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> Each of the 911's lighting units includes 84 individually controlled LEDs that allow the car to continuously morph the pattern of its beams. When a car approa

> Each of the 911's lighting units includes 84 individually controlled LEDs that allow the car to continuously morph the pattern of its beams. When a car approaches in the oncoming lane, the 911's headlights dim around it while leaving the rest of the pattern bright. [...] Porsche would also dim the right side if road signs on the shoulder were overly reflective. The article never mentions, but how does the Porsche detect oncoming cars and overly reflective signs? If it involves a computer doing real-time image processing, I can certainly see why the US government might be cautious considering headlights are an important safety feature for a car. I also assume a system like that would probably be very expensive. Is this just a luxury feature or are matrix lights actually common in European cars?

dave_aiello 6y ago
> I also assume a system like that would probably be very expensive.... Couldn't that also have been said about anti-lock braking systems (ABS), if you go far enough back in automotive history?
- CivBase 6y ago
  Yes. I just wanted to know if this was a ubiquitous feature in Europe or just a new tech that hasn't yet left the luxury market. The article title implies that the US is significantly behind the times here and I wanted more info to gauge how true that is.
  - dave_aiello 6y ago
    Yea, sorry. I was trying to highlight that automotive tech arrives on expensive models and is driven down to the entry level vehicles as the component manufactures are able to ramp up production volumes.
efficax 6y ago
my 2020 honda civic has lane detection and cruise control that keeps pace with the car in front of you... this isn't much different
- narag 6y ago
  Last car I owned detected lanes and cars approaching from behind. I had to disable the sound alerts. If someone had told me how many exceptions make the alerts bogus, I wouldn't have believed it. Not a single time the alerts responded to a real danger. On the contrary, I was alarmed for nothing, creating danger as I nervously looked around trying to understand what was wrong. Sensor that switched lights on or off was nice though.
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    I got rid of a Mercedes C class that autobraked twice at random causing near accidents each time. The area where I live has a lot of narrow bridges and the autobrake would get triggered by the bridge posts. Traction on those bridges can be pretty uneven, especially when moist. First time came pretty close, second time I was prepared. There never was a third time. Stuff like that should work or be fitted to some test vehicle. That's not exactly an edge case.
    - dogecoinbase 6y ago
      Smart cars aren't smart. I've had a few rental cars over the last couple years that did autobreaking/speed control, and without exception it was unexpected in a way that made the situation less safe. It might be fine for someone who had only ever driven with those features, but adding them as new defaults is irresponsible at best.
    - dx034 6y ago
      Are you sure they got triggered by the bridge posts? These systems tend to exclude any non moving objects. I've driven several cars with emergency braking installed and it never reacted to a static object, even if I was headed for it. The only time I found it can mis-trigger is for cyclists that you'd be able to pass easily.
      - kalleboo 6y ago
        There are two kinds, one based on radar and one based on stereo camera. The radar systems have to ignore static items or they’ll detect overhead road signs as hazards and brake erratically. This is why Teslas run into static obstacles. The camera systems OTOH can handle static items. Our 2017 Suzuki Kei car has a stereo camera system and it will brake if you’re about to run into a car stopped at a red light.
byw 6y ago
I'm guessing it's only available if you already have the package with distronic/lane-keep/autobrakes, which has the computing hardware.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  Distronic: MB; these headlights: Porsche.
  - BoorishBears 6y ago
    You know what Distronic is well enough to drop this nitpick as if it wasn't painfully clear what they meant? I hopr you don't say "band-aid" or "xerox"
jdietrich 6y ago
I also assume a system like that would probably be very expensive. Is this just a luxury feature or are matrix lights actually common in European cars? It's relatively high-end, but it's rapidly trickling down - you'll find adaptive headlights on many mid-range models from Mazda, Ford and Volkswagen. >I can certainly see why the US government might be cautious considering headlights are an important safety feature for a car. I'm pretty sure it's just institutional inertia. Compared to a feature like adaptive cruise control or autonomous emergency braking, the risk of an adaptive headlight system failure is quite minimal.
adrr 6y ago
Cars have been doing this for a while with auto high beams which is standard in a lot of new cars. It’s quite good on my car and i use it all the time on road trips.
numlock86 6y ago
> Is this just a luxury feature or are matrix lights actually common in European cars? My previous car in the sub €60k (2017) and my current in the sub €40k (2019) price category have automatic matrix headlights as well. Besides the usual detection of cars it will also turn off specific areas when signs are reflecting too strong or even completely turn off the upper headlights when you are on a road with continuous lighting, drive through a tunnel, drive through a city or town (GNSS and/or sign detection assisted I guess), it's really foggy and so on. While I had to manually activate automatic upper headlights on the previous car, my current car basically turns it on at start, no matter what time of the day, even when turned off previously. When it's bright it will basically turn off the headlights all together by itself and just kick in as needed. Really convenient. Driving a lot at night I'd roughly guess from experience that about one out of twenty cars have automatic matrix headlights, maybe less. Anyway, I'd say it's common, but far from the norm. Edit: As I drove to work today, one of the things that's not so convenient is that you have to keep your car clean or at least the smudge off the cameras. :^)
- belorn 6y ago
  I recently also tested such "feature" in a car from 2016, and I was quite unimpressed. As you say it has a lot of miss-identifications such as signs, and it doesn't work at all in mist, but for me it also failed several times to even recognize cars and blinded a few. For now it seems more like an technical interesting concept than a feature. I do not like false negatives in an technology that could cause result in car accidents. The speed limit sign detection is more useful as the false positives and false negatives is noticeable but mostly harmless.
hbosch 6y ago
> The article never mentions, but how does the Porsche detect oncoming cars and overly reflective signs? My Jeep Grand Cherokee does this, auto-dims the headlights when oncoming cars or reflective signs appear. I assume it's just the dumb way, if something "bright" is ahead of me then dim the lights. I don't think you have to do a lot of "image processing" to single out the direction a very bright light is pointing.
lagadu 6y ago
My mk8 Ford fiesta (this current gen was never launched in the US) already does that: it does real-time processing to determine when to enable and how to angle the LED high beams in real time so it's not just a European manufacturer thing. I was genuinely surprised at how well it works.

dave_aiello 6y ago

> I also assume a system like that would probably be very expensive.... Couldn't that also have been said about anti-lock braking systems (ABS), if you go far enough back in automotive history?

CivBase 6y ago
Yes. I just wanted to know if this was a ubiquitous feature in Europe or just a new tech that hasn't yet left the luxury market. The article title implies that the US is significantly behind the times here and I wanted more info to gauge how true that is.
- dave_aiello 6y ago
  Yea, sorry. I was trying to highlight that automotive tech arrives on expensive models and is driven down to the entry level vehicles as the component manufactures are able to ramp up production volumes.

efficax 6y ago

my 2020 honda civic has lane detection and cruise control that keeps pace with the car in front of you... this isn't much different

narag 6y ago
Last car I owned detected lanes and cars approaching from behind. I had to disable the sound alerts. If someone had told me how many exceptions make the alerts bogus, I wouldn't have believed it. Not a single time the alerts responded to a real danger. On the contrary, I was alarmed for nothing, creating danger as I nervously looked around trying to understand what was wrong. Sensor that switched lights on or off was nice though.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  I got rid of a Mercedes C class that autobraked twice at random causing near accidents each time. The area where I live has a lot of narrow bridges and the autobrake would get triggered by the bridge posts. Traction on those bridges can be pretty uneven, especially when moist. First time came pretty close, second time I was prepared. There never was a third time. Stuff like that should work or be fitted to some test vehicle. That's not exactly an edge case.
  - dogecoinbase 6y ago
    Smart cars aren't smart. I've had a few rental cars over the last couple years that did autobreaking/speed control, and without exception it was unexpected in a way that made the situation less safe. It might be fine for someone who had only ever driven with those features, but adding them as new defaults is irresponsible at best.
  - dx034 6y ago
    Are you sure they got triggered by the bridge posts? These systems tend to exclude any non moving objects. I've driven several cars with emergency braking installed and it never reacted to a static object, even if I was headed for it. The only time I found it can mis-trigger is for cyclists that you'd be able to pass easily.
    - kalleboo 6y ago
      There are two kinds, one based on radar and one based on stereo camera. The radar systems have to ignore static items or they’ll detect overhead road signs as hazards and brake erratically. This is why Teslas run into static obstacles. The camera systems OTOH can handle static items. Our 2017 Suzuki Kei car has a stereo camera system and it will brake if you’re about to run into a car stopped at a red light.

byw 6y ago

I'm guessing it's only available if you already have the package with distronic/lane-keep/autobrakes, which has the computing hardware.

jacquesm 6y ago
Distronic: MB; these headlights: Porsche.
- BoorishBears 6y ago
  You know what Distronic is well enough to drop this nitpick as if it wasn't painfully clear what they meant? I hopr you don't say "band-aid" or "xerox"

jdietrich 6y ago

I also assume a system like that would probably be very expensive. Is this just a luxury feature or are matrix lights actually common in European cars? It's relatively high-end, but it's rapidly trickling down - you'll find adaptive headlights on many mid-range models from Mazda, Ford and Volkswagen. >I can certainly see why the US government might be cautious considering headlights are an important safety feature for a car. I'm pretty sure it's just institutional inertia. Compared to a feature like adaptive cruise control or autonomous emergency braking, the risk of an adaptive headlight system failure is quite minimal.

adrr 6y ago

Cars have been doing this for a while with auto high beams which is standard in a lot of new cars. It’s quite good on my car and i use it all the time on road trips.

numlock86 6y ago

> Is this just a luxury feature or are matrix lights actually common in European cars? My previous car in the sub €60k (2017) and my current in the sub €40k (2019) price category have automatic matrix headlights as well. Besides the usual detection of cars it will also turn off specific areas when signs are reflecting too strong or even completely turn off the upper headlights when you are on a road with continuous lighting, drive through a tunnel, drive through a city or town (GNSS and/or sign detection assisted I guess), it's really foggy and so on. While I had to manually activate automatic upper headlights on the previous car, my current car basically turns it on at start, no matter what time of the day, even when turned off previously. When it's bright it will basically turn off the headlights all together by itself and just kick in as needed. Really convenient. Driving a lot at night I'd roughly guess from experience that about one out of twenty cars have automatic matrix headlights, maybe less. Anyway, I'd say it's common, but far from the norm. Edit: As I drove to work today, one of the things that's not so convenient is that you have to keep your car clean or at least the smudge off the cameras. :^)

belorn 6y ago
I recently also tested such "feature" in a car from 2016, and I was quite unimpressed. As you say it has a lot of miss-identifications such as signs, and it doesn't work at all in mist, but for me it also failed several times to even recognize cars and blinded a few. For now it seems more like an technical interesting concept than a feature. I do not like false negatives in an technology that could cause result in car accidents. The speed limit sign detection is more useful as the false positives and false negatives is noticeable but mostly harmless.

hbosch 6y ago

> The article never mentions, but how does the Porsche detect oncoming cars and overly reflective signs? My Jeep Grand Cherokee does this, auto-dims the headlights when oncoming cars or reflective signs appear. I assume it's just the dumb way, if something "bright" is ahead of me then dim the lights. I don't think you have to do a lot of "image processing" to single out the direction a very bright light is pointing.

lagadu 6y ago

My mk8 Ford fiesta (this current gen was never launched in the US) already does that: it does real-time processing to determine when to enable and how to angle the LED high beams in real time so it's not just a European manufacturer thing. I was genuinely surprised at how well it works.