Control system for a display system of a vehicle

Abstract

A control system (200, Fig. 2, 400, Fig. 4) for a display system (102, Fig. 2) of a vehicle (100, Fig. 1), the display system having a screen 104 to display a content item 610, the control system comp

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a control system for controlling a display system of a vehicle. Aspects of the invention relate to a control system, to a display system, to a vehicle, and to a method for controlling a display system. BACKGROUND It is known to use a visual display in the dashboard of a vehicle to provide details on the operation of the vehicle to the driver. Such a display may be referred to a driver’s display, an instrument cluster or other such terms. As vehicle technology develops, new types and configurations of displays are being included in vehicles. Additional information and content may also be included on the displays, for example navigation information. It is an aim of the present invention to address one or more of the disadvantages associated with the prior art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Aspects and embodiments of the invention provide a control system, a display system, a vehicle and a method for controlling a display system as claimed in the appended claims. According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a control system for a display system of a vehicle, the display system comprising a screen to display a content item, the control system configured to: obtain a signal indicative of a view of the screen of a user seated in a driver’s seat of the vehicle, determine an adjustment factor in dependence on the signal, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item; and output the adjustment factor to the display system for use in adjusting the appearance of the content item on the screen. In this way, the control system can adjust the content of the screen to suit a user’s view. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a control system for controlling a display system of a vehicle, the display system comprising a screen to display a content item, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to: receive a position signal indicative of a position of a steering wheel of the vehicle; determine an adjustment factor in dependence on the position signal, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item; and in dependence on the adjustment factor, control the display system to adjust the appearance of the content item. In this way, the appearance of a content item on the screen on the display system can be adjusted to suit the visibility of the screen with respect to the position of the steering wheel. The adjustment factor may comprise at least one of a scaling factor for changing the size of the content item, and a translation factor for moving the content item. Thus the adjustment of the displayed content may be effected in different ways. The control system may be configured to receive the position signal from a steering position adjustment control system of the steering wheel assembly. Thus the positioning of the steering wheel may be used to send the position signal to the control system. The control system may comprise one or more controllers collectively comprising at least one electronic processor having an electrical input for receiving an input signal; and at least one memory device electrically coupled to the at least one electronic processor and having instructions stored thereon; and wherein the at least one electronic processor is configured to access the at least one memory device and execute the instructions thereon so as to: receive a position signal indicative of a position of a steering wheel of the vehicle; determine an adjustment factor in dependence on the position signal, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item; and in dependence on the adjustment factor, control the display system to adjust the appearance of the content item. Optionally, the position signal may comprise a seat signal indicative of a position of a driver’s seat of the vehicle. In this way, the visibility of the screen accounting for the seat position can be considered when adjusting the content item on the screen. In an embodiment, the position signal may comprise a driver facing camera signal indicative of a position of a user’s head, where the user is seated in a driver’s seat of the vehicle. In this way, the position of the user’s head in relation to the screen and the steering wheel can be considered when adjusting the content item on the screen. The control system may be configured to receive the driver facing camera signal from a driver facing camera system of the vehicle. The driver facing camera signal may comprise an image of the driver’s face. Optionally, the control system may be configured to determine a portion of the screen that lies in a projected visual field of the user. In this way, the user’s view of the screen, as represented by the area of their visual field can be determined so that the content item can be adjusted accordingly on the screen. In an example, the portion of the screen that lies substantially centrally within the projected visual field of the user may be determined. In an embodiment, the control system may be configured to receive an input display signal indicative of the content item to be displayed on the screen of the display system; adjust the appearance of the content item by the adjustment factor; and output the adjusted content item to the screen. In this way, the control system can provide the suitably adjusted content item to the screen for display. Optionally, the input display signal may be indicative of a plurality of content items, and the control system may be configured to apply the adjustment factor to a proper subset of the plurality of content items. In this way, only certain content items may be adjusted, while others will remain unchanged. In this way, the control system provides for continuity on the screen while providing for key content items to be visible. A proper subset is one that is not equal to the set itself. According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a display system of a vehicle comprising the control system described herein and a screen. In this way, the display system can display the content items for the user on the screen. In an embodiment, the screen has a width greater than 50 cm. In this way, the screen may be sufficiently sized to provide a wide range of functionality for the user, and may aid manufacturing of the vehicle by replacing a number of individual components with space on a single screen. The display system may be configured to provide a plurality of vehicle instrument output content items, relating to one or more different instruments, on the screen. Such a plurality of vehicle instrument output content items may be referred to as an instrument cluster. In this way, the instrument cluster display may be provided in the vehicle in a convenient and efficient manner, and provides useful information to the operator of the vehicle on manner of its operation. Optionally, the screen of the display system may comprise a touch-screen portion and the display system may be configured to implement on the screen as a vehicle function interface item at least one of a cabin control interface content item and an entertainment system interface content item. In this way, the screen can replace additional input components of the vehicle. The vehicle functions for which vehicle function interface items may be provided include, but are not limited to, the entertainment system, cabin climate control, mirror adjustment, steering wheel adjustment, and seat adjustment. According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle comprising the control system or the display system as described herein. Such a vehicle may display content items to a user in a clear manner with reduced obstruction by the steering wheel. The steering wheel may be positioned between the screen and a driver’s seat of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the vehicle further comprises a steering wheel and a steering wheel adjustment system. Optionally, the vehicle may comprise at least one of a driver-facing camera system and a seat-positioning system. According to a still further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for controlling a display system of a vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a position signal indicative of a position of a steering wheel of the vehicle; determining an adjustment factor in dependence on the position signal, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item; and in dependence on the adjustment factor, control the display system to adjust the appearance of the content item. According to a yet further aspect of the disclosure there are provided computer readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the methods disclosed herein. Within the scope of this application, it is expressly intended that the various aspects, embodiments, examples and alternatives set out in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and / or in the following description and drawings, and in particular the individual features thereof, may be taken independently or in any combination. That is, all embodiments and / or features of any embodiment can be combined in anyway and / or combination, unless such features are incompatible. The applicant reserves the right to change any originally filed claim or file any new claim accordingly, including the right to amend any originally filed claim to depend from and / or incorporate any feature of any other claim although not originally claimed in that manner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 shows a block diagram representing a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 shows a flow chart showing a method for controlling a display system according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 4 shows a block diagram representing a control system according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 5 shows a flow chart showing a further method for controlling a display system according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 6 shows a representation of an example screen including a number of content items, according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 7 shows a representation of an updated example screen compared to the example of Figure 6, wherein the appearance of the content items displayed thereon have been adjusted, according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 8(a) shows a view of an example screen of a display system according to an embodiment of the present invention and a steering wheel; Fig. 8(b) shows a view of another example screen of a display system according to an embodiment of the present invention and a steering wheel; Fig. 8(c) shows a view of a further example screen of a display system according to an embodiment of the present invention and a steering wheel; Fig. 8(d) shows a combination of details from each of Fig. 8(a), Fig. 8(b), and Fig. 8(c); Fig. 9 shows a view of three example screens of a display system according to embodiments of the present invention and a steering wheel; and Fig. 10(a), (b), and (c) are perspective views of a part of the interior of a vehicle showing example screens of the display system according to an embodiment of the invention, where the steering wheel is in different positions. DETAILED DESCRIPTION A vehicle 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is described herein with reference to the accompanying Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The vehicle 100 includes a plurality of components and systems, which may in turn include one or more control systems. The vehicle 100 comprises a display system 102. The display system 102 comprises a control system 200 or may comprise a control system 400 as described herein in relation to Fig. 4, and also comprises a screen 104. The screen 104 is suitable for displaying content items. The vehicle 100 further comprises a steering wheel 106 and a driver’s seat 108 fora driver of the vehicle. The steering wheel 106 is positioned between the screen 104 and the driver’s seat 108. The steering wheel 106 may obscure portions of the screen 104 from the user’s view. The screen 104 may be referred to as a display, output display, driver’s display, front driver’s display, display of a Human Machine Interface (HMI) or user interface, and other similar terms. The screen 104 may comprise a touch-screen portion. In this way, the screen 104 may function as an HMI, user interface or the like by itself. The content items displayed on the screen 104 may include one or more vehicle instrument outputs, which provide an output of a vehicle parameter. The vehicle instrument outputs may include those such as speedometer, fuel gauge, battery level, engine temperature, battery temperature, and so on. A group of such instrument outputs may be referred to as an instrument cluster, instrument console, or the like. In this way, the screen 104 displaying such content items may function as an instrument display, virtual cockpit, indicator display, and so on. Other content items may include navigation display, route information, journey information, reversing camera output, a vehicle information display, Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) information, and so on. Where the screen 104 comprises a touch-screen portion, it may be used to implement a vehicle function interface content item. Vehicle function interface content items may be used by a user to control the various functions of the vehicle, and may include a cabin control interface content item and / or an entertainment system interface content item. The vehicle functions for which vehicle function interface items may be provided include but are not limited to the entertainment system, cabin climate control, mirror adjustment, steering wheel adjustment, and seat adjustment. The screen 104 may be of a number of suitable shapes, sizes or configurations; however in a particular example, the screen is a wide screen. In an example, the screen has a width greater than 50 cm. Some content items may be of greater importance to certain users, may be subject to regulations regarding their display, may have a greater or lesser importance at different stages of a journey or at different power stages of the vehicle, may be temporary content items, and so on. In this way, the position and size of content items on the screen 104 may vary over time. The display system 102 may have predefined settings to determine a suitable location and size for a particular content item during the various stages of the use of the vehicle. The steering wheel 106 may form part of a steering wheel assembly (not shown). The steering wheel assembly is configured such that such that position of the steering wheel 106 is adjustable. The steering wheel assembly may include a steering column which supports the steering wheel. The steering column may allow the height of the steering wheel to be adjusted, for example by pivoting or tilting. In this way, the steering wheel 106 may be positioned comfortably for a particular user. The steering wheel assembly is configured such that steering wheel 106 is movable in two dimensions, in that its height above the vehicle floor can be adjusted and its distance from the front of the cabin can be adjusted. The steering wheel assembly may have a steering position adjustment control system (not shown). The steering position adjustment control system (not shown) may be controlled by the user via a steering position adjustment content item on the screen. The steering position adjustment system may output a position signal to the control system 200, 400. The position signal may be indicative of the position of the steering wheel 106 ofthe vehicle. The driver’s seat 108 is movable within a defined space within the cabin of the vehicle 100. The driver’s seat 108 may be movable in two dimensions, in that its height above the vehicle floor can be adjusted and / or its distance from the front of the cabin can be adjusted. The driver’s seat 108 may form part of a seat position system (not shown), which may have a seat position control system (not shown). The seat position control system (not shown) may be controlled by the user via a seat position content item on the screen. The seat position system may output a seat position signal to the control system 200, 400. The seat position signal may be indicative of the position of the driver’s seat. In use, each driver of a vehicle may adjust various aspects of the vehicle when they enter the vehicle. For example, the user may adjust one or more of the position of the steering wheel, the position of their seat, the position of one or both wing mirrors, the position of the rearview mirror, or the like. The control system 200 is configured to obtain a view signal indicative of a view of the screen 104 of a user seated in the driver’s seat 108 of the vehicle 100. The control system 200 is configured to determine an adjustment factor in dependence on the view signal, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item. The control system 200 is configured to control the display system to adjust the appearance of the content item, in dependence on the adjustment factor. The view signal may be derived in dependence on data from one or more systems within the vehicle, such as but not limited to a steering position adjustment system, seat positioning system, driver facing camera system, and so on. With reference to Fig. 3, there is shown a flow chart of a method 300 of controlling the display system 102. The method 300 may be implemented by the control system 200 but is not limited thereto. The method 300 comprises, at block 302, obtaining a signal indicative of a view of the screen of a user seated in a driver’s seat of the vehicle. At block 304, the method 300 comprising determining an adjustment factor in dependence on the position signal, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item. The method comprises, at block 306, controlling the display system to adjust the appearance of the content item, in dependence on the adjustment factor. With reference to Fig. 4, there is illustrated a control system 400 for the display system 102 of the vehicle 100. The control system 400 comprises one or more processors, shown for convenience as a single processor 402, which are collectively configured to carry out the operations of the control system 400. The control system 400 is configured to receive a position signal 404 indicative of a position of the steering wheel of the vehicle 100. The control system 402 is configured to determine an adjustment factor in dependence on the position signal 404, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item. The control system 400 is configured to, in dependence on the adjustment factor, control the display system 102 to adjust the appearance of the content item. The control system 400 as illustrated in Fig. 4 comprises one processor 402, although it will be appreciated that this is merely illustrative. The processor 402 comprises processing means 408 and memory means410. The processing means may be one or more electronic processing device (not shown) which operably executes computer-readable instructions. The memory means may be one or more memory device. The memory means is electrically coupled to the processing means. The memory means is configured to store instructions, and the processing means is configured to access the memory means and execute the instructions stored thereon. The processor 402 comprises an input means 412 and an output means 414. The input means may comprise an electrical input of the controller. The output means may comprise an electrical output of the controller. The input is arranged to receive the position signal 404. The position signal 404 is an electrical signal. The output may be arranged to output an adjustment control signal 406 for controlling the appearance of the content item. The control system 400 may receive the position signal 404 from the steering position adjustment control system of the steering wheel assembly. From the position signal 404, the control system 400 is able to determine certain areas of the screen 104 that may be less visible to a user with the steering wheel in the position indicated by the position signal 404. As such, content items in those areas may be less visible to a user due to the position of the steering wheel 106. For example, a relatively high steering wheel position may obscure the bottom portion of the display screen and any content displayed there. The control system 400 is configured to determine the adjustment factor so that a content item is adjusted to improve its visibility to the user (e.g. an item displayed at the bottom of the display screen is moved higher on the display screen 104). The adjustment factor may comprise at least one of a scaling factor for changing the size of the content item, and a translation factor for moving the content item. In this way, a content item may be made bigger or smaller so that it is less obscured by the steering wheel 106, and / or its position on the screen 104 may be changed so that it is no longer located in the obscured portion of the screen 104. Content items may be assigned priorities such that the control system may control the display system to reduce the size and / or prominence of a content item with a lower priority to allow a content item with a higher priority to remain visible. The control system 200, 400 may use additional data in determining the adjustment factor. For example, the control system 200, 400 may consider information on the position of the driver’s seat, information on the position of the driver’s head, and other such information. The additional information may be received by the control system 200, 400 in the position signal 404. In this way, the position signal may 404 comprise a seat signal indicative of a position of a driver’s seat of the vehicle, and / or the position signal 404 may comprise a driver facing camera signal indicative of a position of a user’s head, where the user is seated in a driver’s seat of the vehicle. The control system 200, 400 may be configured to receive the seat signal from a seat position system of the vehicle. The control system 100, 4000 may be configured to receive the driver facing camera signal from a driver facing camera system of the vehicle. The driver facing camera signal may comprise an image of the driver’s face. Additionally or alternatively, the control system 200, 400 may receive more than one signal comprising the additional data for determining the adjustment factor. In this way, the control system 200, 400 may receive at least one of the position signal 404, a seat position signal, driver-facing camera signal, and other signals from systems within the vehicle 100. The adjustment factor is suitable for use in adjusting the appearance of one or more content items on the screen 104. The adjustment factor may be related to a user’s eyeline to the screen while seated in the driving seat 108. The control system 200, 400 may be configured to determine a portion of the screen 104 that lies in a projected visual field of the user, in particular the central visual field. Such a portion may be referred to as the viewable portion of the screen. The adjustment factor may be determined in dependence on the viewable portion of the screen 104. The control system 200, 400 may be configured to receive an input display signal 416 indicative of the content item to be displayed on the screen of the display system. The input display signal 416 may also be indicative of the location on the screen where the content item is to be displayed. The control system 200, 400 may be configured to adjust the appearance of the content item by the adjustment factor. The control system 200, 400 may be configured to output the adjusted content to the screen. The input display signal 416 may be indicative of a plurality of content items, and the control system 200, 400 is configured to apply the adjustment factor to a proper subset of the plurality of content items, where a proper subset is one that is not equal to the set itself. In this way, the control system 200,400 may be configured to apply the adjustment factor to certain of the content items intended for display on the screen 104, but not all of those content items. Fig. 5 illustrates a method 500 according to an embodiment of the invention. The method 500 is a method of controlling a display system of a vehicle 100, such as the vehicle 100 illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The method 500 may be performed by the system 200 illustrated in Fig. 2 or the control system 400 illustrated in Fig. 4, but is not limited thereto. In particular, a memory may comprise computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, perform the method 500. The method 500 comprises, at block 502, receiving a position signal 404 indicative of a position of a steering wheel 106 of the vehicle 100. At block 504, the method 500 comprises determining an adjustment factor in dependence on the position signal 404, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item. The method 500 comprises, at block 506, in dependence on the adjustment factor, controlling the display system 102 to adjust the appearance of the content item. The method 500 may further comprise determining a portion of the screen that lies in a projected visual field of the user. The method 500 may further comprise determining a portion of the screen that lies in a projected central visual field of the user, adjusting the appearance of the content item by the adjustment factor, and outputting the adjusted content item to the screen. Fig. 6 is a representation of an example screen output of the display system 102 according to an embodiment of the invention. The screen 104 comprises a plurality of portions including a primary portion 602 and a secondary portion 604. The secondary portion 604 in this example occupies a strip at the base of the screen 104 and the primary portion 602 occupies a part of the screen 104 above the secondary portion 604. The secondary portion 604 may extend the full width of the screen 104, or may extend only a part of the screen 104. The screen 104 comprises a plurality of content items 610a, 610b including a vehicle speed indicator 610a and gear indicator 610b. The vehicle speed indicator 610a is showing 48 kph and the gear indicator 610b is showing a “D” to indicate that the vehicle is in Drive. The vehicle speed indicator 610a is located in the primary portion 602 and substantially centrally aligned. The gear indicator 610b is located in the secondary portion 604 to the right-hand side of the of the screen 104. Fig. 7 is a representation of an example screen output of the display system 102 according to an embodiment of the invention. The screen 104 shown in Fig. 7 corresponds to that shown in Fig. 6 wherein the appearance of the screen has been updated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The position of the content items 610a, 610b of Fig. 7 have been adjusted by the control system 200, 400 in accordance with the determined adjustment factor. In Fig. 7, the screen 104 comprises an unused portion 606, as a strip across the base of the screen 104 in this example. The secondary portion 604 is located above the unused portion 606. In this way, the adjustment factor for content items of the secondary portion 604 has applied a translational movement thereto, towards the top of the screen 104. The content items 610a, 610b of the secondary portion 604, including the gear indicator 610b, have moved upwards by the height of the unused portion 606. In this way, the primary portion 602 has been reduced in size. It will be understood that content items 610a, 610b that may have been located within the primary portion may have been moved and / or reduced in sized. In some cases, a content item may be hidden. Referring now to Figs 8(a), 8(b), 8(c) and 8(d), there are shown example views of the screen 104, including a content item 610a, from the perspective of a user seated in the driver’s seat. As such, Figs. 8(a), 8(b, 8(c) and 8(d) include the steering wheel 106. The steering wheel 106 divides the screen 104 into an inner section 802 surrounded by the steering wheel 104 and an outer section 804 outside the steering wheel 104. The screen 104 comprises a content item 610a, in this case the vehicle speed indicator 610a. The vehicle speed indicator 610a is showing 20 mph. The vehicle speed indicator 610a is located in the inner section 802, substantially centrally aligned with the steering wheel 106. Fig. 8(d) shows a detail of each of the views from Figs 8(a), 8(b) and 8(c) placed side by side. In Fig. 8(a), the steering wheel 106 is positioned in a low position. In Fig. 8(b), the steering wheel 106 is positioned in a higher position than shown in Fig. 8(a) from the point of the view of the user, referred to as a medium position. In Fig. 8(c), the steering wheel 106 is positioned in a higher position than shown in Fig. 8(b), referred to as a high position. In the low position, the top of the steering wheel 106 is in line with the top of the screen 104, such that the full width of the upper section of the ring of the steering wheel 106 overlaps the screen. The central portion ofthe steering wheel 106 is below the screen 104 in the low and medium positions and only slightly overlapping the bottom ofthe screen 104 in the high position. In this way, the inner section 802 in the low position is smaller (i.e. more ofthe screen 104 is obscured by the steering wheel 106) than in the medium position or high position. In the medium position, the top ofthe steering wheel 106 is above the top ofthe screen 104, such that the upper section ofthe ring of steering wheel partially overlaps the screen 104. In this way, the inner section 802 in the medium position is larger than in the low position and smaller than in the high position. In the high position, the top ofthe steering wheel 106 is above the top ofthe screen 104, such that the full width ofthe upper section ofthe ring of steering wheel is above the top ofthe screen 104. In this way, the inner section 802 in the high position is larger than in the low position or medium position. As a result ofthe different sizes ofthe inner section, the space available forthe display ofthe content items such that they are visible to a driver is also different. This difference is represented in the adjustment factor. Thus, according to examples ofthe disclosure, the control system 200, 400 is configured to control the display system 102 to adjust the appearance of content items, in this example the vehicle speed indicator 610a, in dependence on the adjustment factor. In the low position, with a small inner section 802, the size of the vehicle speed indicator 610a is correspondingly small. In the medium position, with a larger inner section, the size of the vehicle speed indicator 610a is larger than used in the low position. In the high position, with the largest inner section of this example, the size of the vehicle speed indicator 610a is larger than in both the low position and the medium position. Fig. 9 shows three side-by-side views of further examples of a screen output on the screen 104. The three views correspond, as in Figs. 8(a), 8(b), and 8(c), to low, medium and high steering wheel positions. The screens of Fig. 9 show content items corresponding to ADAS content items 610c. In the present example, the ADAM content item 610c shows a representation of the roadway ahead of the vehicle and identification of notable objects such as a vehicle ahead of the vehicle 100. As in Figs. 8(a), 8(b), and 8(c), the content item 610c increases in size as the steering wheel position moves from low to high (left to right in in Fig. 9) and more visible screen real estate is available on which to display the ADAS content items 610c. Fig. 10 provides further examples of changes in the screen output of the display system 102 relating to the available of visible screen real estate due to the steering wheel position, according to an embodiment of the invention. Each of Figs. 10(a), 10(b), and 10(c) show the angle of view of a user whose eye is located at an eye point 902. The eye point 902 is in the same position in all of Figs. 10(a), 10(b), and 10(c). The screen 104 in these figures is displaying a map content item 61 Od. In Fig. 10(a), the steering wheel 104 is shown in a position where the inner section 802 includes substantially the full height of the primary portion of the display screen 104. In Fig. 10(b), the steering wheel 104 has been moved upward by an upward tilt of 5 degrees such that the effective height of the inner section has been reduced. Thus, the appearance of the content on the screen 104 has been updated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention to account for the change in visible screen space. The screen 104 shown in Fig. 10(b) has an unused portion across the base thereof, with the primary portion and secondary portions having been moved up by 10mm, to move the displayed content to be in a visible portion of the screen 104. The position of the content item 61 Od has been adjusted by the control system 200, 400 in accordance with the determined adjustment factor. In this way, the adjustment factor for content items of the secondary portion has applied a translational movement thereto, towards the top of the screen 104. In Fig. 10(c), the steering wheel 106 has been moved by a 10 degree upward tilt of the steering column upwards by 10 degrees away from the position shown in Fig. 10(a). This movement has further reduced the visible space on the screen 104, and as a result, the image on the screen 104 has been moved upwards by 20mm to remain visible following the change in steering wheel position. It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A control system for controlling a display system of a vehicle, the display system comprising a screen to display a content item, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to: receive a position signal indicative of a position of a steering wheel of the vehicle;determine an adjustment factor in dependence on the position signal, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item;in dependence on the adjustment factor, control the display system to adjust the appearance of the content item.

2. A control system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the position signal comprises a seat signal indicative of a position of a driver’s seat of the vehicle.

3. A control system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the position signal comprises a driver facing camera signal indicative of a position of a user’s head, where the user is seated in a driver’s seat of the vehicle.

4. A control system as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 further configured to determine a portion of the screen that lies in a projected visual field of the user.

5. A control system as claimed in any preceding claim configured to: receive an input display signal indicative of the content item to be displayed on the screen of the display system;adjust the appearance of the content item by the adjustment factor; and output the adjusted content item to the screen.

6. A control system as claimed in claim 5 wherein the input display signal is indicative of a plurality of content items, and the control system is configured to apply the adjustment factor to a proper subset of the plurality of content items.

7. A display system of a vehicle comprising the control system of any preceding claim and a screen.

8. A display system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the screen has a width greater than 50 cm.

9. A display system as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 configured to provide a vehicle instrument outputcontent item on the screen, the vehicle instrument output content item providing an output of a vehicle parameter.

10. A display system as claimed in any of claims 7 to 9 inclusive configured to implement on the screen at least one of a navigation display content item, and an Advanced Driver-Assistanee System content item.

11. A display system as claimed in any of claims 7 to 10 inclusive wherein the screen comprises a touchscreen portion and the display system is configured to implement on the screen as a vehicle function interface item, at least one of a cabin control interface content item and an entertainment system interface content item.

12. A vehicle comprising the control system of any of claims 1 to 6 or the display system of any of claims 7 to 11.

13. A vehicle as claimed in claim 12 comprising a steering wheel and a steering wheel adjustment system.

14. A vehicle as claimed in claim 12 wherein the steering wheel is between the screen and a driver’s seat of the vehicle.

15. A method for controlling a display system of a vehicle, the method comprising:Receiving a position signal indicative of a position of a steering wheel of the vehicle;determining an adjustment factor in dependence on the position signal, wherein the adjustment factor is suitable for adjusting the appearance of the content item; andin dependence on the adjustment factor, control the display system to adjust the appearance of the content item.

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