Jalopnik: Displays

AUO Oval LCD Screens For Vehicle Instrument Panels

Travis Hudson — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:40:00 EDT

A company by the name of AUO has managed to develop an oval-shaped LCD display, which could change the appearance of next-generation instrument panels. The ovoid LCDs don't just look good, but they could allow for customizing instrumented data. Of course, the technology is far from being integrated into your next vehicle purchase, but it's good to see the baby steps being taken. [Ubergizmo]

Display Cars of CES are Pretty, Loud

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:15:00 EST

CES saw a plethora of cars showing off mobile electronic goodies this year. The trend towards bigger and louder continued unabated in the audio category, while stealth was the order of the day for the classic rides. We've put together some noteworthy display vehicles for you to ogle and we even went out of our way to break them into two categories - a no holds barred systems and classic steel. Be sure to check out the Impala in the classics gallery - twin turbos! The gratuitous booth babes are just to brighten the place up a bit.

Photo credit: Curtis Walker

Iron Chef, Detroit Auto Show Edition: Battle of the Cutaway Displays

bwojdyla — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:30:09 EST

Use to be, carmakers would run an early prototype through the largest bandsaw they could find, file down the sharp edges and call it a cutaway. But like anything else, competition for consumers' eyes has forced display creators to be ever more clever, escalating the state of the art. I'm not afraid to say the trend accelerated significantly a couple of years ago, when Ford trotted out a bisected GT for all to walk through. It was quite a crowd-pleaser. Fast forward to now, and you'll see this trend on display at this years Detroit show. My favorites (for different reasons) were the Smart Fourtwo, Buick Enclave and Chevy Volt. The Smart display was really kind of quaint; they just brought in a frame and highlighted the important parts with paint (and apparently ran out of time before they had to hand it in). Also, look how tiny it is! Mid-range scores across the board: it uses the ingredients in traditional ways, is presented cleanly, but offers nothing groundbreaking.

The Enclave display really is a treat for both consumer and the car dork. They chopped it in a nice curve front to back, and you can walk down the middle, play with all the buttons, work all of the mechanisms, feel the seats and check out the suspension. Very high marks for usability and presentation, though the creative use of ingredients could be better.

Finally, the Chevy Volt — a little bit cutaway, a little bit wire frame. This exotic offering focused less on the body shell than it did on the powertrain, for obvious reasons. For me, the Volt was truly a less-is-more experience. The excellent preparation and delicate attention to existing panels made up for the lack of interior, and who could forget those two plug in ports — delicious! Excellent presentation, interesting reinterpretation of the genre, and excellent technical innovation.

The chairman declares the victor to be.. Iron Chef Chevrolet!– Ben Wojdyla