Style and Performance have always been two major drivers in the evolution of headlamp technology
We can say that we are entering into a new era in Lighting Systems with two technology breakthroughs: first with the introduction of Adaptive Driving Beam and second with the multiplication of LED Front Lighting design.
After Xenon in the early 90’s and AFS in the first decade of the 2000s, the introduction of Adaptive Driving Beam this year will clearly be a major step towards a full visibility “day time like” system allowing to drive all the time like in High Beam. We can affirm that performance will be at the highest level ever reached.
The first LED headlamps introduced on the Lexus LS 600, Audi R8 and Cadillac Escalade have been designed with a very conventional style to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology without fully exploiting its potential.
We are now entering a second step with LED Front Lighting, where the advantages are surfacing. Important Style evolution, like on the new Audi A8 with dotted aspect, or lower electrical consumption on Electrical or Hybrid cars, like on the Toyota Prius and some others which will appear this year.
But the best remains to come, with designs which will cumulate all the known benefits of LED Front Lighting:
Styling freedom without the constraints of designing a conventional Halogen or Xenon system; scalability of the design; differentiating versions without compromising the overall line of the vehicle; full flexibility in terms of performance and power consumption; adapting the lighting to all events happening to the car on the road ; lighter and less complex products with the LED’s increased efficiency allowing passive thermal dissipation without bulky heat sink.
The next 3-4 years will be another exciting challenge for the entire lighting community for the full benefit of the end users in term of safety and innovative designs.
Sincerely yours
Jean-Paul Charret,
R&D director –
Valeo Lighting Systems