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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 ...

, is a

vehicle audio Vehicle audio is equipment installed in a car or other vehicle to provide in-car entertainment and information for the occupants. Such systems are popularly known as car stereos. Until the 1950s, it consisted of a simple AM radio. Additions sin ...

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

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

dashboard A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...

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 te ...

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 ki ...

s/ CDs,

cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...

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 under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

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 somet ...

s, GNSS navigation,

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 li ...

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 Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

, 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, GNSS navigation, and

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

voice control A voice-user interface (VUI) enables spoken human interaction with computers, 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 controlle ...

and

gesture recognition Gesture recognition is an area of research and development in computer science and language technology concerned with the recognition and interpretation of human gestures. A subdiscipline of computer vision, it employs mathematical algorithms to ...

Size standards

An original standard head unit size is ISO 7736, 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 a smartphone (or other Android device) on a car's dashboard information and entertainment head unit. Once an Android device is paired with the car's head unit, the system ...

, Huawei HiCar and/or

Apple CarPlay CarPlay and CarPlay Ultra is an Apple Inc., Apple standard that enables a car radio or automotive head unit to be a display and controller for an iOS device. It is available on iPhone 5 and later models running iOS 7.1 or later. More than 800 ...

. * Double DIN is also written as 2 DIN and double din. For both single and double DIN units, ISO 10487 is the connectors standard for connecting the head unit to the car's electrical system.

Aftermarket brands

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

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

, Alpine, Kenwood,

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which 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 ...

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

, Peach Auto (Hong Kong), Boyo, Dual,

Visteon Visteon Corporation (VC) is an American global automotive electronics supplier based in Van Buren Township, Michigan. Visteon designs, engineers, and manufactures vehicle cockpit electronics products, connected car services and electrification p ...

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

and Blaupunkt.

References

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

Function

Size standards

Aftermarket brands

See also

References