There's a discussion on a newsgroup I read about the law regarding in-car TVs and whether they are specifically illegal in the UK.

Does anyone know whether they are or whether they would be covered under another law?

I suspect the empeg visualisations are related to the issue - were they disabled for product liability reasons? The Pioneer units have similar, but crappier, fixed animations running all the time. (Though the OEL displays are sweet!)

Gareth

Now this brings up an interesting idea.. Hook up a rear-facing radar system with a reverse toggle. When you back up, the Empeg turns into a doppler radar display. Then you can could claim the Empeg is actually a safety device..

Yea yea.. it'd be tough to pull off, but man, what a perfect use for the Empeg..

Yeah - you could get it to go 'ping' while sweeping across the screen

When I bought my motorhome, I was told that the CCTV system had to be connected to the reverse gear:" because it's the law", but I can't find anything specific in the highway code.

You might try these people

I think I'm right in saying that you can't play an in-car TV at more than 5mph

I thought in dash monitors had a wire that was supposed to be connected to the handbrake. So the monitor could not be used whilst the vehicle is in motion. The idea is that the manufacturer builds the safety device in, it's then up to the installer/user whether they implement it. I suppose it's like a car manufacturer putting seat belts in, it's up to the passenger whether they wear it or not. I read up on this legislation when researching DAB radio at uni, something to do with scrolling/constantly updating displays.

I thought in dash monitors had a wire that was supposed to be connected to the handbrake

The reverse gear seems more logical, as they've fitted it to my motorhome, because it already has a sensor/micro switch.
to operate the reversing lights - not that most handbrakes don't also have a sensor.

sorry I've just re-read yours, I see that you are not talking about a reversing camera - the guy from my car radio fitters delivered me back to the office with "Star Wars" on the dashboard, and he certainly wasn't doing less than five miles an hour!

I found this whilst looking for something more definitive.

Thing is though, the Empeg doesn't play movies. So it would be the same thing as any other radio that had moving lights on it, just at a better quality. What about the Alpine head units that have animated displays (their organic models), they're equal to what the Empeg can do.

It's a thorny issue, I think empeg guys covered themselves by making the unit default to one of text screens instead of a visual on power up in DC mode. Once the hack was in place to bypass this, it's then up to us as users to operate the unit in a responsible manner.

Volvos built in navigation and TV system only offers sound/navigation above about 5-10km/h, but below that the TV can deliver the picture to the screen. At least that was the case with the '00 models as delivered in Sweden.

/Michael