If you have a seven inch screen deck what software or whatever can you buy to read your gauges from the screen?

 

Only certain head units have that capability directly.

However, I guess if yours has video input capability, then you could use a laptop or other on-board PC to send video the the screen, and run something like Autotap or something to do a virtual dash. People do it all the time with PC based MP3 jukeboxes, so why not for diagnostics?

 

Exactly. I wish there was a easy way of doing this.

 

There is.

A PC in a custom case, mounted somewhere in the car, with a remote screen mounted to your dash. That screen could be your in-dash unit if it's got aux video inputs for like an external DVD player or something.

It shouldn't be very difficult.

 

Lets say I had a Sanyo dvd cd dis player with screen. How would I connect it to the computer? What type of cable is required to plug the comp to the deck?

 

Does the head unit have an auxiliary video input?

You at the very least will need a way to do TV out from the computer, either directly or through a converter. Connect from there to the aux video input on the head unit and you should be able to get it working.

 

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the info.

 

No problem. Good luck.

Something that *might* help you.

You can also get a "flying" mouse and use that. It's used for presenters and such who are projecting onto a screen. You'll be using the same concept, just on a smaller scale. It'll take some getting used to, but it should work.

The highest voltages used inside a normal PC is 12v DC. There are some 5v and 3.3v lines as well. If you hunt down the pinouts for the power supply, you can figure it out. All you have to do is to reduce the 12v down to 5 or 3.3 and you should be able to wire the PC straight into the automotive electrical system without the need to an inverter.

The only problem? When you turn the car off, the PC will turn off, and that's NOT good for it. So you'll have to remember to shut the PC down before turning the car off.

 

I was looking at the Jenson and Sanyo deck with retractable screen but they didnt have aux imputs. Those where under $600. The cheapest one with the aux imputs was the pioneer. Crutchfield sells them for $999 and the aux input cable for $30. Then you need a VGA to RCA converter $20. Afterwards you have to set your computer to it's lowest resolution then change the setting to use a external modem. I may just buy a used laptop and keep it in the car for datalogging and the onscreen display.