Satellite Navigation

[cdm]

Oh, and also, since the Ford sat nav is DVD based, can it also play DVD movies? I don't think it can, but, just checking...

[CJF077]

  cdm said:

Oh, and also, since the Ford sat nav is DVD based, can it also play DVD movies? I don't think it can, but, just checking...

nope cant :( I wish, then i would have got it as well! :(

[Guest StaggerLee]

I don't have sat nav or the roof mounted DVD system but I do have premium audio. The screen looks to be top quality and would be able to play DVD's or be used as a TV screen. Whether there are the inputs to do it or not is another story...

[ms700]

the sat nav dvd drive is located in the boot, the dvd drive for the roof mounted dvd player is located under the passengers seat.

I dont think ford would let u watch dvd's on the main icc ford screen, its illegal while the car is in motion.

Aftermarket however........

[Turbo6man]

  cdm said:

Does anyone know or think it would be possible to run an aftermarket sat nav or DVD player into the existing premium sound screen? The Ford system uses this screen, and apparentlly the DVD for it is in the boot. If this is the case then I suppose the back of the screen would have to have some kind of video input. Would love to hear from anyone who has seen the screen on its own, or even just the back of the screen. The Ford sat nav option seemed pretty expensive to me, however I would pay for an aftermarket one (assuming it's cheaper) if I knew it was possible.

If you buy an aftermarket sat nav it comes with it's own screen. I have a VDODayton MS4200 which is a sat nav and stereo system all in a single DIN size (in my T3). It also has a separate 6 stacker cd changer. A unit like this would fit in the space under the icc panel ie get rid of the tissue holder shelf. It could be connected via the aux audio plug in, so your output sound goes through your original speakers. Just use the rca pre amp outs from the VDO head unit with the appropriate connector to the mini plug of the aux input. This is a much cheaper way of getting a 6 stacker AND a sat nav into your BA. Cost of the unit is just under $3000. Plus installation which most could manage without too much difficulty. The only difficult part of wiring in the sat nav is finding the correct speedo sensor wire - there are about three all looking the same (I am told) so am not sure if all are OK to use as I haven't done a BA as yet.

[Falchoon]

  StaggerLee said:

I don't have sat nav or the roof mounted DVD system but I do have premium audio. The screen looks to be top quality and would be able to play DVD's or be used as a TV screen. Whether there are the inputs to do it or not is another story...

In previous discussions here someone said the Premium stereo screen was too small for DVDs, you wouldn't be able to get the full picture.

[Guest Xr6Tas]

  Falchoon said:

In previous discussions here someone said the Premium stereo screen was too small for DVDs, you wouldn't be able to get the full picture.

Correct. It’s the wrong shape. There are also a couple of other limiting factors which are more important though.

1. The resolution (number of horizontal x vertical pixels) of the screen is way to low for decent picture quality. If it’s anything like most basic LCDs I would guess it has a resolution of 320x240 at the absolute most. PAL DVDs require a resolution of 720x576 (American NTSC DVDs are 720x480) to display correctly. Anything less and you’re talking a horrible fuzzy picture with no detail and very jagged edges on all objects.

2. The number of available colours would be well below what is required for films. The ability to display 16.7 million individual colours is the standard for rendering the full range of colours available to the human eye. Most basic LCD screens display 256 colours (8 bit colour) or 64,000 (16 bit colour) at the absolute max. I would be extremely surprised if the Premium Sound LCD was anything more than 8 bit considering what it’s designed to do. Trying to display DVDs on an 8 bit colour screen will result in an Atari 2600 style picture.

So to cut a long story short, while the premium display is great for displaying basic sound system and air con details, and for low colour sat nav when available, its definitely not suitable for DVDs, TV or any other kind of high colour/resolution entertainment.