A pretty simple concept applies to driving at night: the better you can see, the safer you will be. To serve that premise, premium carmaker Audi has focused on developing lighting technologies that help make the road ahead as visible and clear to the eyes as possible.
These advancements in illumination include three primary lighting tech features: organic light-emitting diode (OLED), laser light, and matrix LED headlights. Each one enhances safety and confidence in the nighttime driving experience in its own way.
The first of Audi’s three lighting advancements applies to the rear lights. Known as OLED technology, this feature comprises microscopically thin layers (1/200th of the thickness of a human hair) of organic semiconductor material within the device, illuminating when electrified with a very low DC voltage.
OLEDs are different from LEDs in that they are surface light sources. This means the light is more uniform with less fluctuations and harshness, thus reducing severe nighttime shadows. OLEDs also do not require additional hardware like reflectors or optical parts, making this technology an efficient and lightweight solution for external vehicle lighting.
Another of the automaker’s advancements in illumination is Audi laser light, which uniquely houses a blue marker in the reflector. The laser light is all about light amplification. This technology brightens the headlight beam and doubles its normal range, making it possible for you to see twice as far and wide in extremely low-light situations. It houses a small laser module that generates a light cone that extends several hundred meters as a spotlight.
With a wavelength of 450 nanometers, the high-tech laser produces an eye-appropriate white light with a color temperature of 5,500 Kelvin. This temperature condition helps the eyes from getting tired. The laser light activates at 43 mph as Audi designed it for higher-speed driving, in which seeing further ahead can help avoid fast-approaching obstacles or debris on highways, byways, and open roads.
Finally, matrix LED headlights are at the top of the Audi lighting technology food chain, providing illumination that’s both intuitive and proactive. The goal is to light the way for the driver without blinding oncoming traffic.
Using high beams of tiny light-emitting diodes bundled in common reflectors, this system activates outside congested city settings at speeds higher than 18 mph. The system utilizes a windshield camera to detect approaching traffic and control individual LEDs, automatically switching them on and off in real-time or dimming them in up to 64 stages.
The result of these continuous adjustments is an array of light patterns with millions of variations to accommodate almost any nighttime traffic situation. The matrix LED headlights intelligently “sculpt” the high beams to illuminate the spaces between vehicles while masking out light that would impair other drivers.
Digital matrix LED headlights take matrix LED headlights to the next level. This enhanced matrix laser system is even more flexible and versatile thanks to its digital micromirror technology, which is the same as that used in HD video projectors.
This digital approach to matrix headlights uses a chip with one million micromirrors, each of which can change angles up to five thousand times per second. That means the system could have as many as five billion movements in the blink of an eye. Just a few hundredths of a millimeter in length, these micromirrors direct LED light onto the road and between other vehicles with outstanding precision.
In addition, the digital matrix LED system delivers exceptional functionality with cornering, city, and highway lighting for its low-beam light applications. It also offers lane and orientation light features for enhanced monitoring and safety.
Lane light illuminates the driver’s lane and dynamically adjusts when a vehicle changes lanes. At the same time, the orientation light focuses on non-illuminated spaces on the road to help establish the vehicle’s position within its lane. Through this functionality, the orientation light supports Audi’s safe lane-centering assistance system, one of the many features in the carmaker’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) suite.
When it comes to illuminating the road, Audi’s lighting technologies offer significant visibility and safety advances that combat low-light situations and help make nighttime driving safer than ever.
To learn more about various automotive technologies, visit the Shopping Guides section of the website.
Jessica Shea Choksey is an experienced writer in the automotive field. In addition to JDPower.com, she was a correspondent for PBS's MotorWeek, and her work has appeared on Autotrader.
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