LG Display has developed a new invisible speaker technology for cars that use passport-sized vibrating panels to produce sound. The new technology, developed by LG in conjunction with an unnamed “global audio company,” is expected to be available next year for use in car interiors, and installed in places such as dashboards and headliners.
The Korean technology giant’s thin actuator sound solution is being promoted as an alternative to conventional speaker systems in cars and other vehicles. Unlike current in-vehicle speaker systems that use heavy-duty components such as voice coils, cones, and magnets, the thin actuator sound solution uses LG Display’s thin-film exciter technology to generate sound by vibrating the display panel and various materials inside the vehicle, which LG Display claims will result in a “rich, three-dimensional immersive sound experience.
The panel itself is 2.5 mm thick (about the stack of two coins) and measures 150 mm x 90 mm (5.9 x 3.5 inches), allowing it to be installed in unconventional locations such as dashboards, headliners, pillars, and headrests. The panel also weighs 40 grams (1.4 ounces), making it only 30 percent the weight and 10 percent the thickness of conventional car speakers, according to LG Display.
LG Display and Sony both use similar vibrating panels in their OLED TVs, but while the technology itself is not a completely new innovation, we have yet to see it widely adopted to replace traditional audio systems.
LG Display said it plans to commercialize production of a thin actuator sound solution for automobiles in the first half of next year, but we’ll expect to hear about its actual performance at the January 2023 CES International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
