Thread: istalling a screen in the mustang (with pics)

Let's see -- if you put it where the HVAC controls are, you have to move the controls (which can be dicey, depending on whether they're electronic, or mechanical, or vacuum), and the screen will partially block the vents.

If you put it down below, in the little switch panel location, it will partially block the Alpine screen.

What if you lowered the Alpine screen, and put the new unit in above it? Then it would block the HVAC controls a little, but probably not enough that they'd be unusable. You'd want to watch how far out the screen is when installed, to be sure it would clear the controls; that would determine how far into the dash you could install it.

I'm finding the glare issue to be pretty much universal. Until we get to the quality -- and price -- level of transflective (transmissive-reflective) displays, I think glare is simply going to be a fact of CarPC life. My next install will be with a transflective display.

I may even consider ignoring the touchscreen and going to a straight display with a touchpad; I thought I had to have a touchscreen because "real" CarPC installs all have them. I may be pulling in my horns on that issue. But first I have to finish this install, before I start doing a lot of next-one planning. As Turbocad6 says, lots of people get to 70%; the mark of a good installation is that it's 100% complete. Although, for many of us, 100% complete probably means "ready for the next change".

Have you looked at the displays you're considering to see if transflective displays are available?

The glare problem isn't solved by moving the screen down lower, unfortunately. That just means the screen reflects different stuff. Apparently, a truly bright screen is the only antidote.

OEM look is what I wanted to achieve, too. That desire places some constraints on what we do. If nothing else, it demands a higher level of craftsmanship. I look to the best examples on MP3Car.com, and shoot for that level, and I certainly understand that you'd want to keep the car looking good.

I've been reading about the Space Navigator, including the new smaller version that weighs half as much. It lists at $129. We can get the full-size version for about half of that on eBay, so the slightly bigger one sounds okay. I've never played around with one, but every time I read about it, I get itchy for one. I may have to do that in lieu of the trackball mouse I was planning to use.

There's a thread on here about using the Alpine as a monitor, but their project hasn't hit the streets yet. They're only using one Alpine unit to start, and hoping to move to other units from there. It's a pretty slow process to develop, and users are all over them about release dates. They're pretty sharp; they just keep plugging away. I hope it works out well . . .

Originally Posted by jash7

i guess i'm just gunna end up settling for using the alpine h/u as a monitor. will my gauges be unreadable?

Most of the time, looking at computer images on a TV just plain sucks. I'd bet you won't be happy with it. There have been some comments on threads here, but I don't remember where I read them.

If we look at private aircraft, the new ones come with "glass panels", or at least glass panel options, and homebuilt aircraft are driving the process forward, as well. They have some of the old "steam" (standard) gauges as backups, but almost all of the display work is done on one or more large LCD panels, not individual gauges. Automobile manufacturers might learn something from them.

There's a system for vehicles, called FusionBrain, but I have no experience with it. It's discussed in a number of threads here.

I'd love to have the center section of the panel be nothing but a big portrait-mode monitor, with the front end running on top, and the gauges and other information displaying below. Turbocad6 uses that sort of thing in one of his vehicles, and it looks just plain amazing. I have to stop looking at it, or I'll start drooling into the keyboard -- it's that hot.

That's where I hope all this development work is taking us.