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Innovative SPLITVIEW technology: Mercedes-Benz S-Class: two programmes on a screen

Stuttgart – In future Mercedes-Benz is equipping its luxury class models as the first premium brand with a display screen that allows the driver and front passenger to view two different programmes at the same time. While the driver is checking the navigation instructions, the front passenger can sit back and watch a film on the very same display. This is made possible by new SPLITVIEW technology which the Stuttgart premium brand is introducing in the S-Class for the first time.

Mercedes-Benz has integrated the new SPLITVIEW technology developed by Mercedes-Benz and Bosch into the innovative control and display system COMAND, which is centrally located in the dashboard console. Its generously dimensioned, 8-inch (approx. 20 mm) monitor shows a backlighted active matrix colour display (TFT-LCD). This shows two different images simultaneously by placing pixels adjacent to each other. A filter masking the display divides this mixed image in such a way that depending on the seating position, only the pixels making up one or the other image can be seen. As a result, the driver and front passenger can view different programmes on the same screen at the same time.

The driver still has access to all the information from the control and display system COMAND on the display, while the front passenger uses the remote control to choose his own entertainment programme with DVDs, TV channels or music videos. To avoid distracting the driver with his entertainment programme, he also has the option of enjoying the programme via headphones. As before, the driver is able to view all the information provided by the COMAND system on the display.

Mercedes-Benz is introducing the new SPLITVIEW technology in the S-Class for the first time in summer 2009.


Copyright © 2008, Daimler AG




Mercedes-Benz Introduces New SPLITVIEW COMAND Display For The S-Class | eMercedesBenz - The Unofficial Mercedes-Benz Weblog



M

Sounds great…

This feature has been demonstrated for a couple of years in many autoshows/exhibitions etc. I was already wondering when the car manufacturers will start to put it on their systems. Good to know S-Class is getting it soon.

Whoa this sounds cool
now the passanger can watch movies..without distracting the driver

if only they could split sound :P

I guess the rear middle passenger gets the best of both worlds!

That's actually very nice feature,everyone gets what he wants

so will this make it to the FL?

Yep it will, I read somewhere that the new E will get it too.
Funny, but not really that usefull (definitely something to show to the neighbours, that said). I don't think it's a progress if, instead of talking to each other, the passengers just watch their stuff all alone during the trip...

wow, if someone told me about something like this a few years ago, I would have called BS and told the guy he's been watching way too many sci-fi's. This is really really awesome technology, something straight out of a movie.

Now, this is plausible...

I love it!

Probably they can - as you can see on the photo, the woman is wearing a headphone…

From Motor Trend:

If you're wondering how this works, we'll try to break it down for you. Built in collaboration with Bosch, Mercedes-Benz engineers developed a centrally located 8-in. screen capable of dual image display by placing TF-LCD pixels adjacent to each other. A filter then divides the pixels in a fashion allowing each passenger to view their given portion -- meaning the driver can follow a navigation map while his passenger can check out the latest Hollywood flick. For further privacy, wireless headphones ensure neither gets distracted (or jealous).


M

They're working on it. It was the 2003 F500 Mind I believe, who featured I don't know what system allowing the GPS info to be heard by the driver only, whereas the passenger is hearing something else...

Here what I found on netcarshow.com about the F500 Mind:


New F 500 Mind research vehicle from Mercedes showcases the automotive technology of the future


To mark the opening of the 37th Tokyo Motor Show, DaimlerChrysler Board Members Professor Jürgen Hubbert and Dr. Thomas Weber this morning unveiled the new F 500 Mind research vehicle. "This mobile research laboratory gives an insight into how automotive technology is set to look in the future and showcases more than a dozen new technical features," explained Professor Jürgen Hubbert at the press conference held on the Mercedes stand. "The F 500 Mind is thereby preparing the way for the development of these technologies for use in series production."
With a body length of 5092 millimetres and a wheelbase of 2965 mm, the F 500 Mind offers a significant gain in legroom in the rear compared with present-day saloons. This was made possible by using new electronic accelerator and brake pedals, which take up far less space than their conventional mechanical equivalents.


The multivision display in the cockpit of the F 500 Mind forms the centrepiece of an innovative instrumentation and control system which offers the driver more flexible communication of information and at the same time reduces fatigue. The dials and displays in the instrument cluster are programmable and their images can be optically superposed or combined by means of a semitransparent mirror. An advanced voice-operated control system and an ultrasound-based driver information system take ease of operation to even greater heights. The ultrasonic technology directs the sound at the driver so that only he or she can hear the information from the navigation system, the traffic news and other sound-based information sources, while the front passenger and rear passengers remain undisturbed.


In the dark or when visibility is poor, the innovative night vision system projects its images onto the right-hand monitor of the multivision display. The Night Vision system consists of two infrared laser headlamps on the front of the vehicle which "illuminate" the road ahead with their invisible light for a distance of up to 150 metres, plus a camera on the windscreen. This allows the driver to spot hazards much earlier than in a vehicle operating with conventional dipped headlamps, meaning that Night Vision offers yet more scope for making night driving safer.
The drive system in the research vehicle is a state-of-the-art diesel hybrid unit with a total power output of 234 kW. Over the European driving cycle it uses up to 20 per cent less fuel than a comparable direct-injection diesel engine.




Quite amazing isn't it?

Amazing the things that Mercedes puts out in these F cars. I gotta quit letting their styling turn me off to the car's tech.

M

Marcus whats the size of the current command screen in the S class now?

Wow, so MB beat BMW to the punch. So much for the BMW guys hyping this tech up in the other thread, and I don't mean that as a knock.

I think it's either 7 or 8 inches.

8 inch LCD.


M

Amazing feature. Really a futurestic technology for a futurestic car.

Now if they really want to sell some cars to men, they could introduce, "Nagtronic," that silences out that nagging wife.

^^ Good one...