Car Audio/Video -In Dash LCD

[sweetdiesel]

Question for you car audio gurus. Recently the double din sized cd player in my wife's Toyota Highlander broke. My 2 year old daughter decided to stuff coins inside the cd slot. :thumbup: Anyways I figured this is a good time to replace and upgrade. I am planning on installing a couple LCDs in the front seat headrests and putting a 7 inch all in one unit in the dash. My question is, while the car is moving, is the dash unit able to play DVDs for the front seat passenger, or is there a trigger inside the unit which disables the dvd function?

These are the two units I am thinking of getting.

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/5007295

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4315395

Haven't seen much reviews for them though. I appreciate your thoughts and opinions.

 

[jon2]

Just so you know... you can get ticketed for having the screen on the dash playing a movie. If your Local Law enforcement are dicks... I would make sure to close it or turn the screen off....


My cousin has a nice set up in his burban,,, PIMP.

 

[robriguez]

from what I know, the aftermarket units do not have such a feature. The only ones that do are OEM. Do you WANT that feature? I would think NO but figured I would ask.

In most states its illegal to have movies n such playing in the front passenger area unless its physically impossible for the driver to see the screen. Swivel doesn't cut it.

 

[sweetdiesel]

Thanks for clearing that up guys. I decided to forget about the in dash unit. For safety reasons, I think I would still be distracted by a little movie screen even if I wasn't actually watching it.

 

[rossb]

Some of the aftermarket systems definitely have a video disable circuit. It is illegal to have video in the front of a vehicle. I've installed 3 Alpine units and I've bypassed the disable circuit on all of them.

I always recommend Alpine for a source unit but you can't get one for the $260 you are looking to spend on the unit above. The last Alpine in-dash LCD unit I installed was over $1,600 so these units might be out of your budget. I would not expect high quality for $260.

 

[4u2nv]

I have a pioneer flip out in my truck, and mine doesn't do that. I can drive and watch porn.. I mean dvds at any time.. But yeah, its illegal to have it on while driving (Anything in font of the two front seats). They dont enforce it to hard though (At least here in Minnesota). I was just recently pulled over (For tint) and my buddy was playing playstation 2 on it while I was talking to the cop.

I would reccomend a Pioneer one. I bought my touch screen Pioneer for just over $700. Best $700 I have spent towards my truck. (Theyve gone down since though I believe)

 

[sweetdiesel]

I always recommend Alpine for a source unit but you can't get one for the $260 you are looking to spend on the unit above. The last Alpine in-dash LCD unit I installed was over $1,600 so these units might be out of your budget. I would not expect high quality for $260.

If I were to get both an in dash LCD and two headrest monitors, my budget is ~$600 including any wiring harnesses and cables. What I am finding is there is quite a price difference between a nice unit like the Alpines and the lower end units. Another frustarting thing is that it seems none of the manufacturers want to give up an information on the specs of the LCD such as contrast ratio, brightness, etc. Makes it hard to shop online and know what you are getting.

 

[Monkey Wrench]

It is illegal to have video in the front of a vehicle. I've installed 3 Alpine units and I've bypassed the disable circuit on all of them.

I can drive and watch porn.. I mean dvds at any time..

:alarm: $200.00 each in unmarked, non-sequential bills and I'll keep your dirty little secrets! :alarm:

 

[okihost]

Just so you know if you install this yourself you can bypass the 'protector' for this which I believe is a law by hooking up the line to something that goes on when you turn on your ignition. This will allow you to play DVD's while you drive, most places like Best Buy etc wire this to the emergency brake so one way around it if you have to do it this way is to pull your ebrake just enough to get to the first 'click' so the radio thinks it is engaged.

If you are doing it yourself you probably have figured this out already yourself

 

[rossb]

most places like Best Buy etc wire this to the emergency brake so one way around it if you have to do it this way is to pull your ebrake just enough to get to the first 'click' so the radio thinks it is engaged.

If the "first click" of your e-brake is enough to enable video on a unit that only requires a simple ground signal then that first click will also be enough to turn on the brake indicator in your dash.


The Alpine units require more than just a simple ground signal from your "E-Brake" (or any ground source with a toggle). They actually require a combination of positive and negative triggers that are supposed to come from your foot brake and e-brake. This system can still be bypassed pretty easily with two toggles if you are clever. Here is a quote from a recent Alpine install manual

To watch a video source, your vehicle must be
parked with the ignition key in the ACC or ON
position. To do this, follow the procedure below.
1. Push the foot brake to bring your vehicle to a
complete stop at a safe location. Engage the
parking brake.
2. Keep pushing the foot brake and release the
parking brake once then engage it again.
3. While the parking brake is being engaged the
second time, release the foot brake.

 

[sweetdiesel]

Installing LCD Headrests

Quick question on how to install an LCD in the headrests. I understand there is a flush fit housing that the LCD snaps into. After cutting the foam in the headrest for the housing, what keeps the housing in place? I'm trying to visualize what I need to do before I start ordering parts and supplies needed for the install.

 

[NSantana]

Hi there,


First things first, you've got a Toyota truck. In all honesty, no COP's going to see that you've got something playing from outside of your car unless they are standing right beside you outside of their car. Next, all you have to do is find the dvd cutoff/security wire and just ground it. No need to worry where, on an e-brake, on the cars chassis, etc. And finally, I sold mine a few months back, but you should look into getting a nice dual din dvd monitor player like the Kenwood DDX-7015 or something to that effect. IMHO, if you've got the space, use it! I had that same monitor in both my Integra Type-R and more recently in my Saab and it worked great (btw nowadays you can get one for around the $500 range). Good luck with your ride.


P.S: Without practice, i would leave the headrest monitors to the pros...unless you can score a cheap set of "practice" seats to learn on...otherwise you don't just have to worry about appearance issues (i.e. cutting too much foam, etc).


Oh, one more thing: Remeber, these things are made of foam for a reason, I wouldn't want an LCD screen acting as a cushion for my child's face in case of an accident. But, your money, your choice, and after installing a few of these i can tell you they usually include their own mounting brace/bracket/harness that you install in the headrest to both hold the screen and route the wiring.

 

[sweetdiesel]

Thansk for the advice NSantana. I pulled the stock deck last night and took it apart. A few coins later and she is working good as new. So no need to buy a new deck.

I'm still looking into getting some screens for the rear, just need to decide on a custom headrest install or the portable type that strap onto the seats. My daughter always sits in the middle of the bench seat in her car seat so I'm not too worried about her faceplanting a screen in case of an accident.

 

[rossb]

I've never installed a screen in a headrest but I've seen them done by pressure fit in leather seats (not bolted to the headrest). I am not sure about cloth. Check here.

As I said above not all monitors can be disabled with a simple ground. Some require a more complex disable circuit.