[JS Kwt]

Laser headlights will begin appearing later this year as original equipment on some vehicles in Europe—including the BMW M Series and 5 Series.

Lasers to replace LEDs

Shuji Nakamura, Nobel Prize-winning illumination scientist has spent the past five years developing a laser-based lighting system. His company, SLD Laser, says the new design is 10 times brighter than today’s LED lights, capable of illuminating objects a kilometer away while using less power than any current technology. And unlike a regular, dumb headlight, the laser can potentially be integrated into current and forthcoming driver-assistance systems.

The company is also developing products for off-road vehicles, interior automotive lights and daytime running lights.

During a nighttime demonstration at the Apex OHV Recreational Area outside Las Vegas, we toyed with flashlights built with the new technology. The precise beam easily illuminated the craggy edges of distant mountains. A light bar mounted to an off-road truck brilliantly exposed the washboard ruts, sandy hills and gravel beds during a fiendish blast through the desert.

All of this luminosity leads to an obvious question: How are these devices, which have the approximate wattage of the klieg spotlights commonly found outside world premieres, supposed to be safely installed in the front of a car without inadvertently blinding oncoming traffic?

“Because of the point source nature of the beam, you can pinpoint the light,” said Nakamura. “You can even shape it dynamically on the fly, so the beam will go down, or to the right, away from the eyes of motorists.”

Nakamura remains certain that laser lights will eventually triumph, just as LEDs have. “Soon, laser will become the premium option,” said Nakamura. “And it will eventually find its way down into the mass market.”

Source

[Pancham]

Laser lights apparently provide double the visibility at night. The one in BMW 8 series comes as a1500 pounds option and has a range of 600 meters. Is the price really worth it, is the question.

[AlphaKilo]

Having experienced both the latest laser headlights and the LED highbeams of Mercedes, I for one can say right now both stand head-to-head. Future, is still open as both the LEDs and lasers are gaining technological advancements at a very quick pace.

Mercedes prefer the high power LEDs which can also light distances upto 600m and they say this is cheaper and much easier to handle. The LEDs have a brighter spread, illuminating a larger area at a distance along with uniform brightness.

BMW and Audi on the other hand are fixed on to lasers and swear by it. In previous generations, the lasers were used as an add on to the exisiting LED high beams. The main (dis)advantage being its pointing accuracy. It throws a focussed point of light rather than a wide spread beam pattern.

Financially, the laser system costs more and adds complexity. Further, in Europe there are not so many opportunities to drive on high beams for long, especially the 600m visible ones. In general, the question is when would we even use these extra long range high beams at all? Also, how would one dim the beams? The current visual object identification sensors can reach only 600 - 800 m, if there is a vehicle at 1 km and the laser has a range of 1 km, how will the autonomous high beam cut off will work? Need better sensors or driver intervention.

It would account for hardly 5 % of a total driving time if not even less. Whether it is a marketing gimmick to make more money or would lasers really be the future, only time can tell.

Good lights are a must but more than these extreme long range high beams, I prefer to put my money on assistance systems such as night vision systems or radar/lidar based collision avoidance and/or autonomous driving systems.

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

The main (dis)advantage being its pointing accuracy. It throws a focussed point of light rather than a wide spread beam pattern.

Exactly, what I was thinking. Vehicle headlights are required to illuminate wider areas in front, for safety reasons; too much focused beam might not work in various scenarios.
Again, what would be health impact of other living creatures / plants who would come in constant exposure of these lasers?

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Exactly, what I was thinking. Vehicle headlights are required to illuminate wider areas in front, for safety reasons; too much focused beam might not work in various scenarios.
Again, what would be health impact of other living creatures / plants who would come in constant exposure of these lasers?

The spectrum is visible light, so nothing to worry there. If the assembly cracks open in case of an accident , some kind of circuit will disable the lights.

Quote from HowStuffWorks.com

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/laser...headlight1.htm

What happens with each light is that three blue lasers positioned at the rear of the assembly fire onto a set of mirrors closer to the front. Those mirrors focus the laser energy into a lens filled with yellow phosphorus. The yellow phosphorus, when excited by the blue laser, emits an intense white light. That white light shines backward, onto a reflector. The reflector then bounces the more diffused white light forward, shining it out of the front of the headlight casing as a beam that is powerful, yet still able to be gazed upon.

While we are on it, I think there are regulations regarding how much light output is allowed regardless of the wattage consumed, it would be interesting to see if LASER headlights would actually be of any use once constrained by the regulations.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by JS Kwt

Laser headlights will begin appearing later this year as original equipment on some vehicles in Europe—including the BMW M Series and 5 Series.

The never ending quest for better lights has now entered into the Laser light stage. While I do a lot of night / evening driving, I would never think about Laser light as a necessity. Actually, I think these are just a waste of money.

I would still bet my money on bulbs, be it halogen or xenon as incase the bulb blows on a road trip, I can at least change it and be on my way. With LED and such overtly complicated lights, forget repairs / bulb swaps, you will need to simply throw out the old ones and get replacements which I think will cost a bomb.

Headlight failure can happen for either due to external damage or internal faults. There is no scope to reduce external damage (eg. someone hitting your car, minor shunt, etc.) but incase of an internal fault, you will be left stranded. And I'm sure the car won't let you drive with non-functional lights.

According to me, the best lights are the ones coming from round auxiliary lamps mounted on the front bumper or roof of the cars. They offer the best combination of cost and throw / distance. Next best are the 90/100 bulbs provided your car's stock reflector has a decent throw in the first place.