Continental widens dash screen from pillar to pillar

Tesla pioneered the concept of large dashboard touch screens a decade ago, and the rest of the industry followed. Automotive electronics and tire supplier Continental plans to join the party, offering a pillar-to-pillar display in a production vehicle that will arrive in 2024.

Continental hasn't said what company placed the order, except to say it is "a well-known global vehicle manufacturer."

Technically, multiple screens are hiding under the shiny surface, but Continental said it made the transitions between them nearly invisible. Continental used its knowledge of supplying unusually shaped displays to make multiple screens work together in a single wide display surface. Continental also integrated in-cabin monitoring sensors in its wide screen.

In the cockpits of the future, information flows both ways.

A series of screens that stretch across the entire dashboard does not necessarily have to disturb the driver.

In April, Continental announced it had developed a screen technology called Switchable Privacy Display that could make potentially distracting visuals, such as videos, visible from the passenger seat but not the driver seat.