Taking Blu-ray On The Road

by Dean Evans at Tuesday 17th February, 2009 at 11:59 am [0 comments]

Mitsubishi Electric has announced that it has developed a new Blu-ray player that’s small enough to be installed in a car.

How small? The new unit measures 50 x 178 x 180 mm – that’s about the size of three standard DVD cases rubber-banded together.

The prototype 1DIN automotive Blu-ray Disc player is one third the size of a Mitsubishi’s home Blu-ray player. Mitsubishi Electric hopes to put the drive into production in 2009 and it should eventually appear as part of the company’s in-car navigation systems.

Blu-ray in a car? Really?

Of course, it’s tempting to ask: what’s the point of having Blu-ray in a car? Surely the HD advantages of a typical Blu-ray disc are rendered useless if you play back the content on a 7-inch LCD?

Mitsubishi Electric has one eye on the future here, anticipating a time when Blu-ray has become more established. Need to entertain the kids as you drive? Just take the Blu-ray disc you’ve already bought for your big-screen TV and play it on the move. Easy.

And it’s not so far-fetched. In a survey conducted by Protyre last year, in-car entertainment topped a wish-list for UK drivers. Surround sound speakers, iPod connectivity, Bluetooth and Blu-ray were amongst the most wanted automotive gadgets.

The talents of the Mitsubishi 1DIN Blu-ray unit could even be extended to feature a built-in digital TV tuner. “Although it depends on the signal reception environment, digital terrestrial TV broadcasts can be received with four antennas when the car is running at 200km/h”, Mitsubishi Electric said.

Mitsubishi Announces 1DIN In-car Blu-ray Disc Player [Tech-On]

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