The increase in the number, size and quality of displays inside the cabin marks a profound shift in interior design philosophy, from the car as a mobility product to the car as an entertainment hub and workspace.
eetimes.eu, Aug. 07, 2024 –
With the global transition in the automotive industry from the internal-combustion engine to electric drivetrains well under way, the basis of competition in this market is undergoing a paradigm shift. In the old automotive world, the drivetrain was the primary factor that distinguished one segment from another: Consumers understood the differences in cost and appeal between, for instance, a compact car with a 1-liter petrol engine, a family sedan with a 2-liter diesel engine and a high-performance model with a 4-liter turbocharged petrol engine.
By contrast, there is no such hierarchy of electric drivetrains. Instead, the focus of competition in the electric-vehicle market is more on other factors than on the drivetrain: styling, driving range and, crucially, the in-cabin experience.
It turns out that, given the choice, car buyers want the information, entertainment, user interface, audio and display features of the car to mirror those of the devices that they use outside the car and especially the smartphone.
This move to a design philosophy, in which the car is treated as a smartphone on wheels, is powerfully symbolized by the launch in 2024 by Xiaomi, a globally renowned manufacturer of smartphones and consumer devices, of its first car, the SU7. In a smartphone, however, rendering of video content and the user interface is limited to the area available in a single, small display screen; in a car, there is scope to show information and entertainment content on multiple display screens in various sizes, formats and resolutions.
This makes display provision and performance one of the most important new battlegrounds over which car manufacturers will be fighting. And this is fueling demand for a new generation of video bridging and processing components that will enable the shift to a more consumer-device-like interior in the car.
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