The future of lighting according to Audi is digital, and it's going to dazzle you

Audi is one of the manufacturers that has presented the most innovations in automotive lighting technologies. In fact, the brand with the four rings debuted LED daytime running lights on the Audi A8 W12, its flagship model back in 2004. Today, LED daytime running lights and even full LED headlights are already standard, even on city cars and compact models.

After LED headlights, other technologies that Audi already offers on many models in its range are Audi Matrix LED headlights, dynamic indicators, laser light and OLED headlights. And now, headlight digitalisation offers new possibilities that Audi is taking advantage of to expand the functions of its Matrix LED and OLED headlights with their corresponding digital versions. The goal is no longer just to see and be seen, or to light the road in the best possible way without dazzling other road users. Now, digitalisation opens up many possibilities by enabling external communication with other vehicles, as well as expanding individualisation options.

These are some of the new functions and technologies that Audi already offers on its top-of-the-range models, and which are already on the starting blocks for a future closer than you might imagine.

Digital OLED technology

The Audi A8 is the first Audi model with all lights digitalised, featuring digital Matrix LED front headlights and digital OLED rear light clusters. The latter already allow customers of the Audi luxury saloon to choose between three rear light signatures (four on the Audi S8). In addition, digital OLED technology, which is also used in the Audi Q5, can be used together with proximity sensors to warn a vehicle approaching from behind when you are stopped. In the case of the Audi Q5, light clusters with three panels are used, each with six OLED segments that can be activated individually with endless possibilities. For the Audi A8, the digital OLED headlights have eight panels.

For the future, the evolution of this technology, on which Audi is already working, contemplates headlights with more than 60 segments and ten times as many controllable elements. In a subsequent phase, flexible digital OLED rear lights will make the designers’ dream come true: curved surfaces capable of creating a three-dimensional light design, which allows not only integrating digital light design into the bodywork, but also displaying symbols. The possibilities for communicating with the environment, for example to warn other drivers of hazard zones, will be much greater. Not to mention personalisation in design.

This means that, thanks to digital OLED technology and vehicle-to-vehicle communication, a Audi will be able to warn the traffic behind it of the presence of ice on the road, so that other road users can reduce speed and increase their safety distance well in advance. Furthermore, digital OLEDs, according to Audi, offer a much longer service life than conventional OLEDs, with a much higher light density, and meet the durability requirements for automotive application.

The digital Matrix LED headlights of the Audi A8

In the case of the digital Matrix LED headlights already used by the Audi A8, there are three new functions of particular interest which, no doubt, we will soon see extended to smaller segment cars.

Among them is the so-called road orientation light and the lane light with turn indicators for motorway driving. The lane light illuminates the very lane we are driving in, creating a kind of “carpet of light” that makes night driving easier. The turn indicators of the lane light allow a dynamic flashing zone to be created on the corresponding side to intensify the indicator signal. With headlight digitalisation, the orientation light also makes it possible to limit illumination to the lane being used when passing through narrow roadworks areas.

Another additional function is advanced traffic information. The digital Matrix LED headlights of the A8 can, for example, project a warning triangle onto the road if a hazard is detected, so that the driver keeps their attention on the road.

The rear spoiler with Mapping light projected onto the rear window

Another function that Audi will already offer in markets such as China this year is the Mapping light integrated into the rear spoiler. This is an extension of the third brake light function, which projects onto the upper part of the rear window, in this case the “quattro” logo. Besides enlarging the brake light area and making it more visible, this also creates new personalisation possibilities in the future.

Audi wants to increase the number of markets in which this function is offered; it is designed to be visible only to users driving behind the car fitted with it, without the light effect being perceptible to the driver. However, in this case regulations will not allow users to personalise the projection shown.

Other future lighting developments contemplate projecting video games onto the floor surface or a wall, something that digital Matrix LED technology will make possible, as Audi has already shown in prototypes such as the Audi A6 Avant e-tron concept.

Images of Audi lighting technologies