Good sound needs space, at least that’s what I thought. Then LG Display Automotive gave me a preview CES 2023 a new type of audio actuator that is wafer-thin and can turn almost anything into a relatively robust speaker.
The Sound Solution with Thin Actuator looks more like something you rip off a notepad than a device that can make noise. A thin copper cable snaking from one end is a giveaway, though.
Measuring just 12cm x 6cm x 0.3mm thick (and weighing 12 grams), the actuator is designed to fit behind screens or be embedded almost anywhere.
How does something so thin make noise? It starts with vibration. Think of it like the voice coil at the center of a traditional speaker. Instead of a thin membrane cone as the diaphragm, the thin actuator uses what it’s embedded in as the diagram. It vibrates at different frequencies, and the material around it vibrates like a membrane, serving as an amplifier.
This approach has obvious advantages. Typical 4K TV speakers suffer because they use tiny voice coils and cones that struggle to produce a big sound. The thin actuator could use the entire display of the screen to amplify the sound. The actuators could just as easily be placed in a car’s headrest, delivering the sound directly to the back of the head and ears.
That’s how LG explained the technology to me, but I wasn’t convinced until I heard it for myself.
LG reps showed me to a specially outfitted test vehicle (I can’t tell you which make or model). In the cabin, LG Display Automotive had hidden 12 thin actuators and three standard subwoofers for 12.3, 3D Dolby Sound. The only indication the actuators were there were small green stickers scattered inside to indicate their location.
I sat in the driver’s seat, closed the door, and from the outside, the LG Display representative turned on the music. The noise was all around me, coming from the doors, the surrounding frame, the dashboard and the center console. I could touch the fabric and feel vibrations. Granted, the powerful bass was delivered by old-school woofers, but all the highs and mids out of the actuators were bright, clear, and fairly rich.
Don’t expect to see (or hear) these wafer-thin actuators in cars by 2023. Unlike its sister company LG Electronics, LG manufactures display technology for other companies (including parent company LG). LG Display Automotive representatives told me they are already in talks with automakers about how and when to bring this audio technology to their cars.
It’s also likely that the thin actuators could end up behind future 4K and 8K TVs, and some of the thin and flexible screens LG Display is developing for future cars.
If all goes well, we could see ultra-thin actuator sound in the near future.
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