Jaguar Cars have been showing off its CX-F concept car during the last couple of weeks - and it features a dual-view dashboard display just like the LCD TVs that Sharp was demoing at the Internationale Funkausstelling ( IFA ) in Berlin last September.
The display - made by in-car specialists Alpine - is able to show two different sources at the same time, so the front passenger can watch movies or TV shows for example while the driver views satnav information.
The display isn't physically split down the middle either. Instead it's able to give both driver and passenger a full-screen view of what they're looking thanks to a parallax barrier - a pattern of vertical and horizontal opaque stripes that are precisely aligned to the display's pixels.
The optimum viewing angle for each view is 30-degrees from the centre, according to Alpine's engineers.
You're not limited to the twin view either as the 17-inch widescreen LCD is switchable so both driver and front passenger can see the same movie, game or other information at the same time.
Alpine reckons the dual-view display will benefit passengers elsewhere in the car too. For example it could enable rear passengers to enjoy two different sources - two different movies, or different movie and gaming applications - without the having to go through the expense of adding separate displays into the back of the front headrests.
Not just pictures, but sounds too
The C-XF also features an innovative concept sound system from hi-fi and home cinema specialist Bowers & Wilkins (aka B&W). B&W reckons its overcome many of the difficulties of getting great sound from the cramped and acoustically poor conditions inside a car. The system comprises:
- Jewel-like front and rear speaker panels - these use a proprietary B&W material called Micro-Material and claim to improve drive unit stiffness and damping resulting in vibration-free sound.
- 'Bass Beam' low-frequency driver components - these door-mounted units deliver 'up front' bass and improve stereo imaging, according to B&W.
- Kevlar cone drivers - space age Kevlar has been favoured by B&W for its drive units for years. Here the material is used in speakers mounted in the dashboard and doors to deliver fine detail and eliminate tone and balance problems caused by the fact that you're either sitting on one side of the car or the other.
- Diamond-dome tweeters and Nautilus - B&W has pretty much taken some of the leading technologies from its hi-fi and home cinema speakers and applied it to the car. The chief difference here being that the Nautilus tweeter tube found in the company's £20,000 high-end floorstanding speakers has been replaced a compact, spiral version that does a similar job of eliminating the unwanted resonances than otherwise spoil the sound.
- Selective-Directivity arrays under DSP - These promise to deliver full-range audio to passengers without unnecessarily annoying the driver. They're optimised for multi-channel use - ideal for when you want to enjoy surround sound music and movies on the move.
- Rear mounted deck panel - This has been designed to create and even sound throughout the car and uses a central-mounted bass driver that is flanked by two wide-dispersion drivers.
As for C-XF concept itself? Let's just say the sporty 4-door saloon wowed the crowds at the North American International Auto Show ( NAIAS ) a couple of weeks back and has been dubbed the 'most exciting car of 2007' by a leading motoring magazine.
