Best Headrest Monitors: What To Look For

There are many things to consider when you're looking for a top rated headrest monitor. Take a look at some of the things we consider when looking at headrest monitors.

First off, there are 6 types of monitors you can install in your car. They are:

1. Overhead for large vehicles with sufficient headroom space
2. Flip Down which is a version of the overhead monitor that can be tucked away
3. In-Dash for front seat passengers
4. Sun Visor which is 5 inches long
5. Mirror are 4-inch LCD monitors placed on the rear-view mirrors
6. Headrests are most popular because they can be installed or attached to the original headrest or you can buy one with a replacement headrest

Important Terminology:

• Active Headrest Technology – Also known as Active Headrest Restraint which reduces whiplash injury in the event an accident occurs. If your car is equipped with this technology, it’s best to retain the factory-issued headrest and opt for the attachable monitor
• Dual Channel Infrared (IR) – This feature will allow you to use your wireless headphones with the headrest monitor
• Pass-Through Technology – This feature will allow you to watch the same movie from one source on multiple devices
• Cigarette lighter power cables – Allows for the quick installation of the video equipment
• Video Cables – This is critical to the successful installation of your in-car entertainment system because they are made specifically for car apps and have a higher insulation standard than cables used for the home and office. This added insulation also guarantees to keep radiated noise from affecting video quality
• Resolution – The quality of the picture cannot be overemphasized. The lower the resolution, the most pixilated the image will be so one should opt for at higher resolution with the ideal being 1024 x  768 which is the standard for a 7-inch Apple tablet – to give you a basis for comparison.
• Region-free – Ideally, if you want a headrest monitor with a built-in DVD player, the best car headrest DVD player would be one that is “region-free” which refers to recognition of any DVD regardless of where it was made.
• PAL and NTSC – This refers to commercial TV color encoding systems. PAL is used in Europe and some parts of Asia while NTSC is common with US and Canada systems. The difference between PAL and NTSC is the frame/second wherein PAL delivers 25/625 while NTSC delivers 30/525.