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Since the arrival in 2003 of "Bending Light", the first modern adaptive front lighting feature, big changes have taken place in the field of lighting functions. We've seen the integration of new electronic technology and technique: miniaturized sensors, activators, and command/control units. Full AFS arrived in 2007, camera-based automatic high/low beam selectors and adaptive cutoff in 2009.

Glare-Free High Beam is arriving fast and we anticipate still more new lighting functions in the coming years.

At the May 2010 DVN workshop in Paris, many experts urged that we use simple names for new lighting technologies to avoid confusing car buyers whose purchasing choices will make or break these new technologies commercially. The names we select should associate each high tech lighting offer with its specific benefit for the driver in terms of safety, comfort, and/or style.

Following this line, DVN decided to list all the new lighting functions and recommend simple, consistent nomenclature for use across the whole industry in research, development, and marketing. The overall goal is to facilitate and clarify communication about the benefits of new lighting technology so car buyers will know they're worth specifying.

This present report discerns two main categories of lighting:

1. Conventional light system with low beam and high beam manually operated by the driver so as to illuminate the roadway as much as possible without blinding other motorists. A simple, obvious improvement for adverse weather conditions is the possibility to manually switch on fog lights when needed. Sometimes a driver-operated headlamp leveling device is included,
2. Adaptive light systems which automatically, dynamically adapts the vehicle's lighting in accord with prevailing weather, roadway geometry and conditions, traffic, vehicle speed—and, in the future, driver behavior (fatigue, alcohol, etc…)

After defining these two categories, the report presents in detail the adaptive lighting systems:

1. AFS with their 5 lights
2. High Beam Assistant
3. Adaptive Cutoff
4. Glare Free High Beam
5. Pixel Light
6. Spot Marking Light

For these adaptive functions, the author describes their respective benefits and presents the systems developed and produced by the main global lighting suppliers.
This report aims to clarify the classification of the different automotive lighting functions, and to present the current offerings of adaptive lighting systems from major global suppliers.