Multi Channel Surround Sound in the Car

It didn’t take long for car enthusiasts to bring surround home theater systems to their cars, vans and SUVs. That was a natural extension of the technology that started to revolutionize home entertainment in the early 90s with the introduction of the DVD or Digital Versatile Disc.

Stereo payback systems for vehicles are as much a thriving business as it is for the homes. Multichannel surround sound systems for road vehicles became a reality as soon as DVDs became available for the average home. That was a few years after the DVDs first gave home viewers the clear advantage the format had over VHS. Soon companies that make home entertainment systems started marketing similar gadgets for the car, with more modest power specification to suit the smaller cubic spaces of cars and vans.

Speakers All around the Car

Stereo was never enough.  For the surround sound to be truly immersive for the listener, it requires at least 6 speakers, two at the sides for your left and right speakers, two in the rear for ambient sounds, one at the center for the voices, and you need a subwoofer for the realism of thunder, roaring jet engines and explosions in blockbuster movies. Given the cramp spaces of a car and van, you need to duplicate these speaker count and location to give most of the car occupants the same immersive aural perception they get when listening to multichannel DVDs at home.

Vehicle entertainment systems solved this speaker placement issue with speakers at the doors and a subwoofer element at the back, usually in the trunk.  Front speakers can be dashboard mounted or on the front doors, while the rear speakers are where most stereo speakers are usually located, at the rear deck.  

You normally need to be at the center of all these at home. In cars, that could be problem for passengers seated at the side where they are nearer to one speaker than others. The illusion of space can be ruined as multichannel sound hinges on the sonic distances from speakers to your ears so that the sounds get to you at the same time. But no matter, the technology for home entertainment systems are now inside the car or SUV, nothing can stop the car enthusiasts with a passion for sounds to do the same for his or her favorite vehicle.

LCDs for Video

There was a time when portable TV sets occupied a space in vehicles. With onboard entertainment systems, the LCD figures as the video display of choice. There are a few placement configurations that can be implemented in a car or van. Most new cars have in-seat LCD videos behind each seat that can be folded into the seat or remain exposed. Most large cars and limousines have a common but large LCD panel that folds up from the ceiling and can be deployed for backseat viewing. You rarely have video entertainment systems in the front, but the passenger side may have one.

What’s Next

3D viewing at home is considered the next in the video format’s evolutionary path for consumer electronics. It’s almost unthinkable that this can be extended to the vehicle entertainment systems. But the thought is just as intriguing. GP