the first thing, and always feel it out of place.

A vertical screen placed lower than the steering level can be integrated well into the dash, but that would mean eyes losing peripheral vision while using and can be dangerous.

[CafeRacer16]

I voted for landscape orientation since it gives much more space for split screen/apps setup to work & be useful for user.

On a personal level, I think maps work better in landscape mode.

[pulk1t]

I can’t vote yet but I prefer the displays to be in a horizontal orientation for the simple reason that it minimises the vertical displacement of my field of view.
At the same time, I prefer the controls to be nearer to my left hand or in other words somewhere around the gear lever. Touchscreens are a conundrum for me as I don’t believe I can ever access one for changing a setting without taking my attention of the road.

[PZK]

The eyes are horizontally placed on our heads and its natural for us to be more comfortable with a lanscape mode. However, the use case might be different when it comes to different type of screens:

1. Phone/Car screens: This is interactive stuff which involves a lot of scrolling, so portrait makes more sense. Two of the biggest use cases for car screens are:
a) Maps: Portrait mode is better than landscape as we can see whats ahead better in portrait.
b) Songs: Scrolling is easier, and portrait accomodates more number of songs compared to real estate.
*We never actively consume anything from car screens.

2. TV: Large real estate removes the need of having a portrait mode when scrolling. Viewing is always better in landscape for obvious reasons.

3. Laptops/Desktops: Again, availability of bigger real estate is always helpful. Majority of things we deal in are made for landscape mode. Emails/Applications/Games/Videos/Movies, etc.

Asthetics make it much more complex discussion. Vertically aligned screens really look out of place in a car, may be we will get used to it. I personally prefer horizontal alignment integrated into the dashboard.

[PrasannaDhana]

How about No Touchscreens please ?

There is that charm about all analogue dash without screens. I really do miss those days.

Now almost all cars come with touchscreens

[yshvj]

Originally Posted by Redex

Voted doesn't matter as there was no option to vote " no touchscreen"
Touch screens are an unnecessary dangerous distraction.

I really love the single din units in older cars, serves the purpose alright and so much safer than a screen to look at. Plus safer for your eyes as well

[Formula1]

Horizontal.

Because vertical is just so ugly. Maybe someone will manage to integrate it better. Yet to get over the ugly thing in the middle in otherwise beautiful Mercedes cars.

I understand why portrait helps with navigation. So make the damn things a bit smaller, maybe? I won't mind it then.

[shiv4747]

Voted "It doesn't matter"

I am more of an old school. I prefer dash with subtle look and less info on screen while driving. Recently upgraded from 2009 Jetta to Virtus GT. All the digital screen and infotainment and those popping up notifications are such a distraction. It took a bit while to avoid contact with those while driving.

Phones are now having "driving mode" to avoid distractions. But now car's infotainment are kind of enabling those distraction. Hope everyone gets adapt to it and drive safe.