[JS Kwt]

Cars With Huge Screens Showcased At CES 2019,
Is this the Emerging Trend?

The interior screens at the cars put on display at the CES 2019 amaze show-goers with there great size

Most cars showcased at the CES 2019 have surprised everyone with their huge screens.

In fact, Byton, an electric vehicle startup even announced “This is not science fiction!” at the global technology conference in Las Vegas. Carsten Breitfeld, CEO and Chairman, said about the astonishing 48-inch screen in the cabin of the company’s M-Byte car.


While the Byton M-Byte will go into production later this year, its large interior screen, which has been sourced from China’s BOE Technology Group, has proved to be quite a trendsetter in the automobile technology world.

Speaking on the interior displays, Gorten Wegener, Chief Design Officer, Daimler AG has said- “The screens are the window to the digital world. Screens are the new horsepower.” The comment by Wegener was about the 2019 Mercedes EQC crossover’s two 10.25-inch digital displays.
byton crossover concept 4

It is not only the electric or the highly expensive cars that have started featuring huge screens. The 2019 RAM 1500 truck from Fiat Chrysler comes with a large 12-inch vertical display mounted on its dashboard. Other than the centrally-positioned displays, which generally provide the interfaces for the infotainment unit, cars have even started coming with digital instrument clusters.


Car companies like Audi have combined the centre displays and the digital instrument clusters and are referring to the new arrangement as a ‘cockpit’. Manufacturers have even started offering displays to replace the rearview mirror. The new setup has rear-facing cameras that project the view on a screen. Also, Heads-up Displays (HUD) are increasingly becoming common and have started making it to regular models.

“We’re living in a display-centred world,” said Brian Rhodes, Connected Car Research Lead at IHS Markit. “I don’t think it’s coincidental we have a lot of screens in vehicles that look just like tablets. That’s clearly the trend.”

Source

[Mr. Nobody]

Seems logical. With driver-less cars gaining momentum what else will the people inside do than gaze at screens everywhere.

[McLaren Rulez]

Big screens are great! However, integrating buttons into those screens is the real issue for me.

Not that I'm a very experienced driver but every car I have driven with a touchscreen makes me nervous when I want to switch radio stations. In my humble button laden Polo, this is a total non-issue.

[Samba]

Wow, so much distraction!
At-least not my cup of tea!

If its for the driver less cars, then the IT guys can save few hours of office work in traffic jam! This screen will give them a new option, work from car!

Looks like we are the last generation, who got to enjoy driving no nonsense cars.

Manuals are getting replaced by automatics.
Petrol/ diesel cars are getting replaced by electric cars.
Driver-less cars are on the verge of getting popular. Its just a matter of time.

[dark.knight]

Technically, they aren't cars so much as they are, couches on wheels. This is in a way, the path to the future. In my view its horrendous, but screen addiction is the next hep thing. People as it is, use their large "Galaxy" sized phones when even a moment of boredom should strike, and now all they have to do is watch American Idol or some cooking show or vlogs when on the move, with the car driving itself.

Once upon a time people sought solace in driving, watching the world, scenery and vibrant shopping areas when driving themselves, the glass area acted as a way to see what's going on outside, some part of driving was a way to get out of the 4 walls with a television inside it, which we call home.

Soon driving will become a strictly A-B affair, with the car moving by itself, connected fully to the internet. According to folks in the tech business, even VR and augmented reality screens will be part of the car windshield soon, completely isolating you from the natural views of earth from inside. The BMW iNext is proof of that.

[Thermodynamics]

Originally Posted by Samba

Wow, so much distraction!
Looks like we are the last generation, who got to enjoy driving no nonsense cars.

Knobs are always quick, easy and safe. I guess, next generation driving would be like playing NFS, all emulated.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

In my view its horrendous, but screen addiction is the next hep thing.

Soon driving will become a strictly A-B affair, with the car moving by itself, connected fully to the internet. According to folks in the tech business, even VR and augmented reality screens will be part of the car windshield soon, completely isolating you from the natural views of earth from inside. The BMW iNext is proof of that.

Nice post . In such a world full of auto-driven cars, human driven cannot be road-legal perhaps limited to a designated circuit dedicated for enthusiasts. Imagining further, just like internet data packs there would be mobility highway packs, one has to subscribe the segment of speed he can afford.

[vinair]

Days are not far when the entire windscreen is replaced with a display screen!!

But imagine, what if the car has no windscreen and just a display screen showing the outside world with much clarity through cameras and thermal imagery! Woa! no more headlights, god lamps nothing!! just a big screen to see where you are heading too, whatever the conditions are outside, you still see things in front of you crystal clear!!

[RedStallion]

It causes me heartache to see this.

I can digest a large screen on the dashboard if I have to. However, the screen on car steering, are they kidding us?

Welcome to the future!

Currently, OEMs provide 7" to 9" touch screen size in an entry-level car. Those days are not far when luxury cars will have these larger screens. In the end, they need to differentiate from common passenger cars.

[centaur]

I feel the way it is currently seen by the world (apart from enthusiasts) is that, driving in itself is an unnecessary activity which can be replaced with something that a person wants to so. In time that the person is driving, with autonomous cars in place, the same person can catch up on something else like reading a book or catch up on some shows and if nothing, take a nap. With mobile screens growing bigger and bigger each day, this was coming sooner or later anyway. The next thing would be a folding screen just like its now being innovated in mobiles.

I personally prefer the old fashioned buttons to change songs or to change FM stations because I do not need to move my eyes off the road or get distracted to do so. With these touch screens, that comfort would need to be done away with and i would have to depend on my co passenger to do it for me or move my eyes off the road to do it which is very scary. While manufacturers may get in some constrains that only certain activities/operations can be performed while moving (e.g. not being able to pair a bluetooth device while on the move) they still cannot completely eliminate it (e.g. FM stations, changing songs, navigation etc.) which makes it somewhat risky in my opinion.

At the end of the day I still believe that no matter where and what screen it is, a screen is a screen and will cause some distraction

[saket77]

I have had issues in driving some cars where stereo was mounted on the upper side of the dashboard, near the bottom of windshield. And I considered them to be as ergonomic failures since the lights from stereo distracted me in pitch dark conditions. One such car was the Estilo. And if that wasn't enough, here come large screens!

Thanks but no thanks.

[JS Kwt]

2020 Mercedes-Benz S-Class interiors Spied With Gigantic Touchscreen

The enormous touchscreen will likely control the majority of functions of the flagship sedan as no physical button is seen in the cabin.

Highlights

• The massive touchscreen will feature the majority controls of the S-Class
• There are no physical buttons on the dashboard of the S-Class.
• Its design is inspired by the Maybach Ultimate Luxury Concept.
• There is just a single strip of touch-sensitive buttons
  beneath the screen.

P.S.If Auto Industry leader Mercedes is going towards Huge Touchscreens as symbol of ultimate luxury, the rest of the industry is sure to follow this trend sooner or later.

Article
Image

[GrandTourer]

Aesthetically these are wonderful, and might I say convenient in driverless cars. But as of this day, it doesn't make sense to me for the simple reason that to change anything as insignificant as volume, music track, Aircon temperature, etc., I'll have to take my eyes off the road. And that is a big issue for someone driving on Indian roads where anything can happen in a split second.
The conventional knobs and buttons do not require me to look at a screen to do any of the above. Give me knobs and buttons on the center console and steering and I'll move mountains (on wheels), give me huge touchscreens and I'll crash into one :banghead:

[mac187]

I think large screens are more form over function. I am not against screens but I wouldn't want to take my eyes off the road for simple functions. I believe the next big differentiator for petroheads will be the manufacture with a aesthetically designed entertainment screen.

The 2019 A class is a good example what we can expect from manufacturers in the new models.

[GrandTourer]

Originally Posted by GrandTourer

Aesthetically these are wonderful, and might I say convenient in driverless cars. But as of this day, it doesn't make sense to me for the simple reason that to change anything as insignificant as volume, music track, Aircon temperature, etc., I'll have to take my eyes off the road. And that is a big issue for someone driving on Indian roads where anything can happen in a split second.
The conventional knobs and buttons do not require me to look at a screen to do any of the above. Give me knobs and buttons on the center console and steering and I'll move mountains (on wheels), give me huge touchscreens and I'll crash into one :banghead:

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/...m-its-vehicles

And finally an automaker that understands. If only more companies thought like this, instead of being cagey.

Excerpt:

...as they started studying the effects of touchscreens on driving safety (and driving comfort), it soon became clear what the priorities should be with this completely new system that makes its debut in the 2019 Mazda 3.
It started out by looking at actual times—the times spent looking away from the road to make a screen selection, and the time needed to refocus the eyes on something close versus the road ahead—and decided that it needed to home in on factors that reduced that time

Doing our research, when a driver would reach towards a touch-screen interface in any vehicle, they would unintentionally apply torque to the steering wheel, and the vehicle would drift out of its lane position.

Generally the response from other automakers is caged and revolves around the idea that if phones and tablets are familiar, so too should in-vehicle touchscreens. Audi, for instance has said that part of the reason it's discontinuing its rotary controller is that a touchscreen better supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

A 2017 study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety suggested that the cognitive and visual load of touch-screen systems was introducing a potentially dangerous level distraction, however.

[speedmiester]

Thanks for sharing.
Finally common sense prevailed. Hopefully more and more car manufacturers realise this and bring back the buttons. While touch screens are good, it doesn't belong in a car.