LG introduces vibrating panels that turn car dashboards and headrests into speakers

CTOnews.com, Nov. 22 (Xinhua)-- LG Display has developed a new "invisible" speaker technology for cars that uses passport-sized vibrating panels to generate sound. The technology, developed with an unnamed "global audio company", is expected to be used in car interiors next year and installed in dashboards and ceilings.

CTOnews.com learned that the South Korean technology giant's thin Actuator Sound solution (Thin Actuator Sound Solution) is being billed as an alternative to traditional speaker systems in cars and other vehicles. Unlike current vehicle speaker systems, which use heavy components such as voice coils, discs and magnets, the thin actuator sound solution uses LG Display's thin film actuator technology to generate sound through vibrating display panels and a variety of materials in the car, which LG Display claims will lead to a "rich 3D immersive sound experience".

The panel itself is 2.5 mm thick (approximately the superposition of two coins) and 150 mm x 90 mm in size, allowing it to be installed in unconventional locations such as dashboards, ceilings, pillars and headrests. According to LG Display, the panel weighs 40 grams, making it only 30 per cent of the weight of conventional car speakers and 10 per cent thick.

Both LG Display and Sony use similar vibrating panels in OLED TVs, but although the technology itself is not a new innovation, it has not yet been widely used to replace traditional sound systems. LG Display said it plans to commercialize the thin actuator sound solution for cars in the first half of next year, and we will hear its actual performance at the 2023 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.