When car lights become movie players, this is probably the art of lighting!

Light contains the meanings of energy, speed, distance, etc. It is the speed limit in our cognition and the origin of life.

Light is also important for cars. Sufficient light gives us the confidence to step on the accelerator in the dark. It also penetrates the air barrier and allows other traffic participants to pay attention to us moving forward.

Audi, a company commonly known as the lighting factory, has brought us new possibilities between cars and light with its substantial technological accumulation.

DMD (digital micromirror device) technology originated from the video projector in the car. Its core is a small chip that integrates 1.3 million micromirrors. Each micromirror has a side length of only a few thousandths of a millimeter and can tilt 5,000 times per second. Depending on the position, the light emitted by the high-performance LED is concentrated to the DMD chip through a specially calculated lens or an irregularly structured reflector cup. From there, the light reaches the road through a lens or an absorber that can block the light beam.

Digital matrix LED headlights based on DMD (digital micromirror device) technology were first mass-produced in Audi's first pure electric model, the Audi e-tron. This is a lamp factory's imagination of the future. If you use your imagination, the headlights of future Audi brand models may be able to project a popular movie. Will the glorious era of car cinemas be here? ! At present, DMD will have three specific innovations.

1. The headlights can dynamically illuminate the road in the lane brightly enough according to the real-time traffic conditions. Under this premise, such brightness will not affect other traffic participants.

Positioning lights help vehicles keep their lane, especially on narrow roads, by marking the vehicle's position as a stripe boundary in its own lane.

Indicator lamp for use with the optional Night Vision Assist feature, which detects pedestrians approaching the roadway and alerts the driver with a precision cone of light.

Of course, while the headlights are working hard for the "cinema" cause, the taillights are not far behind. In order to allow the following vehicles to have a safer following distance, LED technology provided the taillights of the Audi A6 with a new visual uniformity as early as 2011, improving the efficiency of lighting technology, which also benefits other road users: the instant response of LED brake lights enables them to be 0.2 seconds faster than incandescent lamps, so that the drivers of the following vehicles can react faster. As a result, at a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), the distance that the following vehicle can brake is extended by nearly 6 meters (20 feet).

In 2020, Audi became the first car manufacturer to digitize its taillights as displays. The use of 18 digital OLED segments makes it possible for the first time to diversify the taillights of a car. For example, when the Audi Q5 is stationary and another road user approaches from behind at a distance of less than 2 meters (6.5 feet), all OLED segments are activated. The result is a larger visible area and enhanced perceptibility.

Before autonomous driving comes, lights will be one of the most effective ways of communication between traffic participants. Audi has always been committed to bringing users cutting-edge and unique experiences in terms of technology, safety, and the user's "sense of participation" in lights. The road of the "light factory" is still continuing.