Installing Car DVD Players, A Car Part Glossary

We often get asked about what some of the terms mean on the product listing we have for our Car DVD Players.

While we have written detailed articles on Car DVD installation we felt it was time to give you a layman’s guide to some of the new phrases that had hit the world of automotive DVD players.

So for those people considering purchasing an automotive DVD player, here is a guide to some of the more common terms and what feature they describe:

Car Multimedia Entertainment System: Another name for a Car DVD Player

Car Media Player: Yet another name for a Car DVD Player

Car Stereo AV System: What do you know, it’s a name for a Car DVD Player

Touch Screen Car Media System: A name to describe a car DVD player.

Car GPS Navigation Media Center: Another name for a Car DVD Player.

DIN: “Deutsches Institut f¨¹r Normung” (DIN, the German Institute for Standardization), similar to ISO. While there is a DIN standard for everything the ones most relevant to car DVDs is the 1DIN and 2DIN standards, which refer to the height and width (but not the depth) of a car DVD.

• 1 DIN = 50mm tall
• 2-DIN = 100mm tall

 

CVHA-C21 a 1 DIN car DVD 

CVGX-C39 a 2 DIN car DVDGPS: Global Positioning System. If a Car DVD Player is listed as having GPS, it means that the unit comes with a GPS signal receiver, 3 meter long GPS antenna with magnetic base, and windows CE for running GPS map software such as TomTom or iGo.

 

For a quick guide on GPS map installation read The Easy To Follow Guide To Setting Up Your GPS Car DVDGUI: Graphical User Interface, the ability to control the device using on-screen menus.

Touchscreen: A screen that allows you to control on-screen menus with a finger or stylus.

Dual Zone: A dual zone car DVD player will allow you to listen to music or the radio while the GPS Navigation is running. The GPS software will then interrupt the music whenever it gives a verbal instruction.

Region Free: A region free DVD player is one that will play any DVD regardless of the region it is encoded for.

CD-R / DVD-R: The CD-R and DVD-R are types of disc that you can put information on with your home computer.

A car DVD that can play these discs can be very handy because it means you can make homemade CDs/DVDs (think mix tape) and the auto DVD player will play it without a problem.

Frontside USB Port: A USB or mini-USB port located on the front panel of the Car DVD Player.

This port will recharge your USB devices, and depending on the model, may also allow you to play music files directly off your portable media player or USB flash drive.

You can see a great example of a frontside USB port on theCVHA-C21Wire Harness: The cable set that includes colored wires for powering the Car DVD Player and the wire connections for speakers and other car accessories that will be controlled by the Car DVD Player

It makes installing a car DVD head unit easier if everything is already in place. In some cases it can be almost a case of plug and play.

Bluetooth: This allows you to use the Car DVD Players Mic + Speakers to talk on the phone. This function is essential in many countries as holding your cellphone while taking a call and driving is forbidden.

 

Read Fast Bluetooth Coupling for a guide on how to pair your phone with a bluetooth car DVDRDS: Radio Display System – A fancy name for the display which shows you what is playing on the radio. Some modern displays will be able to show you the track name and artist playing on any FM radio channel.

Motorized Screen / Motorized Display: There isn’t much that is not obvious in this function. On 2-DIN units, a motorized display will allow you to adjust the LSD screen angle by buttons or remote. On 1-DIN units the motorized screen will emerge from the head unit when you want it so that you get a full 8 – 9 inch screen and disappear back into the player when you don’t want to look at it.

Analog TV Receiver This is the ability to receive analog TV signals, these are normally broadcast in the NTSC, PAL or SECAM frequencies and are gradually being phased out throughout the world.

To learn more about analog TV signals read this article on PAL / NTSC / SECAM Countries List
DVB-T Receiver: This is a function which receives and plays DVB-T signals. DVB is a digital television standard which has been adopted by the majority of the world. (although some countries’ version of DVB is a little less standard than others).

ATSC Receiver: This is a function that receives and plays ATSC signals. ATSC is the digital television signal that is used throughout North America and various US dependencies.

 

For a more detailed look at Digital TV receivers and ATSC and DVB-T frequencies and where they work read Digital TV Standards Explained
Check out our fantastic range of auto DVD Players or get some great advice on car DVD player installation at car DVD installation.