Use case
At the car meet
What the panel does across a weekend of meets and shows, from setup to walking away.
Showcase mode
Showcase mode: your handle, build and QR on the glass.
Showcase is the on-the-glass mode. Up to three slots cycle on their own — your handle, your build line, a code people can scan — set once from your phone and then left alone. No phone to babysit, and once it is set up it keeps running with no signal at all.
Three slots, 3–60 s eachRuns with no signal once set up2.79″ IPS, 142 × 428Under $99
The three slots
Three slots, cycling on their own.
Showcase gives you three slots. Each one is either a message — your own text, up to 96 characters — or an animation. Every slot has its own on/off switch, so you can run one, two or all three without deleting anything you might want back next weekend.
Slots change on a timer you set anywhere between 3 and 60 seconds, eight by default, and dissolve into each other rather than cutting. Orientation is chosen once for all three: Horizontal reads upright with wrapped text, Rotated turns the line sideways down the length of the panel (the default, and the one that suits a long build line), and Stacked puts one letter per line.
On message slots the panel keeps a thin Apex Panel strip across the top, in your accent colour while it is online and dimmed when it is not. Animation slots skip it and fill the screen edge to edge.
- Slots
- Three, each one enabled or disabled on its own
- Text per slot
- Up to 96 characters
- Rotation
- 3–60 seconds per slot, 8 by default
- Orientation
- Horizontal, Rotated or Stacked, set once for all three
Type and colour
Seven typefaces, nine ways to move.
Every message slot picks from seven typefaces built into the panel: Classic, Bold, Cursive, Italic, Thick, Thin and Wide. All but Classic are anti-aliased, so curves stay smooth on a screen that is 142 pixels across. Text size is automatic by default, with fixed small, medium and large stops if you would rather lock it.
Nine text animations decide how the line behaves: Static, Fade In, Scroll, Blink, Pulse, Typewriter, Rainbow, Wipe In and Shake. Scroll speed runs from 30 to 400 pixels a second, 120 by default, and any single slot can override that global speed when one line needs to move differently from the rest.
Then the frame: seven borders — None, Solid, Corner Brackets, Dashed, Double Frame, Rounded and Ornate — one to three pixels thick. Text, icon and border colours are set per slot, and the background colour is shared across all three. It starts black, which is what makes the panel read as part of the glass rather than a lit box stuck to it.
- Eleven icon options including none: Instagram, Website / Link, TikTok, QR Code, YouTube, X / Twitter, Facebook, Email, Location Pin and WhatsApp
- Each icon takes a size, an X/Y position, a rotation of 0, 90, 180 or 270 degrees, an outline one to five pixels thick, and a layer behind or in front of the text
- Live variables — {time}, {date}, {temp}, {weather} and {city} — are filled in on the panel, and stay as current as its last connection
- Panel text is plain ASCII, so there is no emoji and no degree symbol
The QR slot
One link, scanned off the glass.
Switch a slot from ticker to QR and it gains a separate link field of up to 96 characters. The slot's own text becomes the caption underneath, so the code can say what it is — Build log, Book a detail, Follow the build — without spending any of the link on explaining itself.
The code is drawn as wide as the panel allows, about 134 pixels, which works out at roughly 21 millimetres across including its quiet zone. That is a walk-up-and-scan code: someone standing at your glass, not someone reading it from across the car park. Keep the URL short and it stays coarse and forgiving; a long one packs more modules into the same 21 millimetres and gets fussier about angle, glare and tint.
Foreground and background colours are yours, but both have to clear a contrast check; if they do not, the panel falls back to black on white rather than drawing something no camera can resolve. There is no logo or badge beside the code — what the panel draws is the code and your caption.
- Link field
- Separate from the slot text, up to 96 characters
- Code size
- About 134 px wide, roughly 21 mm on the glass
- Best practice
- Short URLs scan most reliably
- Colours
- Yours, with a contrast fallback to black on white
Animation slots
Or skip the text entirely.
Any slot can run an animation instead of a message. Four presets ship on the panel: Eyes, Wanted, Equalizer and Custom GIF. Eyes comes in Calm, Alert and Sleepy styles with an eye size from 50 to 150 per cent. Wanted draws Filled, Outline or Glow with a wanted level of one to five stars. Equalizer runs as Bars, Wave or Pulse with four to twelve bars, seven by default.
Each preset takes a speed and an intensity from 0 to 100, plus primary, secondary and background colours, and fills the panel with no wordmark strip in the way.
Custom GIF plays a loop from the Apex background library — a catalogue we curate and crop to the panel, not a folder you upload to, and some loops are marked Premium. Once a GIF has come down over Wi-Fi it is cached on the panel's flash, so it keeps playing when the signal does not.
Off the network
Set it up once, and it keeps running.
Everything Showcase needs lives on the panel. It reads its slots from its own storage at boot, before it looks for a network at all, so a panel that wakes up in a dead-zone car park goes straight to showing your content.
Changing it on site works the same way once the panel has been paired: the Apex app talks to it directly over Bluetooth, so you can swap a QR link between runs with no reception anywhere nearby. The web panel runs the same editor in a browser, but it saves through our servers, so that route needs both ends online.
Two honest caveats. First-time pairing needs Wi-Fi and an Apex account — Bluetooth is only how the panel is handed its network details. And the live {time}, {temp} and {weather} variables are only as current as the panel's last connection.
- Brightness runs 5 to 100; at 100 the backlight is true DC, with no PWM flicker
- Clear in normal daylight and at night — it is a backlit IPS panel, not a sunlight-readable LED sign
- Internal battery for the meet, or USB-C when a port is in reach; the 6+ hour figure is an estimate for the planned enclosure
- Clips into a mounting case that sticks inside your glass with reusable adhesive — no drilling, no wiring
- Made for parked and show use, and window rules vary by state and country, so check yours
Showcase at a glance
The numbers behind the mode.
Everything below is what the shipped firmware does today, not a roadmap.
The live {time}, {date} and {temp} variables and a GIF's first download need a connection. Everything else runs from the panel.
Showcase mode
Slots3, each a Message or an Animation
Text per slotUp to 96 characters
Rotation3–60 s per slot, 8 by default
Typefaces7 — Classic, Bold, Cursive, Italic, Thick, Thin, Wide
Text animations9 — Static, Fade In, Scroll, Blink, Pulse, Typewriter, Rainbow, Wipe In, Shake
Borders7 — None, Solid, Corner Brackets, Dashed, Double Frame, Rounded, Ornate
Icons11 options including none, freely positioned
QR linkIts own field, up to 96 characters, drawn about 21 mm wide
Animation presetsEyes, Wanted, Equalizer, Custom GIF
Screen2.79″ IPS, 142 × 428
OfflineRuns from panel storage once set up
Questions
Questions about the glass.
Does a car window display need Wi-Fi?
Showcase mode does not, once it has been set up. Your slots are stored on the panel and read at boot, before it looks for a network. Wi-Fi is needed to pair the panel the first time, to download a GIF the first time, and to keep the live time and temperature variables current.
Can people scan a QR code through a car window?
Usually, standing at the glass. The code is about 21 millimetres across, so it is a walk-up scan rather than one from a distance. Heavy tint, direct glare and a steep angle all make it harder, so keep the link short and the code stays as coarse and forgiving as the panel can draw it.
Is it legal to put a display in your car window?
Apex Mini is made for parked and show use, and it is not for use while driving. What you may leave in a windscreen or a side window varies by state and by country, so check your local rules before you mount it.
Can it show a GIF or an animation?
Yes. A slot can run one of three built-in presets — Eyes, Wanted or Equalizer — or a Custom GIF from the Apex background library, a catalogue we curate and crop to the panel. You cannot upload your own file, and some library loops are marked Premium.
What is the difference between an LED matrix sign and an IPS panel?
An LED matrix is brighter and much coarser: a grid of dots that suits a few big words. Apex Mini is a 142 × 428 IPS screen, so it renders real typefaces, borders and a QR code that scans. It is clear in normal daylight and at night, but it is not a sunlight-readable LED sign.
Can I change what it shows at the meet with no signal?
Yes, once the panel has been paired. The Apex app connects to it over Bluetooth and publishes straight to the panel, so you can swap a slot standing next to the car with no reception. The web panel saves through our servers, so that route needs both ends online.
How long does the battery last?
The internal battery is estimated at 6+ hours of continuous cycling, and you can run the panel from USB-C instead when a port is within reach. That figure is for the planned enclosure rather than a measurement off a production unit.
Early access
First batch, first served.
We're building the first run now. Get on the list for first access when it ships — plus the early pricing that comes with it.