The US is a bit of a backwater for automotive lighting technology.

TROY, Mich.—Despite US dominance in so many different areas of technology, we’re sadly somewhat of a backwater when it comes to car headlamps. It’s been this way for many decades, a result of restrictive federal vehicle regulations that get updated rarely. The latest lights to try to work their way through red tape and onto the road are active-matrix LED lamps, which can shape their beams to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.

From the 1960s, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards allowed for only sealed high- and low-beam headlamps, and as a result, automakers like Mercedes-Benz would sell cars with less capable lighting in North America than it offered to European customers.

A decade ago, this was still the case. In 2014, Audi tried unsuccessfully to bring its new laser high-beam technology to US roads. Developed in the racing crucible that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the laser lights illuminate much farther down the road than the high beams of the time, but in this case, the lighting tech had to satisfy both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, which has regulatory oversight for any laser products.

The good news is that by 2019, laser high beams were finally an available option on US roads, albeit once the power got turned down to reduce their range.

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  • xodoh74984@lemmy.worldEnglish
    612·
    3 months ago

    This problem desperately needs to be fixed, but the solution isn’t some expensive, over-engineered laser LED matrix. The solution is basic headlights that don’t blind people. You know, like every headlight that existed in the US until a few years ago.

    Surely it’s not an insurmountable task to use a cheap LED bulb with the optics to give the beam proper directivity—i.e. not direct the beam into the eyes off oncoming drivers. Maybe even make it replaceable with a screwdriver. Call me crazy.

    • nul@programming.devEnglish
      462·
      3 months ago

      I don’t think a screwdriver would illuminate much at all. You are a bit crazy.

    • mean_bean279@lemmy.worldEnglish
      101·
      3 months ago

      I drive a Ram 2500… so I have like the worst LED lights for other people. What I don’t get is why they don’t automatically dim as I slow down. It’s now like your headlights are needed to see as far down the road when I’m doing 0mph. Just keep them at the minimum and increase brightness as I drive, and if it detects another car in front of me just reduce light output while drive to -10% from normal.

  • ultranaut@lemmy.worldEnglish
    291·
    3 months ago

    I think part of the problem, at least for me, is the horrible color temp most headlights use now. They are like 6500k hard white light instead of something less harsh like around 3500k that is much easier on the eyes. I think the only criteria they care about when selecting LEDs is maximum brightness so this is what we get.

    • deranger@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6·
      3 months ago

      They also have worse color rendering index so it’s more difficult to distinguish objects despite more lumens.

  • Chee_Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
    19·
    3 months ago

    It’s great, I drive a low compact and because all the boomers around me drive a small tractor/SUV, whenever dusk starts I can look at all the pretty hard white suns behind me instead of traffic. If a big cargo truck can have good unobtrusive lighting, your fucking boomer mobile should also be able to have it, so it’s basically a choice made in the factory: yeah this will fucking blind everyone on the road, but think of how COOL it will look guys!!

  • ichbinjasokreativ@lemmy.worldEnglish
    152·
    3 months ago

    Friend of mine has a Merc that detects oncoming traffic and auto-adjusts the high beams to not illuminate other cars and it works really well. But there is always a short delay, so for half a second oncoming drivers get to enjoy the power of the sun.

    • futatorius@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      My dad’s '57 Cadillac Fleetwood had that too. Big-ass electric eye on the dashboard. So it’s not exactly bleeding-edge technology.

  • burgersc12English
    131·
    3 months ago

    But the headlights are soo bright, doesn’t matter if it avoids the cars ahead of you when its brighter than the sun and on the front of the largest pickup truck ever invented. Also I’ve never had much luck with auto high beams I doubt the matrix LED would be able to work well enough to actually avoid blinding people, making the current bad headlight situation even worse

  • biscuitswalrus@aussie.zoneEnglish
    51·
    3 months ago

    My brothers overpriced merc uses lighting zones and detection to turn off areas to not blind incoming traffic. Cool, but I’m sure within 5 years these extremely complex lighting arrays will fail and not be user serviceable, other than full headlight cluster replacement for $4k.

    More complexity, shorter life. You’ll get what you want but only because it suits the makers.