Thread: DIN and Double DIN Dimensions/Standards

Originally Posted by kubark42

Can anyone post or link to the specifications for the DIN and Double DIN standards? Among things I'd like to know, who is the controlling body, what are the absolute minimum depth specs, and what are the specifications for the outside flange, i.e. the display part that overlays the dash by a couple millimeters.

I had a lot of trouble finding info on DIN. All I know is that it is a German standard, so you might want to check out a few of those google results that are in german.

Twostep

din is 7*2" double din is 7*4 inches. as for depth, it varies depends on car mnufacturer. example....gm seems to make all there cars have an real shallow depth (smaller than most aftermarket radios.

luck

There is no depth limit for DIN. DIN stands for Deutsche Institut fur Normung. It's 7.2"X2.11" opening. First gen Eclipse, Talon, Laser have pretty deep double DIN space.

There must be a minimum depth limit. It might be really small, but it's unbelievable that someone could make such a wide standard. It just doesn't feel like very good automotive engineering. They're usually so conservative about this sort of thing.

cproaudio--

Thanks for the dimensions and the tip. I found the relevant designation, ISO 10599, but of course no one has it online for free. Are you certain about these exact specifications? Have you ever had a chance to look at the specifications?

What are the copyright laws about standards? Could someone loosely post the standards with roundabout phrases such as, "I've measured hundreds of head units and they're always 7.2" X 2.11" with a smallest recorded depth of x" ?"

Kenn

I've installed thousands of decks in the past 9 years. The shallowest radio I've ever seen is the new Ford double DIN tuner only decks at 2 inches deep and the Toyota's single DIN tuner only radios at 3" deep. The shallowest DIN sized radios I've seen are some of the Pioneer and some the Alpine decks at 6" deep. The deepest DIN radio I've seen is one of the Jensen deck at 7 1/4" deep which only fits a very limited number of cars. Majority of DIN sized radio are about 6 1/4" deep Some are 6 1/2" deep. Denon used to make a DIN sized 5 disk changer that was about 11" deep. It's made to mount in the trunk but I managed to mount that changer in the DIN opening in the first gen Eclipse. There's no limit on the depth of a DIN size radio, only the opening. There's no limit on mounting depth either.
You cant Patent, copyright or trademark a shape or dimension. You cant call up the Patent office and say "I Joe Blow want to patent a box size 7"WX2"HX8"D" If you could, the guy who invented the wheel and his decedents would have patented it and made Trillions and make Bill Gates look like a welfare recipient. That's why DEI overhead monitors uses Audiovox bezel. It's legal b/c you cant patent a shape.

I know i'm bringing up a very old thread but I have a question.

If din depth had absolutely no standard, how come most of the indash lcds stick out when they're folded in? why didn't the manufacturers just make it 2cm deeper inside rather than make it stick out?

so that when they fold out they wont go into the dash on cars with an upright dash or a bit of plastic above the din

i thought a din was just the size of a standard head unit and double was the size of 2 on top of eachother.

Originally Posted by S2K12

so that when they fold out they wont go into the dash on cars with an upright dash or a bit of plastic above the din

i thought a din was just the size of a standard head unit and double was the size of 2 on top of eachother.

DIN is the standard. The manufacturers make headunits to meet the standard. You're 0kind of right.
As stated above...

Single DIN is 7"wide x 2"high and double DIN is 7"wide X 4"high. That seems to me that it's one DIN on top of another to me....

They can't make the HU too deep because not all cars have a cavernous area behind the radio. Many LCD screens are too deep for about 10% of cars out there just due to vents or structural supports behind the factory radio. I can't tell you how many times I had to cut plastic out of a dash to fit in a flip-out screen.