The lights of the future are called Digital Light, and they are Mercedes

Imagine headlights with HD quality, able to light up the road without dazzling and to project symbols onto the road surface? Well, Mercedes already has them. They are called Digital Light, and they debut on the new Mercedes Maybach S-Class.

Mercedes already has the headlights of the future ready, and they are not laser headlights. They are called Digital Light, and besides lighting more and better, they are designed to improve safety when driving at night. For now they will debut on the new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, but no doubt we will soon see this lighting system make its way to other models of the brand.

The revolutionary Digital Light technology of Mercedes is based on optical units with a resolution of more than one million pixels per headlight. As with other lighting systems – such as Matrix LED or the Matrix laser headlights of Audi – a set of cameras and sensors on board detect other vehicles. Even map data from the navigation system is taken into account. In this way, the headlights adapt their strategy within milliseconds so that the lighting is as powerful as possible in each situation, without dazzling other road users.

Some of the functions enabled by the Digital Light lights of Mercedes are the signalling of light guides matching the width of the car to help orientation in roadworks. Or the pedestrian signalling: the system will point an arrow from the carriageway towards a pedestrian detected in a danger zone on the road, and can also briefly illuminate them with a burst of light, detecting their height so as not to dazzle them. It is also possible to project markings onto the road showing the driver the distance set for adaptive cruise control.

Another possibility enabled by the Digital Light technology of Mercedes is the projection of high-definition symbols onto the road. In a first phase, the system is designed to project symbols indicating low grip, roadworks, lane keeping, speeding, blind spot or rear collision. These symbols projected onto the asphalt could warn the driver about certain hazards, or provide relevant information. In the future, this application would also serve to “send” messages that improve the vehicle’s communication with its surroundings.

Image gallery of the Digital Light system of Mercedes