Aftermarket car stereo head units with good screen resolution?

[Banzai]

I was looking at head units at Crutchfield and reading reviews. Just sorted stuff by price and started going through the list. One main complaint seems to be the screen resolution. I read this about both Sony & Alpine. One person said looking at the screen was like reading something wearing someone else's glasses.

Can anyone confirm their complaints? Are there units out there with high-res displays? If so, which brand/model?

 

[zcruiser]

I had a Kenwood and swapped it for a Pioneer due only to better function / user intrface.

Both had plenty of resolution.

 

[Banzai]

Do the user manuals typically mention the resolution of the display? I'm curious why a reviewer would rag on a high end Alpine unit for having a poor display.

 

[msp]

I was looking at head units at Crutchfield and reading reviews. Just sorted stuff by price and started going through the list. One main complaint seems to be the screen resolution. I read this about both Sony & Alpine. One person said looking at the screen was like reading something wearing someone else's glasses.

Can anyone confirm their complaints? Are there units out there with high-res displays? If so, which brand/model?

If you go to the Details tab, then look for the Touchscreen and Remote Control link, it will probably tell you screen resolution. I only looked at a couple but they look to be 800 x 480.

 

[Banzai]

Interesting, thanks. I wonder why the Sony & Alpine units were getting ragged on?

 

[llDemonll]

I have a Sony XAV-AX100 in the daily. I have no issues with resolution or blurriness or anything. I think it's like 800x480 or something? No idea, but it looks just fine if you're more than three inches away from the screen.

 

[Dr. Monkeypants]

I have a Sony XAV-AX100 in the daily. I have no issues with resolution or blurriness or anything. I think it's like 800x480 or something? No idea, but it looks just fine if you're more than three inches away from the screen.

Same. I have a Kenwood with the same resolution and it's fine from my driving position. I was concerned it would look bad compared to the higher resolution units (I mean, hell, my phone is like 230ppi), but it really isn't noticeably low-res in use.

 

[Sp00ner]

I had a Kenwood and swapped it for a Pioneer due only to better function / user intrface.

Both had plenty of resolution.

Which Pioneer unit did you end up with?

 

[dangitzin]

I was looking at head units at Crutchfield and reading reviews. Just sorted stuff by price and started going through the list. One main complaint seems to be the screen resolution. I read this about both Sony & Alpine. One person said looking at the screen was like reading something wearing someone else's glasses.

Can anyone confirm their complaints? Are there units out there with high-res displays? If so, which brand/model?

Most of the aftermarket HU out there are 480p at around 800x480 resolution.

AFAIK, Kenwood DNX996XR is the only 720p screen at 1280x720 for $1400 (or $1200 with Crutchfield after MIR).

Almost got the Kenwood for the screen, but went with a Pioneer AVIC-w8500NEX instead just because I'm familiar with the brand and the resolution isn't noticeable at such a small screen even while watching movies. Also because I've had trouble connecting a jailbroken iPhone to the Kenwoods for some reason.

 

[waverunner]

I was looking at head units at Crutchfield and reading reviews. Just sorted stuff by price and started going through the list. One main complaint seems to be the screen resolution. I read this about both Sony & Alpine. One person said looking at the screen was like reading something wearing someone else's glasses.

Can anyone confirm their complaints? Are there units out there with high-res displays? If so, which brand/model?

Banzai, I just installed a pioner W8500NEX - it has a capacitive touch screen like a smartphone and the resolution is amazing. The other style touch screen is resistive touch which are generally lower res, dull, slightly faded ATM style touch screens. Look for headunits that have capacitive touch on crutchfield with the search filters. Check out the Pioneer APPRadio 4, 1400NEX, and 8500NEX. Amazon has good prices.

 

[Banzai]

Thanks, I'll definitely take a look. I'm not bashing on anything because I haven't seen any of these units personally. I was just confused by the complaints I came across.

 

[matoolie]

Just installed a Kenwood DNR876S with 800x480 resolution. No complaints. But not watching movies with it.

 

[drei4runner29]

I have two older Pioneer units, the AVH-3800 on my 4Runner and the AVH-390 in my wife's Sequoia. For what it is, the screen resolution is decent. I've seen some of the older Sony double din screens from a few years ago and I wasn't impressed.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Just know/remember.....

With Sony, a big part of the price is the name


With Kenwood you'll pay for it through funky/difficult menus (and odd phone connection issues)


Really cheap no names are generally really bad (though I had one in the FJ62 that was surprisingly good for it's very low price)

I would focus less on screen resolution and more on spending that extra on a set of components and an amp. A stereo with an awesome screen that sounds 'meh' sort of defeats the purpose.

 

[Banzai]

Speaking of screens, are there any preamp-only head units that require you to supply your own screen? I know that sounds ridiculous, but I was thinking like if you had a tablet permanently mounted and wanted to use that as your interface. If not, do any units have 'video-out' that allow you to do that?

Sorry if the questions are stupid, but despite subscribing to a couple different car stereo magazines back in the day, I haven't installed a system in over 20 years.

 

[toyotaspeed90]

Speaking of screens, are there any preamp-only head units that require you to supply your own screen? I know that sounds ridiculous, but I was thinking like if you had a tablet permanently mounted and wanted to use that as your interface. If not, do any units have 'video-out' that allow you to do that?

Sorry if the questions are stupid, but despite subscribing to a couple different car stereo magazines back in the day, I haven't installed a system in over 20 years.

Build a carputer using an rPI and a 7" screen?

 

[zcruiser]

Which Pioneer unit did you end up with?

Sorry [MENTION=374997]Sp00ner[/MENTION], didn't get notice of this question.

It's a Pioneer AVIC-WN6500 NEX

 

[Sp00ner]

Sorry [MENTION=374997]Sp00ner[/MENTION], didn't get notice of this question.

It's a Pioneer AVIC-WN6500 NEX

No worries! Was looking at the 4500/6500 choice myself, until I just noticed that the 6500 doesn't support Android Auto??

I had assumed the only difference was navigation or not, I don't really need the nav with Android Auto, but I figured it would be a nice to have if the situation arose for $100 extra, but I guess that's off the table entirely now...

 

[humioritz]

I was looking at head units at Crutchfield and reading reviews. Just sorted stuff by price and started going through the list. One main complaint seems to be the screen resolution. I read this about both Sony & Alpine. One person said looking at the screen was like reading something wearing someone else's glasses.

Can anyone confirm their complaints? Are there units out there with high-res displays? If so, which brand/model?

Hi,
I have a Pumpkin head unit. It is a capacitive multi-touch screen and the screen resolution is 1024x600.
Besides, I think the price is reasonable, but it also has many functions as Pioneer，Sony or other head units. I like it very much.

 

[Banzai]

Hi,
I have a Pumpkin head unit.

Never heard of that brand until now. What made you decide on that one?