The giant touch display will automatically close the sunshades when you turn it on.
It was only a matter of time. For years car companies have been competing to see which one can put the most obnoxious, gargantuan screen in the front of the car, from the Tesla Model S center screen to Mercedes’ absurd “Hyperscreen.” Now, that arms race is moving to the back of the car. In addition to a large infotainment system, the new BMW 7-Series offers a comically large 31-inch rear-seat “Theater Screen.”
To cover that kind of acreage, the display has 8K resolution. That makes it the first 8K display available in a car, though strangely the release notes that it can only stream up to 4K resolution. That streaming will be handled by an onboard Amazon Fire TV, which can access a host of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO over the car’s built-in 5G connection.
The new BMW i7
BMW
The Theater Screen is a touchscreen, but given that it spans a substantial portion of the car’s width and is suspended overhead, that may not be the most practical method of interaction. To make things easier, BMW includes additional touchscreens mounted in the door panels that can be used to control the screen from your seat.
Still, there are compromises to the Theater Screen’s layout. Because it has to fold into the ceiling of the car, it’s not nearly as tall as it is wide. The aspect ratio is an unconventional 32:9. That means most content will either have thick black bars on either size or be cropped tightly enough to cut out substantial portions of the top or bottom of the source material. Special immersive videos can use the whole screen, but we don’t anticipate many filmmakers designing shots specifically for BMW in-car entertainment.
The good news is that it should still be quite immersive, as turning on the display will trigger a theater sequence throughout the car. The window shades and moonroof will close up to block out external light, the rear-seat ambient lights will dim, and a special Hans Zimmer sound effect will play over the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System. Use that system for audio playback and you’ll also get “4D Audio” which uses exciters in the seats to add a body vibration effect to the sound. In our experience with Mercedes’ “4D Audio” it was mostly a gimmick,” but it’s fun to try out.
If you’re interested, you’ll be able to get the Theater Screen on the redesigned 7-Series and new i7 when they go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year. It costs $4750.
Keyword: The 2023 BMW 7-Series Has a 31-Inch 8K Theater Touchscreen in its Backseat