Thread: Interest in a dual din chassis with touch screen

there has always been alot of interest in a double-DIN touchscreen monitor, but the options are very limited and the prices have been insane. one reason I think the prices always end up too high is that there are too many unnecessary features being added. it sounds like you want to make a product similar to the CT650A. that will be a nice product, but IMO the price is going to be too high. the selling price will ultimately determine it's success.

I think you should keep it as simple as possible in order to keep the price as low as possible. I don't think the USB HID features are necessary. personally, I would like to see a double-DIN chassis with pre-installed VGA touchscreen. no buttons are necessary on the front panel if it turns itself on/off automatically, and switched to rear-view camera input automatically (other buttons can be on the back, or via remote control).

don't even consider using anything less than VGA resolution/input. a carPC is useless without VGA, as text is not readable. also, there are plenty of non-VGA double-DIN monitors out there to choose from. the gap in the market is for double-DIN VGA monitors.

It would be very tempting to me. I would like a slot load AND screen in a true double din opening. I wouldn't pay 750 for just that, though. Maybe 500 or so, max...

Originally Posted by ComputerGeek

there has always been alot of interest in a double-DIN touchscreen monitor, but the options are very limited and the prices have been insane. one reason I think the prices always end up too high is that there are too many unnecessary features being added. it sounds like you want to make a product similar to the CT650A. that will be a nice product, but IMO the price is going to be too high. the selling price will ultimately determine it's success.

I think you should keep it as simple as possible in order to keep the price as low as possible. I don't think the USB HID features are necessary. personally, I would like to see a double-DIN chassis with pre-installed VGA touchscreen. no buttons are necessary on the front panel if it turns itself on/off automatically, and switched to rear-view camera input automatically (other buttons can be on the back, or via remote control).

don't even consider using anything less than VGA resolution/input. a carPC is useless without VGA, as text is not readable. also, there are plenty of non-VGA double-DIN monitors out there to choose from. the gap in the market is for double-DIN VGA monitors.

I like the idea Brett Woollum has with the CT650A but don't want to pay close to $1000 for a monitor... and the prototype looks pretty bland, we'll see if the production model looks more like the one he had been distributing (the DL065A).

I guess my thoughts on the HID buttons were to add control over the pc functions like volume and mute in case your monitor or the pc were not cooperating.

I've also thought of just having the monitor and controllers with a amp and possibly some other small peripherals inside the enclosure and just connecting it to a mini-itx case via USB and VGA. there are some similar to this already, but none with buttons that can control the pc. And like you said they have a lot of extra crap added on.

I would also like to keep the price under $500 so choosing the right monitor will play a big factor in this.

Originally Posted by benedums

I guess my thoughts on the HID buttons were to add control over the pc functions like volume and mute in case your monitor or the pc were not cooperating

the buttons would be connected via USB, which means they control PC functions through software. if the PC was "not cooperating" then the USB buttons would be useless.

Originally Posted by benedums

I've also thought of just having the monitor and controllers with a amp and possibly some other small peripherals inside the enclosure

that's still more unnecessary features that will just drive the price up. I think you should start with a basic model that is just the monitor and nothing else (obviously you need the LCD/touchscreen controllers in there as well, but that's it). later on, you can add more features for higher priced models but you should continue to offer the basic monitor-only version as a low cost option for people.

Originally Posted by benedums

I would also like to keep the price under $500 so choosing the right monitor will play a big factor in this.

as you can see from the poll, $500 is still too much. you need to keep the price under $400... to do that you'll have to strip out anything and everything that is not absolutely essential for the operation of the monitor itself.

maybe you could get 6.5" screens at a good price?

good luck

What LCD and interface are you planning on using? I did quite a bit of research on this same type of product and could find the LCDs but could not get the required VGA to TTL interface in orders of less than 1000 units. I could not find a 6.5" widescreen LCD that was LVDS, only TTL...

I've been researching lcd's and have found a few contenders but availability and price keep the list short.
The main manufactures I've looked at at are;
Toshiba, Hitachi, Sharp, Optrex, Newhaven & Matrix Orbital

The features I'm looking for are:
-TFT-LCD VGA (or some derivative of that: QVGA, WQVGA, etc...)
-maximum housing size of 183mm(W) x 105mm(H) (2-din opening is about 183mm(W) x 102mm(H) + about 2-4mm on each side for a bezel [185mm x 106mm])
-16:9 (wide screen format, this fits better with the 2-din opening)
-Brightness > 400 cd/m^2
-Backlight
-Operating temp between -20C to 60C
-within the price range that you are willing to pay...

Here are the top ones;
http://www.toshiba.com/taec/componen...CD/LTA057A340F $200.00
http://www.toshiba.com/taec/componen...TFD58W26MW.pdf $300.00
http://document.sharpsma.com/files/L..._SP_041801.pdf $310.00
http://www.hedus.com/sales/part_sear...=TX18D57VM2CAB
http://www.hedus.com/sales/part_sear...=TX14D12VM1CAA
http://www.hedus.com/sales/part_sear...=TX14D14VM1BAA


I will be designing a custom bezel and chassis so I agree that creating one with only a display will be easier and cheaper and I think that's a good place to start.

Nice LCDs. So how are you interfacing? LVDS? VGA?

i think it should definitely have a VGA-D-sub as the main input. I would also like to have at least one composite input and possibly a DVI but that is probably not as important.

This all depends on which LCD I choose and what control boards are available for it.

Obviously this will play another part in the final cost of the unit and I would like to find a control board that meets these needs to avoid designing my own. I want to try to keep it as simple as possible at first so not designing my own control board is key.

That's the hard part: finding that controller board...

Let us know what you find.