Mercedes-Benz showcases massive 56-inch 'Hyperscreen' dashboard replacement

Shawn Knight

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Editor's take: The annual Consumer Electronics Show is the quintessential launch pad for over-the-top tech. The fact that this year’s event is being conducted in an all-digital format has done little to deter companies’ interest in eliciting oohs and ahhs from onlookers.

Case in point is the Mercedes-Benz MBUX Hyperscreen, a curved screen panel that’ll extend almost the entire width of the dashboard (more than 56 inches with 377 square inches of surface area) on the upcoming EQS electric sedan. It’s not one continuous display, mind you, but several displays that “appear to merge seamlessly,” the German automaker said.

An eight-core CPU alongside 24GB of RAM will power the MBUX Hyperscreen, which can support up to seven individual front passenger profiles. The glass screen covering contains scratch-resistant aluminum silicate for durability and longevity and the whole thing even has predetermined breaking points for enhanced safety in the event of a crash. A dozen actuators behind the display will provide haptic feedback when needed.

Mercedes-Benz describes the MBUX Hyperscreen as the brain and the nervous system of the car. Gorden Wagener, chief design officer for Daimler Group, said it connects to all of the vehicle’s components and communicates with them. “This allows for a new form of interactivity and individuality,” the executive added.

In addition to displaying important information about the vehicle's operation, the MBUX also leans on artificial intelligence to make personalized suggestions based on changes in the surroundings and user behavior.

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Mercedes MBUX in our SClass is a great infotainment system, but I will always feel that touchscreens need to be supplemented by physical controls.

The volume knob, the seek knob, the heated and cooled seat controls, the HVAC system, all of these need a physical button.

 
That, surrounded by cheap plastic, and with everything squeaking as hell. That's what Mercedes calls premium nowadays.

But instead of paying half less because all the quality and real premium is gone, you are paying 2 times more instead, I.e. 4 times more than what it is worth, because you are stupid to think that Mercedes cares.
 
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No thanks...If the display wigs out, you don't have a clue what's going on. At least an analog gauge goes out, the rest of the instruments continue to function.
I do not like all this digital display stuff. Hey, I'm old school. With knobs, buttons, levers etc...
you can keep your eye on the road, and usually find what you are needing to change.
With a lot of these touch screens (Tesla), you actually need to look at the display, to touch
the correct area.
 
Hideous. Physical controls are a must for critical functions, as well as HVAC. Last thing I want after a long day of staring at screens is everything in my car to be on yet more screens

Give me physical dials and knobs any day. They are tried and true, and far easier to replace if they do break.
 
Give me physical dials please. If I can't reach over and adjust something without taking my eyes off the road then there is nothing luxurious about it. A volume knob and HVAC dials are a must. Everything being controlled by touch screens is probably my most hated car trend.
 
Why when I reading "must have physical controls" I remember time when first smartphones become popular and people did talk "it must have physical keyboard".
 
YMMV, but I have never been in any squeaky Mercedes cars. Peugeot and Renault holy crap yes.
The last two generations of C-class and GLC are the worst in that category. The C-class feels these days like a 30-year old rusty bucket, with squeaks all over the place. Because all that pseudo-premium interior is nothing but cheap plastic.
 
The last two generations of C-class and GLC are the worst in that category. The C-class feels these days like a 30-year old rusty bucket, with squeaks all over the place. Because all that pseudo-premium interior is nothing but cheap plastic.
Thanks for clarifying, and sad to hear that :(
 
Why when I reading "must have physical controls" I remember time when first smartphones become popular and people did talk "it must have physical keyboard".

Hey now, the old physical buttons was so much easier to send SMS under the table with than smart phones. Nowadays kids risk more when bitching about their boring class to their friend in another equally boring class cause they have to look down more often.


Physical dials or knobs is still the best solution. My car uses button for the volume, is a pain to use when you need to change volume quickly. Touch screen's advantage is that you can display a lot more settings, but save them for unimportant settings.
 
Gotta agree, touch controls are not friendly to driving, more ways to be distracted, on the other hand my car has knobs and buttons I can adjust without looking awsy
 
What most people here don't seem to get is
A) you can talk to the car (hey Mercedes thing they showcased in previous years)
B) it learns your user profile (AI) with multiple variants I guess (like what temp you like when the temp is x degrees outside and when you are at which location etc.) so you need to tell it less after a while.

Therefore I bet it is a welcome next step in the way a person interacts with a vehicle. Physical knobs etc are just that and always require further repetitive input.. Very primitive.

I hope they didn't put 8 core cpu and 24 GB RAM without tons of processing going on.
 
Why when I reading "must have physical controls" I remember time when first smartphones become popular and people did talk "it must have physical keyboard".
A friend of mine was using a pebble for a long time; physical keyboards are a lot faster to message on with less typos.
 
Hey now, the old physical buttons was so much easier to send SMS under the table with than smart phones. Nowadays kids risk more when bitching about their boring class to their friend in another equally boring class cause they have to look down more often.

Do they still allow kids to have cell phones in class in your area?

It was banned here in Nov 2019.

And I agree sometimes newer isn't always better.
 
How is this supposed to work anyway? If it's IPS, it's gonna glare right into the driver's face, if it's OLED, then the speedometer will burn in after a year or two.
 
Honestly I had no issues with the old school knobs and levers at all. I would still prefer those. I would have rather focused on the heads-up display on the windscreen rather than putting a home theatre tv in my dashboard...
 
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