An automotive head unit, sometimes called the

infotainment system In-car entertainment (ICE), or in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), is a collection of hardware and software in automobiles that provides audio or video entertainment. In car entertainment originated with car audio systems that consisted of radios and c ...

, is a component providing a unified hardware interface for the system, including screens, buttons and system controls for numerous integrated information and entertainment functions. Other names for automotive head units include car stereo, car receiver, deck, in-dash stereo, and dash stereo.

Function

Sony MEX-BT2500 Xplod Bluetooth stereo head unit ISO 7736 installation

Sony MEX-BT2500 Xplod Bluetooth stereo head unit illuminated

Central to a vehicle's sound and information systems, head units are located prominently in the center of the

dashboard For business applications, see Dashboard (business). A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the driver ...

or console, and provide an integrated electronic package. The head unit provides a user interface for the vehicle's information and entertainment media components: AM/FM radio,

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a ''broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ter ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

s/ CDs,

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

s (although these are now uncommon), USB

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

dashcam A dashboard camera or simply dashcam, also known as car digital video recorder (car DVR), driving recorder, or event data recorder (EDR), is an onboard camera that continuously records the view through a vehicle's front windscreen and sometimes ...

GPS navigation A satellite navigation device (satnav device) is a user equipment that uses one or more of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to calculate the device's geographical position and provide navigational advice. Depending on the s ...

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

, and sometimes vehicle systems status. Moreover, it may provide control of audio functions including volume, band, frequency, speaker balance, speaker fade, bass, treble, equalization, and so on. With the advent of dashcams, GPS navigation, and

s, head units with video screens are widely available, integrating

voice control A voice-user interface (VUI) makes spoken human interaction with computers possible, using speech recognition to understand spoken commands and answer questions, and typically text to speech to play a reply. A voice command device is a device con ...

and

gesture recognition Gesture recognition is a topic in computer science and language technology with the goal of interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithms. It is a subdiscipline of computer vision. Gestures can originate from any bodily motion or sta ...

Size standards

An original standard head unit size is

ISO 7736 ISO 7736 is a standard size for dashboard mounted head units, for car audio. It was originally established by the German national organization for standardization, the Deutsches Institut für Normung, as DIN 75490, and is therefore commonly referred ...

, developed by the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN): Single DIN () in Europe, South America, and Australasia * A compact size that easily fits into a dashboard, but the unit is not tall enough to accommodate a video display. Double DIN () in Japan, the UK, and North America. * Doubling the height of the single DIN, a video display or touchscreen can be fitted to support manufacturer GUIs,

Android Auto Android Auto is a mobile app developed by Google to mirror features of an Android device, such as a smartphone, on a car's dashboard information and entertainment head unit. Once an Android device is paired with the car's head unit, the syste ...

, and/or

Apple CarPlay CarPlay is an Apple standard which enables a car radio or head unit to be a display and a controller for an iOS device. It is available on all iPhone models beginning with iPhone 5 running iOS 7.1 or later. According to Apple's website, all ma ...

. * Double DIN is also written as 2 DIN and double din. For both single and double DIN units,

ISO 10487 Several types of connectors for car audio systems are used. Splicing wires Splicing wires used in car audio are mainly for power, ground, amplifier and antenna, speakers, phone and others. Power and ground * ACC (red), supplies +12V power to ca ...

is the connectors standard for connecting the head unit to the car's electrical system.

Steering and aftermarket brands

Manufacturers offer DIN headunits and standard connectors (called universal headunits), including

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

, Kenwood,

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...

, Boyo,

Dual Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

Visteon Visteon Corporation (VC) is an American global automotive electronics supplier and Fortune 500 company spun off from the Ford Motor Company in 2000. Visteon is composed of multiple businesses that design, engineer, and manufacture vehicle cockpit ...

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

and

Blaupunkt Blaupunkt GmbH () was a German manufacturer of mostly car audio equipment. It was owned by Robert Bosch GmbH from 1933 until 1 March 2009, when it was sold to Aurelius AG of Germany. It filed for bankruptcy in late 2015 with liquidation proceed ...

.pac-audio.com

References

External links

MPT 1362 UK code of practice for the installation of mobile radio and ancillary equipment in land based vehicles
Federation of Communications Services Industry, November 2005.
2 Din In-Dash Headunit

Automotive Latest head units
{{Authority control In-car entertainment Consumer electronics Dashboard head units

Function

Size standards

Steering and aftermarket brands

See also

References

External links