These vibrating LG display panels turn car dashboards and headrests into speakers

LG Display has developed a new "invisible" speaker technology for vehicles that uses passport-sized vibrating panels to generate sound. It was developed with an unnamed "global audio company" and is expected to make its way into car interiors next year for installation on places like the dashboard and headliner.

The Thin Actuator sound solution from the South-Korean tech giant is being promoted as a replacement for traditional speaker systems in cars and other vehicles. Unlike existing in-car speaker systems, which use bulky components such as voice coils, cones and magnets, the Thin Actuator Sound Solution uses LG Display's film-type exciter technology, which activates the display panel and various materials within the vehicle. activates. The vibration produces sound, which LG claims results in a "rich, 3D immersive sound experience".

The panel itself is 2.5 mm thick (that's about a stack of two coins) and measures 150 mm x 90 mm (5.9 x 3.5 in), allowing it to be installed in unconventional places like dashboards, headliners, pillars and headrests Is. According to LG Display, the panel also weighs 40 grams (1.4 oz) – that's just 30 percent of the weight and 10 percent of the thickness of conventional car speakers.

LG Display and Sony have both used similar vibrating panels in OLED TVs, but while the technology itself isn't an entirely new innovation, we haven't seen it as a widespread replacement for traditional sound systems. LG Display says it plans to commercialize production of the Thin Actuator sound solution for cars in the first half of next year, but we'll get to hear exactly that at CES 2023 in Las Vegas in January. performs.