LG Display today announced slim, vibrating car speakers for the first half of 2023. The slim driver audio solution features passport-like proportions and foregoes many of the bulky components of traditional car speakers.
LG is known for developing its screens and display panel technologies and consumers supply them to various companies including the LG brand. The new tweeter does not use a cone, magnet, or voice coil and does not require a speaker grille. Instead, the speaker relies on what the company describes as “film-type excitation technology,” which LG Display claims is traditional for vibrating display panels “and various elements within the car’s body” to create “three-dimensional” sound. Car speakers are made.
LG even worked with a “worldwide audio company” to develop the speakers, but we can’t tell you if that’s impressive or not, as LG didn’t name the show partner.
Exciters are compact, freeing up more space inside vehicles, and the slim sound solution gives the operator versatility when it comes to placement. For example, LG Display sees width used in dashboards, headrests, headliners, and pillars. The speaker measures 5.9 x 3.5 x 0.1 inches (150 x 90 x 2.5 mm) and weighs 1.4 ounces (40 grams). In its announcement, LG’s display was 10 percent thicker and 30 percent heavier than a typical car speaker.
LG Display said it will be showcasing its soundbar at the CES trade show in Las Vegas in January.
Plate-based vibrating speakers are far from mainstream, but we’ve seen them primarily used in televisions before. Sony introduced its acoustic surface OLED TVs in 2017, and the company has garnered positive reviews with recent iterations like the A9G, especially when it’s coming into the conversation. In August, LG Display released a 97-inch OLED TV EX that it claims uses a vibrating display panel to deliver 5.1-channel audio.
While LG Display’s speakers should give automakers more options when it comes to speaker placement, the big question for all potential partners and drivers is sound quality.