These are the cutting edge headlights currently found in some BMWs and Audis. Interesting technology. Some info below.
Laser headlights are a new automotive lighting technology that use lasers to create a bright white high beam. They’re still emerging, and are currently available in some BMW and Audi models. Here’s a quick overview:
Brightness: Laser headlights can be up to 1,000 times brighter than LEDs, and illuminate up to 6 times more road.
Beam control: The precise white light can be shaped to reduce glare for other drivers.
Visibility: The increased visibility in low light can improve reaction times and braking distances.
Design: Laser headlights allow for more compact and sleek headlamp designs.
Technology: Three blue lasers are directed at mirrors that focus the light into a lens containing yellow phosphorus, which emits a white light.
Challenges: The technology must function in extreme temperatures and the high vibration environment of a car.
I’d like to know which LED they used in comparison and the test criteria. 1000 brighter than a cob LED? Sure. 1000x brighter than a high intensity LED? Seems unlikely. Brighter it is, but 1000 times seems a little high, unless they are talking of peak optical power on a pulsed application.
Meh. Everybody goes gaga about the “sharp cutoff” and “shaped beam” and all, but I prefer old-timey “leaky” headlights.
Ever go driving in one of those, with a beautifully lit-up roadway, but almost blow through a stopsign because it’s pretty much unlit? Wrong curve in the road, dip in the road right before, etc., and it’s too easy to miss it.
Or be coming to an intersection and see just a pair of pants crossing the road.
Tunnel vision with flashlights is annoying, but in headlights can potentially be dangerous. I’d have to seriously roadtest a set before committing to them.
I disassembled a Jeep renegade LED projector headlight (osram black flat LEDs, good stuff)and it had some bumps near the middle of the surface of an otherwise perfect aspheric lens, and looking at a distance, over the cutoff, i can see these dots projecting a diffused cone of light that is meant to illuminate these retro reflective road signs.
I haven’t driven the car these headlights go on so i can’t say how well this solution is working in a real world scenario, but i have seen these engineered imperfections applied on some other headlights too, so they are at least aware that a too perfect cutoff can result in those safety issues.
That’s great for retroreflective stuff, which doesn’t need much light to show, but still doesn’t light up much else. The “walking pants” issue remains.
I had a nice set of 90W/130W H4s which threw a nice blanket of light, yet had a fuzzy cutoff up top, and I never got flashed, but could still see actual people crossing streets, and overhead highway signs lit up fine.
This “contest” for the sharpest cutoffs can be(come) an issue.
Oh, and I positively hate when cars either in front or behind go up’n’down hills/valleys in the road and it looks like they’re flashing their brights at me.
That wasn’t a thing way back when, with fuzzier cutoffs, but it is now.
I think this is in my relatives new Toyota EV. It’s called adaptive headlights and it’s amazing to see in action. I’m not sure if it’s led or lep but it’s cool to see a small area around the oncoming car darken while you have the visibility of a good set of high beams. The beam is very blue like cold white, which I think looks cool. They are also very bright, maybe 8k lumens or so