Cable in your car: new technology promises to turn your SUV or minivan into a second family room

Automotive Industries, July, 2004 by John Peter

It was bound to happen. You're already keeping the kiddies quietly occupied watching DVD video while you travel. But if they ever do actually get bored watching Finding Nemo over and over, help is on the way courtesy of new technology and systems that will bring live video feeds to your in-car video screens.

For the MTV/satellite radio set who aren't happy listening to music without the video, Delphi (the folks who build satellite radio receivers) and Sirius (the folks who bring the satellite radio signal) have teamed up to develop a system that would bring streaming video into the car.

Bringing streaming video into the vehicle is as simple as adding a video decoder to the existing Delphi satellite radio receiver. William E. Dyson, Delphi product line architect IBS/Audio, says that the extra board doesn't add to the size of the existing unit and doesn't add much cost.

A stand-alone box can also be added to vehicles with plug-and-play options.

Both partners say that the system will be ready to go the second half of '05 with three to four channels at launch.

Sirius spokesperson, Alan Chereson says that two or three partners on the aftermarket side are interested in the system but Sirius wants OEM involvement to drive it.

"We really need some OEM commitment to get it into market," Chereson says.

Both Sirius and Delphi did a number of demos for OEM and network executives at The 2003 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

"I had it in my rental car," says Chereson, "and it performed all over that city."

Delphi has already proven that there is a market for pay entertainment in cars having already sold over 1.8 million satellite radio units.

Sirius is currently polling existing satellite radio customers to determine what content would sell well in vehicles. While a good portion of the initial programming will be aimed at kids (obviously), Sirius is interested in beaming in such things as The Cartoon Network, CNN and sports channels and is currently working on relationships with Disney/ESPN/and Turner Broadcasting. Sirius isn't promising full-on cable TV in the back scat with its system. The content would be specifically programmed just like satellite radio, though the actual packages haven't been worked out yet.

"A lot of it comes down to FCC regulations," says Chereson, "and how much band width we'll get."

XM also demonstrated a satellite video system at CES. A direct-from-satellite video feed played music videos and cartoons. The system also had built-in memory, allowing the user to store some of the programming in a hard drive within the system, like a Windows media player on a computer.

"From a capability perspective we can do it," says XM's David Butler. "We demonstrated it could be a viable consumer product one day, but it is not something in the near future."

Butler says the primary, purpose of the demonstration was to get OEMs excited about the technology and to demonstrate it for software and data companies that wanted to understand what kind of software was needed to make the system work.

Butler says that XM is focused on building a pioneering and leading radio service.

"When it makes sense to really dedicate the resources, engineering and marketing to add the video capability, we will look very hard at it."

Bandwidth seems to be a concern for rival XM radio as well. Boeing's satellite division has told AI that it's working with XM on a technology that would compress the satellite radio channels, freeing up bandwidth for streaming video.

Switching channels

If you're one of those who can't wait for three or four channels of streaming video, or that just isn't enough for you, then hold on to your seatbelts.

KVH industries offers TracVision A5, an aftermarket antennae and receiver that will allow you to have satellite TV beamed directly into your van or SUV. For a suggested retail price of $3,495, you get a roof rock-mounted antenna with all the wiling and mounting hardware and a 12-volt receiver that mounts inside the vehicle, usually on the floor under the passenger seat.

A single cable runs from the antenna usually sharing a hole with the roof rack and running behind the headliner to the receiver which is wired into the vehicle's 12-volt power supply. The receiver plugs directly into the vehicle's existing entertainment system using RCA jacks.

The system is comparable to a home satellite TV system and pulls in the same signal.

"Video in cars is definitely taking off," says Chris Watson, spokesperson for KVH. "People want content that goes beyond the content at home, that's what we've seen in the marine market and in the RV market."

KVH promotes itself as the number one supplier of satellite TV for the Marine and RV markets, supplying boaters since 1990 and has built up a strong relationship with DIRECTV. Watson says that a lot of boat and RV owners who ,already subscribe to DIRECTV have added the extra receiver to their account, paying less than $5 a month. He sees this as a possibility for minivan and SUV owners as well.

If the $3,495 price tag isn't enough to scare you away, the size of the antenna might. At 32.3 in. long by 31 in. wide by 5.3 in. high it takes up most of the vehicles roof and weighs a hefty 45 pounds.