Guys
Just thought I would post up my DIY RSE system, having found some time today to install it.
I purchased the headrest monitors on ebay - lucky to find the right colour leather, but unlucky, in that one screen had a fault. I was able to fix it however - lucky it was a simple component failure.
Having given the source much thought, I decided do give the DVD player/changer a miss, and go for a media player instead - to play movies etc from USB memory key or USB hard drive.
I went for the Sumvision Cyclone - which can be had for around £20.
This is a very neat wee unit, and supports all the usual MP1,2,3,4 video and audio, as well as WMA, AVI,DIVX etc. It has HDMI too, but that is wasted here.
The unit does have (and come with) a composite video/audio cable however, so is great for this use.
The unit is 5v powered so I made up a simple regulator to provide a stable 5v from the car's supply.
For audio, I took two routes - one RF for headphones and the other a RF FM modulator so that it could be used through the car head unit. Although and FM modulator is far from the best solution, it works fine and is very cheap. This also means that the rear screens can be used with headphones while the rest of the car listens to the CD or radio.
This wee unit cost less than a fiver delivered (!) and comes with a 12v cable too!
Headphones - I found another ebay seller - this time he was selling some new Thompson WHP-540 headphones. These were new, without warranty, and in very scruffy boxes. I took a gamble and got three sets for £18 delivered! They all worked 100%, so got a great bargain there!
The base units are 12v powered, so ideal for the car. I opened up the unit and hard wired in a power cable, as can be seen here.
I mounted the Cyclone media player in the centre console box - it is attached with velcro and I drilled a hole in the bottom to allow the cable to escape below. You can see a small switch above it too - that allows the unit, screens and RF and FM boxes to be switched off - and prevents the back seat passengers ruling the roost!
The remote control for the unit obviously only works with the lid up, which is ok for now - I will make up an IR extender so it works closed sometime soon. When the lid is up, the remote works fine from the rear seats.
So- a shot of the cyclone powering up...
Just FYI - there is quite a lot of room inside the console, as seen below. You do need to watch however, as the cup holders do use a fair bit of it up. You can certainly mount the RF transmitter and FM modulator in here is you wished. The power is already in here, as it runs through for the rear 12v socket - and saved another job!.
I am going to buy a module to allow connection up to the satnav screen too, and plan to add a rear view camera too. I will update this thread once I get that selected, purchased and installed.
As you are probably aware, the boxes to permit the video connection are quite expensive, especially as they are performing a simple task (its only a composite to RGB converter plus [non standard] sync) - the specialism comes I guess as it integrates with the satnav and the control buses so that you can switch video sources between rear view, media player and satnav and not get any errors thrown (not sure you would, but its possible/likely!)
Anyway - thats it for now... and hopefully of interest to someone!
David