What They Say
Panasonic Avionics has announced a new in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, Astrova, based on OLED displays. The displays are available in 13″, 16″ and, later, 22″, but they are said to have UltraHD resolution and HDR for ‘cinematic’ performance.
Also new is a facility to support USB-C power to give up to 67W of PD for charging and powering devices up to notebooks. An additional feature is programmable LED lighting to allow crew to easily change lighting for food service etc.
What We Think
The use of OLEDs seemed inevitable, given their size and weight, but the displays are likely to be in use for a long time, so my guess is that qualification of technology for this must be tricky. It seems to me that some sort of privacy feature really is the next step. I wouldn’t want to be stuck for multiple hours next to somebody watching content I’m not interested in.
I rarely watch videos on flights – I usually have my PC out, although an iPad Pro with a miniLED and some downloaded content is a good option! However, when there was a big security scare a few years ago, I was travelling from London to the West Coast of the USA. The only items that we could take on the plane were passports and a piece of paper with our destination. No books, no PCs, nada! I ended up watching 9 hours of the three Lord of the Rings movies consecutively. By the middle of the last one, I was fast forwarding through the battles – it’s amazing how many there are when you see them all together! (BR)
Image:boardingarea.com
