Bigger and Bolder: Automotive Display Trends

From CES in January through SID Display Week in May, industry expos during the first half of 2024 have showcased some dazzling new automotive display prototypes and technologies. Here’s a look at the latest trends.

Pillar-to-Pillar Displays

These full-width dashboard displays have been a hot trend for a few years now, and that shown no sign of slowing down. For example:

• TCL CSOT showed off a 42.7” pillar-to-pillar (P2P) display panel, billed as the largest P2P irregular shaped single LTPS display. It features an 8K resolution miniLED backlit touch-screen with 27 local dimming zones to provide a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

TCS CSOT's pillar-to-pillar dashboard display at SID.

• LG Display showed “the world’s largest” 57-inch P2P display at CES, along with a sliding 32” passenger infotainment screen. The ‘Ultra-large P-OLED P2P' combines a ‘12.3-inch P-OLED’ display cluster with the ’34-inch P-OLED’ center fascia display to form a large singular display, and the expansive ’48-inch LTPS (Low-Temperature Polysilicon) LCD’ that seamlessly connects the dashboard from the driver’s seat to the passenger’s seat.¹ 

Prototypes of LG's P2P display and 32" sliding passenger infotainment display.

• LG’s Advanced Thin OLED (ATO) technology is behind both its P2P and some smaller display panels shown at SID. ATO enables thinner glass and “day/night optimal visibility.”
• Forvia’s Skyline Immersive Display is aiming to improve safety by placing its P2P display panel at the junction of the windshield and dashboard so drivers don't have to move their eyes away from the road to see the display.

Skyline Immersive Display from Forvia.

• The pillar-to-pillar display in the Afeela prototype shown at CES 2024 goes beyond standard display functionality by incorporating the Unreal Edge platform originally developed for the game Fortnite to provide a more interactive experience. “AFEELA is equipped with many cameras and sensors so that the car itself can understand the surrounding environment and the driver’s driving patterns. These technologies are equipped for driver assistance, such as ADAS, and it is possible to take advantage of them to create a real-time 3DCG depiction of the world.”² 

MicroLED Displays in the Vehicle

Another continuing trend in automotive displays is the use of microLED technology. Prized for their high brightness and low energy use, multiple microLED displays were seen at 2024 shows. MicroLEDs are simultaneously at the center of another emerging automotive trend, transparent displays:

• AUO exhibited a transparent microLED screen with peak brightness of 5,000 nits, with LEDs sized less than 30 nm.

AUO protoype transparent microLED window displays.

• Tianma’s “Smart Cockpit” at SID featured two 8.07-inch "octogon" transparent microLED displays.

Tianma Smart Cockpit prototype at the SID Display Week Expo.

• Continental raised the bar on microLED displays by embedding theirs into a clear 10-inch Swarovski crystal screen.

Continental's Swarovski crystal microLED display.

New Surfaces 

While transparent displays such as those from AUO, Tianma, and Continental are starting to take off, an even newer trend observed this year is putting displays on surfaces other than the traditional glass/plastic screens. For example:

• Tianma showed an automotive display on the type of decorative wood-grain finish often used for car interior designs. It was billed as a "High-transmittance, InvisiVue Textured MiniLED" display.
• Visionox took this a step further with a curved textured panel.

Textured displays from Tianma (left) and Visionox (right).

Ensuring Automotive Display Quality

Between the strict regulatory and safety requirements of automobile displays and customer expectations for luxury vehicle features and finishes, the need for automotive display quality has never been higher. Radiant has been helping leading OEMs and Tier suppliers to inspect and perfect vehicle displays, backlit symbols, and lighting for over a decade. Learn more about our automotive display quality solutions for:

• Pillar-to-Pillar Display Measurement
• OLED & MicroLED Display Measurement & Correction
• Curved & Free Form Display Inspection

Looking ahead, as the automotive display industry keeps innovating new technologies in displays, lighting, smart glass, and HUDs, Radiant will keep developing leading solutions for effective measurement and quality inspection.

 

CITATIONS

1. "LG Display Unveils the World’s Largest Automotive Display to Advance Future Mobility at CES 2024," LG Display Press Release, January 10, 2024. Link
2. “Future Voice Vol.4 Mobility’s Future; A Platform for Entertainment and Self-Expression,” on AFEELA website, April 24, 2004. Link