The touchscreen multimedia system takes centre stage (pun not intended) when talking about features of any modern car. It has to do so much more than multimedia systems of yesteryears where being able to tune into the radio or play music from a set storage medium was enough. Today we look at the eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system.
The ‘Composition Media’ infotainment system
One of the latest infotainment systems to be used in Volkswagen cars across the globe, the Tiguan AllSpace receives the system as it is imported to India as a CBU (completely built unit). The eight-inch/20.32cm touchscreen system has a 800x480 resolution which with good visual design makes the screen pleasant to look at. The system plays music through an eight speaker system, with two speakers on each door.
Standard music playback options include two SD Card slots, FM radio receiver, AUX-in port, USB connector with Apple iPod compatibility and a CD/DVD player in the glovebox. Smartphone connectivity is extremely important, and so the system supports both the popular Android Auto and Apple Carplay phone mirroring systems as well as the MirrorLink system.
Apart from multimedia playback
Volkswagen’s own Connect app and functionality can be used to check car usage, keep track of trips, locate the car, analyse trip and driving behaviour, get notified about upcoming service and contact roadside assistance with ease. Volkswagen has also gamified some features and added some challenges and tasks in the app to make the app more fun to use.
The screen also doubles up as a display for the parking camera system. Augmented reality prompts on screen and proximity warning displays from its front and rear parking sensors also make parking a simpler, safer affair.
The touchscreen can be used to adjust the various aspects of the three-zone climate control system including direction of air-flow, fan speed and temperature.
The display has temporary pop-up displays when the different driving modes are selected on the 4Motion rotary dial on the centre console. The five modes are - Eco, Normal, Sport, Snow or Off-Road.
The displays of the ‘Active Info Display’ all-digital instrument cluster can be controlled from the touchscreen system. Aspects of what to be displayed can be customised according to the driver’s preference, giving priority to map/multimedia displays over vehicle/engine speed info etc.
