LG Display Develops ‘Invisible’ Speakers for Automobiles
2022.11.21SEOUL, Korea (Nov. 21, 2022) – LG Display, the world’s leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it has developed the Thin Actuator Sound Solution, a new sound technology for automobiles. This innovative solution will serve as invisible speakers generating rich and vibrant sound in cars, ushering in a new era of vehicle infotainment.
While conventional speakers are large and heavy due to components such as the voice coil, cone, and magnet, the Thin Actuator Sound Solution is extremely thin and lightweight thanks to LG Display’s film-type exciter technology. The company’s unique technology allows the device to vibrate off display panels and various materials inside the car body to enable a rich, 3D immersive sound experience.
The Thin Actuator Sound Solution comes in a passport-like size (150mm x 90mm) with a thickness of 2.5mm, equivalent to that of two coins stacked together, and a light weight of 40g, making it just 30 percent of the weight and 10 percent of the thickness of a conventional car speaker.
Its compact size and innovative form factor allow it to be installed in various parts inside the car such as the dashboard, headliner, pillar, and headrests while eliminating the deviation in audio quality for passengers inside. Installed using a built-in method, the device not only allows the removal of speaker grills but also enables greater space and design utilization by freeing up the space normally occupied by in-car speakers.
In addition, LG Display has excluded the use of rare earth elements such as neodymium (Nd) normally used in conventional speakers, boosting the speaker’s eco-friendly factor.
The Thin Actuator Sound Solution has received the CES® 2023 Innovation Award (‘In-Vehicle Entertainment & Safety’ category) from the Consumer Technology Association in recognition of its space formation and utilization, design innovation, sound experience innovation, and eco-friendliness. LG Display and its global audio brand partner will showcase the installed speaker at CES 2023, and the device is set to launch in the first half of 2023.
“Through our cutting-edge technology that leverages eco-friendly space and design innovation, we have successfully found a way to provide our consumers with a vivid and rich sound experience without the use of the conventional heavy and large speakers.” said Yeo Chun-ho, Vice President and Head of the Business Development Division at LG Display.