Dual-View screen in cars next year.

You watch a move I look at the map.

In many luxe German models the centre console is dominated by a large LCD screen and the sight of this is a promise of on board DVD player which are usually available as an option.

However snorting a laugh while driving and watching Adam Sandler make a fool of himself constitutes a serious danger to yourself and other motorists so German car companies ten to turn off their front DVD screen as soon as the car moves faster than a crawling ant.

This annoys the passengers no end.

Thanks to in car entertainment giant Alpine, this is destined to be a problem of the past as the company has come up with a screen that can show two different images, depending on where the viewer is looking from.

For example the driver can see the map for the navigation system while the passenger can gleefully enjoy any movie that they wish.

This dual-view display first broke cover in 2006 and it seems that Bosch has also come up with their own version of the system and industry reports indicate that production is underway for a major car manufacturer and they are set to introduce it to market next year.

The screen consists of a backlit LCD and a special mask placed over the liquid crystal layer. The images for the viewing angle from the right and the left are shown at the same time, but are specifically distributed on adjacent pixel columns. Depending on the viewing angle, the mask shows only those pixel columns that make up the right or the left picture, and in the process displays two separate images.

Word round the campfire is that the first carmaker to show it may well come from Bavaria