When LEDs first appeared in exterior car lights—the first application was the CHMSL on the 1986 Chevrolet Corvette—and as they gradually gained traction in the 1990s and 2000s, designers wanted to show the LEDs with “dotty” or “spotty” lamp designs. At first, technical immaturity meant there was little other option, but even once that was no longer the case, the idea was to show off the newest lighting technology with dots and spots.
Then came 2010, and designers started wanting to hide the LEDs. Spotty lamps became a stylistic has-been in a decade of homogenous light signatures.
All automakers, suppliers, and simulation and mesurement specialists focussed their R&D efforts on hiding the LEDs. Everybody was talking about luminance maps, viewing angles, luminance specifications, and camera investments to have smooth, even lighting from hidden emitters.
Then came a new kind of dots: pixels. When we talked about pixels in 2010, it was for road illumination—ADB.
In 2020, pixel-design lamps appeared. First in concept cars, and now on production vehicles.
Chinese automakers have barged ahead with ‘ISD’ (interactive or intelligent social display) to communicate with other road users in whatever nonstandard way they might dream up, and to make car lighting in to playtoys.
The question now is not who has the biggest engine, or the highest lumen output. The hot questions now are about what’s the best pixel pitch, and what luminance is needed for daytime visibility. During 2023’s lighting events, we saw a variety of solutions with pitches from 12 to 1 mm.
What will be the next steps? Do we need a pitch smaller than 4 mm? Do we need to go to mini- or microLEDs? OLEDs or TFTs? Is pixellization a fad, or the new trend?
These questions will be addressed at the designer panel discussion at the Munich DVN Workshop at the end of this month, with the rubric “Will the front and rear end become displays?”. It will surely be interesting to talk and listen with prominent exterior and lighting designers about this trend and to understand the drivers and staying power. See you there!
