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The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

arstechnica.com

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Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#11

Post by saltcured »

soared wrote: post #9
Spivak wrote: post #5

If you haven't yet seen the more advanced version of this where the cameras detect rain/snow and don't illuminate it's some god damn magic that makes "barely able to see in a snowstorm" to "there's a snowstorm?"

Is this something different than switching off high beams and switching on fog or regular lights?

It's pixelated, so rapidly modulating which small angular sections of the illumination pattern are on or off. Imagine shining a bright light around the snowflakes but not on the snowflake, so there isn't much back-scatter.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#12

Post by PeterisP »

soared wrote: post #9
Spivak wrote: post #5

If you haven't yet seen the more advanced version of this where the cameras detect rain/snow and don't illuminate it's some god damn magic that makes "barely able to see in a snowstorm" to "there's a snowstorm?"

Is this something different than switching off high beams and switching on fog or regular lights?

Yes, it's tech that turns off individual pixels of the light beam that would illuminate the occluding snowflakes and raindrops while keeping most of the high beam turned on.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#13

Post by throwaway019254 »

Can anybody tell me why all my US cars have enormous side-mirror blind spot? And my European cars have none? Are European cars using curved mirrors to prevent this?

Edit: I just googled it. That’s exactly what’s happening - EU side mirrors are curved to prevent blind spots.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#14

Post by pxtail »

deburo wrote: post #7

Available in Europe since 2006? Why did it take so long for the US? LED lightbeams are so bright that high beams is almost unbearable for opposing cars.

This feature is available indeed but I don't feel like it's significant improvement - sensors are too slow to react, too imprecise and moreover drivers seem to rely on them too much, are lazy and don't care about others - for example high beams should be disabled before other car ahead is already visible on winding road , same goes for hills and multitude of other various scenarios where automatic sensors and software just doesn't work. Tbh it seems that this is another "arms race" just like with car size/SUVs dominance and this arms race can make driving at night really painful experience

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#16

Post by deburo »

pxtail wrote: post #14
deburo wrote: post #7

Available in Europe since 2006? Why did it take so long for the US? LED lightbeams are so bright that high beams is almost unbearable for opposing cars.

This feature is available indeed but I don't feel like it's significant improvement - sensors are too slow to react, too imprecise and moreover drivers seem to rely on them too much, are lazy and don't care about others - for example high beams should be disabled before other car ahead is already visible on winding road , same goes for hills and multitude of other various scenarios where automatic sensors and softwar…

Oh. That's depressing. Maybe AI-augmented cars will perform better in that regard.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#17

Post by albert180 »

vanilla_nut wrote: post #6

Does anybody know if these lights detect and "un-bright" for pedestrians and bicyclists? I know many cars automatically turn the brights off at low speeds where you're more likely to see peds and bikes... but as someone who frequently walks and cycles on or along 40+ MPH roads, I worry what will happen to me when these vehicles start to show up.

Yes, Matrix-LED carves out a little hole in the high beam for you so you won't get blinded but the rest is still bright. See this 8 year old video for explanation https://youtu.be/F4-iwuzAey4

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#18

Post by dzhiurgis »

pxtail wrote: post #14
deburo wrote: post #7

Available in Europe since 2006? Why did it take so long for the US? LED lightbeams are so bright that high beams is almost unbearable for opposing cars.

This feature is available indeed but I don't feel like it's significant improvement - sensors are too slow to react, too imprecise and moreover drivers seem to rely on them too much, are lazy and don't care about others - for example high beams should be disabled before other car ahead is already visible on winding road , same goes for hills and multitude of other various scenarios where automatic sensors and softwar…

Yes they can be faster, but personally I don’t find them too bad. Half kilometre away the opposing beams are noticeable but not blinding you, yet some drivers blink theirs mostly just to warn you. Matrix headlights is whole next level.

People similarly freak out when you back up too quickly into them, because you have a reversing camera on.

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#19

Post by dzhiurgis »

ianai wrote: post #3

I really hope this means the cameras/monitors instead of mirror wings get allowed asap.

Yes, but can we place monitors in the center instead. Putting it where mirrors are normally seems more distractive (disclaimer: I haven’t tried them)

Re: The US will finally allow adaptive beam headlights on new cars

#20

Post by dzhiurgis »

PeterisP wrote: post #12
soared wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this something different than switching off high beams and switching on fog or regular lights?

Yes, it's tech that turns off individual pixels of the light beam that would illuminate the occluding snowflakes and raindrops while keeping most of the high beam turned on.

How many pixels you’d need for that?
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