PIONEER RECENTLY LAUNCHED a spate of new products catering to the burgeoning in-car theatre market.

Considering the huge popularity of the MPV segment alone, parents looking to keep children entertained on long trips should already constitute a significant customer base for companies like Pioneer to tap on.

In fact, a spokesperson said that in-car theatre systems already comprise 30 percent of Pioneer’s current domestic sales, and the company expects this figure to grow considerably in the future.

Pioneer’s new products include two new headunits that incorporate touch panel LCD displays, DVD and MP3 playback capability, as well as 5.1 channel surround sound.

A new Vehicle Dynamics Processor (VDP) (RRP: $840) and an iPod interface (RRP: $230) round out the new product lineup.

The two headunits, the AVH-P5750DVD and AVH-P7650DVD, retail for $1,950 and $2,799, respectively.

Pioneer claims that the LCD displays in both units are able to minimise reflection without adversely affecting contrast levels, thereby providing crisp picture quality.

Pioneer is also seeking to stake out a slice of the lucrative ‘mod’ pie. The company’s new VDP system offers an interesting alternative to the multitude of gauges that car enthusiasts typically fit to monitor various engine parameters.

The VDP gathers data from a car’s Electronic Control Unit or ECU and displays the information on the AVH-P5750DVD headunit’s LCD screen.

The unit even incorporates a GPS system that you can use for basic navigation. Although maps are not available as yet, users can enter waypoint coordinates for favourite destinations.

The VDP also estimates horsepower and torque figures, and can tell you the g-force generated during cornering.

Users can customise the display with a range of viewing modes, including one that mimics the look of analogue gauges.