Has any one had luck installing DVD units in their Cayennes? w/ PCM can you get the picture to show in the LCD, and w/o how much is reasonable to pay?

thanks yall

 

As the infotainment system in the Cayenne (and 986,996 as well) are MOST (fiber optic based digital communication for media content and control), I do not believe at this time you will be able to find such a unit.

Were the Cayenne an analog based infotainment system (as were all Porsche prior to model year 2003), you would be able to accomplish this.

 

So you are saying it is impossible to have dvds show on the lcd because of the fiber optic wiring?

 

Beyond whether or not it is possible, in many states, Texas for example, it is illegal to have an entertainment system video screen that can be seen by the driver.

 

Sticky, basically yes

but

Aftermarket people are doing some interesting stuff try searching the boards, someone posted pictures. $$$$$$

 

I was told that there soon would be a software upgrade that would enable the "AV" button on the PCM2.
That would give plenty of possibilities.

 

I heard the same as Gert. Waiting to see what Porsche comes out with is the best bet IMO.

 

MOST (version 1.0 as there is a MOST 2.0 in development which will be twice as fast) can transmit digital data at 22.5Mb/s. This is enough to carry digitally compressed video and a full Dolby/DTS 5.1 soundtrack, as well as command and control signals. (actually it is enough to carry two totally separate A/V streams so each person in a backseat can watch something different).

So the physical interface is easily capable of transferring video from a player to a display device on the ring/network.
As another aside, even though the cars can currently accomplish this task, there is a major legal battle regarding DTCP (digital transfer copyright protection). In other words, as of today, it is illegal to play a DVD in a MOST based vehicle, since MOST is a digital network (in the legal sense, the same as Ethernet or the Internet), and thus without some sort of copy protection, you can not transmit copyrighted content (i.e. DVD video and audio) over a digital network.

What I was referring to was the interface and its software make it very difficult to add a new device to the MOST ring. Currently, there are NO MOST aftermarket devices for sale; MOST is a OEM interface (you have to go back into the history of MOST to understand what it was designed to accomplish). Without the technical support and licensing from the MOST cooperation and Becker, you can not develop a MOST based device to put into a car. Even if you design the hardware device, if the headunit (network controller in this case) does not have the correct software to be made aware of the new device and control it, it will not function on the ring)
There are plans to develop and license aftermarket devices (for example to allow you to play your MP3 player in your MOST based vehicle), but these are still several years away and are still only specifications and proposals.

There is a company (see a thread on the 996T forum) that modifies headunits to allow their LCD display to show video (BMW, DC, Mini, etc), but all of these examples are analog based systems (non MOST).
I am unaware of anyone who has accomplished this task with MOST, with the exception of Becker (who designs all Porsche headunits and basically ALL MOST headunits, who designs the headunits and was the driving force behind MOST.

(why would I possibly posses such useless information? I designed the MOST audio in the MY 03 996, 986, Cayenne, MY04 AudiA8, MY04 Mercedes Maybach)

 

wow thanks for all the info..

sounds like our MOST systems are LEAST

 

Design you did! I continue to be blown away by the audio in my Cayenne! You da man, Lewis!

As for our "...MOST systems are LEAST" While it is true that we are all experiencing some frustrations right now, the technical capabilities of MOST are pretty spectacular. I can only hope that MOST does not experience the same outcome as the Micro-Channel Architecture IBM devised in the late 80's for the PC..... a 40MB bus archiecture that was WAY before its time!

Toby

 

Used PS/2 25 for sale, make a great hood ornament.

Did you buy one Toby ?

 

I have just installed a dvd system in the rear seats... it looks great and it cost me $2500... send me an email at jamy85@aol.com if u want a pic of how it looks like

 

Warning! Off-topic reply (to the MODERATOR no less!)

Michael,

If I recall correctly, the PS/2 Model 25 was an ISA bus machine. The first shot a at MCA bus was on the Model 50. All said, MCA beat the pants off of ISA and EISA in terms of throughput. IBM (as usual) did such a great job on the technology and failed so miserably on the marketing side. If they (IBM) had released the specs and allowed more detail to flow, PC users would have been much farther down the throughput curve much earlier in the game. Oh well.........

 

I stand corrected Toby, the memory isn't what it was especially as I was probably messing with PDP11's at the time.

 

No problemo. I cut my (technology) teeth on IBM mainframes as a 370/Assembler programmer. First machine I really worked on was a 370/168 Mod 3 - all 16MB and 16 Channels worth! The only thing bigger was a 370/195 running ACP and those were all dedicated to air traffic control facilities.

But back to the topic at hand..... if we can just convince Becker to move away from its IBM-like tendencies WRT MOST specifications and add-ons. I'm dying to dump $1500 on the Online Pro for my Cayenne. Not so much for the (Traffic Pro-like) navigation as for the tri-band GSM phone, MP3 player and SD/MMC slot. Becker USA can't seem to decide whether to release this unit in the USofA. I hope they do.

Lewis, have you heard any more on the Online Pro????

TBP