Audi’s Digital Matrix LED headlights use micro-LEDs to project guidance and warnings, but U.S. regulations limit their availability.
In modern automobiles, one feature hasn’t changed much over the years: headlights. Sure, they’ve gotten brighter and use new lighting technologies, but in many cars, they’re still just big, bright bulbs. Audi is completely taking things in a new direction with its digital lighting. Not only are the innovative new modules packed with 25,600 micro-LEDs that can all be controlled individually, they use new animations and added functionality to improve driver safety and assistance. The headlamps are bright enough to project two distinct lines on the road in front of you, to help you stay in your lane. When you merge onto the highway, the projected image changes to illuminate the lane dynamically.
Michael Kruppa, Audi’s Head of Front Lighting Development, says the company has developed a light source that almost functions like a video projector.
