The extra episode of IDEAL L9 has been officially released, and today’s content can be summarized with one word – screen casting.
Game Console? YES!
In the first official release, IDEAL L9 announced the three display screens on the car, and the entertainment screen on the second-row roof caught everyone’s attention. Soon, someone thought of playing games, watching movies and other scenes, and a user in our L9 interest group even expressed the expectation of connecting an external game console.
After today’s release, the user’s wish has been confirmed.
IDEAL L9’s center control screen, co-pilot screen and rear entertainment screen can all realize external device screen casting based on the Type-C interface. In addition to directly connecting to Switch, mobile phones, and tablet computers, it can also be connected to computers, PS5, XBOX and other devices through HDMI to Type-C conversion.
To ensure the power supply of external devices, the Type-C interface on the L9 can provide 60W of external power supply, which is no problem for driving mobile phones and tablet computers. For devices with higher performance and power consumption such as PS5, XBOX and gaming laptops, L9 also provides a 220V power supply interface in the car, so there is no need to worry about power supply issues.
At this point, some people may wonder: why play games in the car? Can’t you play on your phone and at home?
Of course you can play on your phone, and you can also play at home, but the reason why it is in the car is because the car has its own unique scene and hardware properties.
What happens when a dad plays games in a car?
The cabin in the car is relatively quiet, with air conditioning and comfortable seats, and a better-equipped car may even have a decent sound system. Unlike mobile devices or at home, cars offer asecluded and comfortable enclosed environment for the same application.
We believe that some readers among us will turn on the music and listen to a few songs before going home after parking the car. If the car is equipped with higher-quality features, you may even be enjoying a massage while listening to music. Users with similar habits will easily understand the special nature of the “car” scene.
With good hardware equipment, many scenes can actually be developed, such as karaoke, napping, watching movies, and so on. Playing games in the car is not a new thing that only appeared today.But as a family car, the gaming scene on the Ideal L9 will be different, and this feature would serve more to users outside of the driver. It’s not difficult to imagine that playing a two-player game on the entertainment screen in the second row could be an easy and effective way for the elders in the back seat to entertain a child. As for the co-driver, a separate Bluetooth audio output for the co-driver can also reduce interference between the co-driver and the driver.
In short, gaming is only a branch of the Ideal L9’s family car scene, which people with relevant needs will love. However, there are also some shortcomings in the current information available.
Thoughts on the Ideal L9 and in-car gaming
As mentioned earlier, in recent years, the development of smart cockpits has made the functions that cars can achieve progressively richer. However, observant readers will easily notice that as video, karaoke, and even online shopping applications have successively joined the mix, the development of gaming on cars has comparatively slowed down.
This is mainly due to three factors.
To achieve a good gaming experience, not only does hardware performance matter, but game ecology also plays a significant role. In reality, the performance of car-grade cockpit chips is inferior to that of mobile devices. The 8155 this year is comparable to the Snapdragon 855, while the Snapdragon chip in current flagship phones has led by three generations. In addition, the number of terminals of host manufacturers is much less compared to other mobile devices, and their screens’ proportions also vary. It’s difficult for game developers to make a car version for each manufacturer.
Another factor beyond these two is that both host and PC-level gaming controls still require peripherals, while mobile games are usually controlled by touchscreens. It’s not easy to directly port the latter onto a car.
Tesla’s solution is to customise a car-grade chip with AMD, and install an independent graphics card directly. Its screen proportion is easy to adapt to 16:9, while the rest is left to game developers. They will develop a platform that can support car gaming and design a controller, and voilà, gamers can enjoy gaming in the car.
The Ideal L9’s solution is more straightforward. They let existing mature game terminals handle the hardware performance and game ecology issues. After the screen display interface is established, screen projection will conclude the process, and the in-car gaming arcade is complete.
Tesla’s solution eliminates the need for external terminals, but its game ecology is fixed, and updating speed will pose challenges. The Ideal L9 system requires external terminals but has fewer restrictions. Any game can be supported.
Closing thoughts
The Ideal L9’s current disclosure is primarily related to in-car gaming, but the intelligent cockpit under this scene’s context can, of course, achieve or develop more than just gaming. More ideas, such as working or holding meetings in the car, have started to emerge. Many humorous ideas are also generated in the chat group. The most hilarious among these is the picture below: “When you board the car, class starts.”
It is hard not to feel astonished that the original goal was to create a mobile home, but now it seems that the L9 has either turned into a mobile game hall or a mobile classroom. I wonder how children will feel when they see it (doge).
Finally, you are welcome to join the Ideal L9 Circle to learn the latest news about new energy. If you want to get more information about the Ideal L9, you can join our Ideal L9 community by clicking here.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.