Hella has developed a liquid crystal display (LCD) headlight in collaboration with partners.
It projects 30,000 pixels onto the road, adjusting the light pattern to various driving situations in real time, and adaptation of the light pattern will be determined by the vehicle’s software.
Individual light segments facing other vehicles or strongly-reflecting street signs can be blocked out or dimmed in a targeted manner, and complex functions are also conceivable. For example, navigation arrows or lines showing the ideal lane can be projected onto the road.
“LCD technology enables functions that will also be relevant to autonomous driving,” says Head of Lighting Technology Pre-Development Christian Schmidt.
The key component is the LCD system. It is situated between the LED light source and the projection lens. The display generates a matrix with 100×300 pixels, which can be individually controlled and dimmed.
A camera installed in the vehicle, as well as a sensor reading distances and speeds, will forward information to the headlight control unit via a processor that will direct individual pixels up to 60 times/second. LED intensity will be adjusted to suit the situation.
