Back seat media systems

[welland]

Whilst looking at 2nd gen RXs for sale, I have come across three different systems:

1) a single screen mounted on the ceiling between the two front seats.

2) 2 screens mounted in the front seat head seats (sometimes with a zip on cover - is that a different system?)

3) 2 screens mounted on the back of the front seats (the mount bracket comes from the seat back rest, not the head rest)

What significant differences are there between these systems? The unobtrusive nature of option 2 appeals most, especially with zip on cover, but the covers seam rare.

In option 2, each screen has its own DVD reader, but I wonder where does the DVD disc go in options 1 & 2?

Does the screen in the dashboard ever play DVDs?

[carl001]

My car had option 2 fitted.

It has only one DVD reader under the driver's seat.

The dashboard screen does connect to the DVD player. 

The infrared wireless headphones provided do not work seamlessly and make a constant hiss, presumably because the signal, that comes from transmitters fitted to both rear door frames, is too weak.

My children prefer using their own tablets instead. 

[welland]

59 minutes ago, carl001 said:

My car had option 2 fitted.

It has only one DVD reader under the driver's seat.

The dashboard screen does connect to the DVD player. 

The infrared wireless headphones provided do not work seamlessly and make a constant hiss, presumably because the signal, that comes from transmitters fitted to both rear door frames, is too weak.

My children prefer using their own tablets instead. 

That's interesting. Thanks for the feedback.

How old is your car? Does it have the zip on covers?

What exactly do the screens do? I imagine that they must both display the same image, or no image? Where are the controls for play, pause, ffw, volume, etc?

Some years ago, I had some infrared headphones plugged in to my hifi in the house - at least I think they were IR.  They had a tuner on both the transmitter and receiver that could be used to find a good interference-free frequency. Do yours have any tuning capability?

Do the screens have a socket for plug-in headphones, or can the sound play over the car speakers?

[carl001]

Just to correct a mistake in my first reply the dashboard screen does NOT connect to the DVD player. Nor does the sound transmit over the car speakers.

My car is a 2007 model. Yes there are covers for the headrest monitors. One does not realise that there is anything beneath them and I always surprise people when I take them off.

Both screens show same content.

There is a remote control that comes with the DVD player.

I believe that the headphones come with a built in frequency, but now that you have mentioned it I will check and see if the can be fine tuned to reduce the hiss.

There are no sockets on the screens. There are however loose connectors housed in one of the pockets at the back of the front seats that may be used to connect other devices to the DVD/monitors system.

[PCM]

I've looked at various options, but in the end decided it was more hassle than it was worth.

Theft was a worry for me.

Maybe some cheaper tablets instead - or CD's or books?!

 

[welland]

On 10/26/2017 at 11:07 AM, PCM said:

I've looked at various options, but in the end decided it was more hassle than it was worth.

Theft was a worry for me.

Maybe some cheaper tablets instead - or CD's or books?!

I do tend to agree with you.  The need to find a car with built in rear DVD screens is small.  Other factors are much more important when choosing a used car, especially considering that good quality removable DVD screens can be obtained at reasonable prices these days.