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Backseat peacemaker: Dual-view screen in works for cars

Jabil Circuit plans technology that allows an LCD screen to show two images at the same time. Kids in a car can watch a video - or play a game.

By MADHUSMITA BORA, Times Staff Writer
Published October 11, 2007

Tired of the kids fighting over control of the car television screen?

St. Petersburg-based electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuit says it has a remedy for your woes.

The company is adapting new technology to allow an LCD, or liquid-crystal display, screen to transmit two images at the same time. So, depending on where your kids sit in the back seat, one can watch a video, while the other enjoys a game of Pac-Man.

Jabil is collaborating with undisclosed partners to bring the two-way-view technology to the market. The company said it's too early to say how much it will cost, and don't look for it quite yet in auto showrooms.

"I think with a new tech in the automotive business you look out three plus years," said Brian Althaver, vice president of Jabil Automotive Group. "Right now, based on where everyone is, earliest we will see it is in vehicles of the 2010 model year."

Jabil, however, isn't the first company to toy with the concept. Audi unveiled a dual-view monitor in its Cross Coupe Quattro concept car at the Shanghai Motor Show this year. It has limited availability now in parts of Asia.

Electronics giant Sharp, which developed dual-view display for Toyota and Opel, says it plans to launch a triple-view application in the future. Sharp didn't say where it would be sold.

"It's a really cute idea," said Shin-Tson Wu, professor of optics at the University of Central Florida. "A driver wants to know the road conditions and needs the GPS while the passenger is more interested in entertainment."

The display works by using a technology that controls the pixels on the display, designating which pixels can be seen from the left and which can be seen from the right. Each viewer sees half of the display's pixels.

Although many states ban visual entertainment for drivers, the two-way-view technology could solve the problem. Drivers could be restricted to watch only relevant information such as navigation and traffic reports, while a front-seat passenger could enjoy a movie on a headset.

"Anything that adds to safety in the car is something that consumers would like," said Jim Barry, spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association. "I think this has the potential to find its way into more and more automobiles and have some real market uses."

Jabil's two-way-view screen could be used with different gadgets - for example, if one passenger wants to watch a DVD while another is hooked up to their video iPod or a video game console. The company said customers have been receptive to the idea.

"You can assume that like any new technology, it's going to get rolled out in the high-end vehicles and market tested," said Jabil's Althaver. "Eventually, it would be available for the aftermarket."

Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Madhusmita Bora can be reached at (813) 225-3112 or mbora@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 10, 2007, 23:15:27]