Playing a CD or DVD in cars has become a feature that is taken for granted by now. But what is hidden behind the insertion slot is a highly complex matter. “Regardless of what the customer feeds to the drive, it has to work with it – and the variety of possible media formats is large”, says Bjoern Engel, testing engineer at P3 Systems. From copy protections for audio CDs, through different media types to numerous compressed formats like MP3, AAC, WMA etc.

Thus, in a first step we defined a collective standard with the five big German automobile manufacturers, on what CD and DVD drives have to offer in the future.” P3 Systems brings the experience of the last years to the table, during which a standard for testing media was already established in the automotive industries with the Media Set. The Media Set is available in its fourth revision now and supports memory cards and USB media next to CDs and DVDs.

A shared test house is operated on basis of the agreed standard now, where every drive is thoroughly tested: “Does it work reliably with all media variants currently available on the market?” Also important at the same time: “Does the drive stand up to the vibrations, impacts, temperature variations, solar radiation and humidity in an automobile?” Numerous tests are therefore conducted in climate chambers and vibration test rigs. Here, the drives have to be controlled automatically and according measurement results must be recorded.

“This way, the P3 Media Test House verifies extensively, whether a drive meets the requirements of our clients – and thereby of their end customers as well”, concludes Engel. Lessons learned in the process are passed on to all parties involved.