MBUX Hyperscreen – from EQS to electric C-Class

Quick look

• The Hyperscreen is an evolution of the original MBUX interface which debuted in 2018 and then became a huge screen that dominated the dashboard in the 2021 EQS.

• The new electric C-Class marks the first time this flagship tech has trickled further down the range after having been used for the E-Class.

Technologies and technological features often start at the top, with the most expensive models, and then slowly trickle down the range as the technology cost reduces and it can be adopted in lower-priced models.

This has been evident with most brands, especially luxury brands, and with the all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class, this technology transfer is demonstrated with a very dominant feature in the cabin – the MBUX Hyperscreen | Superscreen.

This pillar-to-pillar display panel evolved from the MBUX (MB User Experience) concept that debuted in 2018. MBUX introduced ‘Hey Mercedes’ natural language processing and a dual-screen layout.

At that time, Tesla and Chinese EV companies were trending towards larger, more vertical screens. Mercedes-Benz designers, however, decided to ‘go big’ by making the entire dashboard a display.

Huge leap in interior design
It was a bold move which generated a lot of discussion. The MBUX Hyperscreen was a huge leap in automotive interior design, transforming the dashboard from a collection of buttons and dials into an AI-driven digital environment, a merger of analogue and digi-graphic aesthetics.

First unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in America in 2021, it represented the brand’s shift from being a traditional hardware manufacturer to a ‘software-first’ luxury brand.

Introduced with EQS
The Hyperscreen that was officially launched with the EQS was a single, curved panel spanning 1410 mm – nearly the whole width of the dashboard. Though it looked like a single panel, it was actually 3 separate displays — a 12.3-inch instrument panel, a 17.7-inch central OLED, and a 12.3-inch passenger OLED— integrated under a cover of tough Gorilla Glass.

Early touchscreens were criticized for burying climate controls and navigation under multiple menu layers. Taking note of this, the Mercedes-Benz designers created the Zero Layer interface, which had virtually all the functions on the screen, no digging through a menu.

The Hyperscreen idea trickled down from the EQS to the EQE and eventually influenced the dashboard design of the W214 E-Class. For this new model, a more compact Hyperscreen was developed, and named Superscreen. It maintained the passenger display but separated the driver’s instrument panel.

Hyperscreen and Superscreen
For the new C-Class, Mercedes-Benz presents the full-dashboard concept as both Hyperscreen and Superscreen. As a Hyperscreen, a single display (39.1 inches) extends over three-quarters of the dashboard while the Superscreen has three areas. Still a massive visual element, it dynamically connects the centre console and the instrument panel into one harmonious composition.

Innovative matrix backlight technology with almost 10 million pixels and independently adjustable brightness zones delivers clear information for the driver and personalised entertainment for the front passenger.

With the electric C-Class, personalisation becomes an emotional experience. Ten high-resolution ambient styles are available for the MBUX Superscreen, allowing owners to tailor their environment with remarkable precision.

The colour scheme of the instrument panel area, including meters, control elements and ambient lighting, is coordinated with these emotional background motifs.

The optional ambient lighting extends from the instrument panel and centre console across all doors to the optional SKY CONTROL panoramic roof, turning light into emotion. Bathed in the individually selected colour, the door panels evoke elegant backlit sideboards, while 162 illuminated stars transform the roof into a personalised starry sky.