Dual View Display delivers double the vision

Alpine’s Dual View Display offers passengers a new perspective in the Jaguar C-XF.

Jaguar’s latest concept car, C-XF offers driver and front seat passengers the opportunity to see an entirely different image on the car’s display. The technology, supplied by in-car specialists Alpine allows the passenger to watch a DVD or game whilst the driver can only see the navigation. It delivers unparalleled entertainment access for the front passenger and prevents the driver from being distracted by moving images, substantially increasing safety.

“Dual View allows designers to make the screen a more prominent feature of the in-car experience because it allows the front seat passenger to have full functionality while the driver is restricted to a safe level of vehicle information,” says Alpine’s UK managing director Dave Sheen. “I can see possibilities offering a gaming environment for example, or in-car cinema, features previously only available in the rear.”

Utilising a parallax barrier, light from the backlight is divided into the individual viewing cones for passenger and driver. Alpine’s engineers have defined an optimum position from the screen, 30 degrees from centre line as ideal for the eye point for each occupant. The Jaguar C-XF installation uses a 262,144 colour amorphous silicon TFT, 17.7cm (7 inches) across, a size now typical in this segment of vehicle.

The technology is flexible to suit all HMI scenarios; it is switchable, permitting the screen to display conventionally, thus allowing both occupants to see the same image when required.

Dual view is not only relevant to the front occupants. It could simplify rear screen entertainment in the rear requiring a single screen to allow two rear occupants to watch different sources. Centrally mounted dual view would be simpler to package and lighter than headrest mounted systems normally found in twin screen installations.

The system continues a long line of new technologies that Alpine has developed for Jaguar concept cars including the shutter display in RD-6 and the dramatic 860 watt sound system in Concept 8.