What They Say
Macroblock, the Taiwanese leader in LED driver technology, sent us a press release highlighting that its drivers have been used by the Chinese car brand “Li Auto”‘s flagship SUV-L9 model.
The design is quite a change from tradition, with a small display on the steering wheel (using an LCD with miniLED backlight technology from Macroblock) and a HUD on the windscreen for the main information. Macroblock said that its time-multiplexing architecture helps the display to have good impact in bright light but also can be dimed for lower light levels at night. Multi-touch interaction is enabled.
According to LEDinside 2022 Automotive report, the in-vehicle display shipment will reach 185M pcs this year and 241M pcs in 2026 respectively. Macroblock said that its automotive driver ICs pass international automotive certifications, such as AEC-Q100 Grade 1 and ASIL A/B.
What We Think
I think this is a first for me to see a car without an instrument cluster! I remember talking to an executive from General Motors some years ago at CES. He said that, at that time, with mechanical instruments, GM was really keen to dump the cluster and replace it with a HUD. It knew that if drivers got used to the HUD, they would never look at the cluster. But, he said, the firm’s customers were too conservative to buy without a cluster. (BR)
Photo credit: Li Auto Website
