New Porsche LED headlights offer high-resolution light distribution 2x brighter than previous systems

MANILA: Porsche has created the light technology of the next generation with its innovative high-resolution HD matrix technology.

The breakthrough was developed together with partners. Its central component is a chip that assembles more than 16,000 individually programmable micro-LEDs into a surface area the size of a thumbnail. Four of these LED chips are being used per vehicle, two for each headlight. Therefore, compared to previous top-tier systems, the headlights with HD matrix technology deliver a high-resolution light distribution that is up to twice as bright across a surface that is four times larger.

The highly adaptable lighting, made possible by remarkably consistent illumination, benefits the driver. Additionally, there are cutting-edge functions including lane illumination, adaptive motorway high-beam lights, and narrow-lane light. The high-performance high beam transforms night into day up to 600 meters. For approaching vehicles, a new non-dazzling high beam function is used.

Another highly efficient feature is provided by the new HD matrix technology. The HD matrix headlights use significantly less energy than other high-resolution systems while producing the same amount of light because they only activate the pixels that are actually needed at any given time.

The new Porsche headlight features two of the new HD matrix modules as well as two bi-functional modules for courtesy lighting and the auxiliary high beam, in addition to four-point daytime running lights and static cornering lights. Porsche's signature four-point design is applied to these four main light sources. The previous Porsche top headlight, by contrast, has a central Matrix module with 84 pixels and four courtesy modules.

The signature Porsche four-point headlight graphics of the daytime running lights is visible at night when the new system is activated, with both low and high beams, making the new HD matrix technology unique in terms of design as well. With the same module technology but modified designs, the HD matrix headlights will be gradually offered across different model lines. During the development phase, Porsche applied for over 25 patents for the cutting-edge technology.

The new technology must integrate various, and sometimes conflicting, requirements into a single system. It is intended to divide all lighting functions across four units per headlamp for design reasons. However, the various light sources should still be combined to produce illumination that is both uniform and powerful. To determine which overall system design would best satisfy all needs, including those of customers, pre-design simulations were conducted. Porsche decided against going for the highest resolution that is technically possible and instead chose the cutting-edge and efficient HD matrix LED technology with 16,384 pixels per module.

The headlight's design is rationally formed. Four almost square-shaped light modules that each have a narrow daytime running light strip above the module outline Porsche's signature four-point design both during the day and at night. Three LEDs are used by each of the two identical upper bi-functional modules to power the auxiliary high beam and the courtesy lighting.

The two lower light units are the core of the new HD matrix technology. Each has an identical LED array with an integrated LED driver (ASIC) that produces an exceptional high-resolution luminous flux in an area that is only 12.8mm by 3.2mm. The system controller, which is comparable to a powerful graphics card, also regulates the brightness of each of the 16,384 individual light-emitting diodes in an LED array in 1,024 steps. The two HD modules are finished by different lenses, each with precisely ground optical glass.

The lenses create various angles of illumination. An angle of 40 degrees in width by 10 degrees in height is encompassed by the wide-angle lens of the outer HD matrix module's “illumination.” The light is radiated at a 20-degree by 50-degree angle by the inner “Performance” HD matrix module with telephoto lens. Thus, its illumination is only half as high and half as wide, but noticeably brighter. The two HD modules' combined light beams cross each other in the center, therefore, the new headlamp combines wide illumination with high intensity in the center.

The HD matrix light creates one of the largest and brightest high-resolution illumination areas by illuminating the whole 40-degree horizontal and 10-degree vertical range with a luminous output of over 1,400 lumens. It starts right in front of the vehicle and extends across the high beam range. This flexibility in how the light is dispersed allows for both the enhancement of existing functions and the addition of new ones, all with the goal of giving drivers the best visibility possible under any circumstance.

Photos from Porsche

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