CES 2024 may be AI's big coming out party, but the sexiest beast at the show may be all the automotive technology and the innovations built around it.
There will be lots of electric vehicles and mashups of seemingly unrelated technologies like electric vehicles and in-car AR systems. The EVs will also transform from purely electric mobility platforms to Software-Defined Vehicles or SDVs. These are cars that have more in common with your laptop or smartphone than the classic petrol cars of the past.
An SDV can expect over-the-air updates that can redefine the driving experience. Technologies that take advantage of this new fungibility will take center stage at CES 2024. LG Display (which is essentially the display supplier for LG Electronics and many other makers of screen-based technology) has unveiled its latest in-car display systems and they are . everything about SDVs
I got a glimpse of some P-OLED-based systems last year, but CES 2024 marks a turning point for in-car technology. The flexible displays are bigger than ever and have a few more visual tricks up their sleeves.
At CES 2024, taking place January 9-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada, LG Display will unveil a selection of lightweight and flexible displays that will be housed in large, retractable screens for rear-seat passengers, and in full dashboard trim that can showing car statistics on one side and passenger entertainment on the other.
Displays that cover curved surfaces such as the dashboard will be P-OLED, meaning OLED screens are on a flexible plastic substrate. Others will be based on LG Display's Thin OLED technology (may include some old-school LCD screens too). However, OLED-based technology should work especially well in cars thanks to its darker blacks (higher contrast) and brighter colors. All of this could help the displays withstand stronger sunlight outdoors.
My natural question would be about screening the latest Batman film on the passenger side without distracting the driver. However, LG Display's latest update, “switchable privacy mode” (SPM), ensures that the driver does not see the distracting images on the passenger side. The LG display describes it as “distracting” the image from the driver's side, which is a bit unclear. Do they use some kind of lenticular technology? We should get a better idea of what LG's screen is using here when we see it in person.
In addition to all the panel-covering displays, LG Display will showcase more extendable and foldable in-car screen technologies. Most screens should be touch sensitive.
A broad benefit of bringing SDVs together with all this screen real estate is that no one has to permanently define what each screen will do. If a manufacturer covers the interior of its latest EV with screens on every surface of the car, it can always redefine its purpose with a software update.
Check out our CES 2024 hub for all the latest news about the show as it happens. We cover everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets and the latest in AI, so stick with us for the big stories.
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