• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Laser Headlight

Cool - Mind you we have a lot of unlit country lanes around here and it is bad enough being blinded by the newer cars with their fancy "halogen lights"!
 
I saw a film that tried out this concept once. Was fairly awesome:covereyes.

Laser.jpg


I want to have deflection screens and proton torpedoes also.
 
I hate drivers who drive cars that have bright lights.

I hate drivers who have their brights on.

I think I would have to take one for the team and drive headon into a car with even brighter headlights.
 
I'm with Complexity. No one seems to remember that there are two reasons for headlights. One is so that the driver can see. The other is so that people coming in the opposite direction can see the car. The second purpose does not require that the headlights blind me to the point where I cannot see the car. There has to be a reasonable middle ground here, but the car manufacturers appear to be favoring the first reason. Apparently they are assuming that the entire planet is night-blind.

I'm sorry, but you're driving at night. Don't plan on being able to see as well.

~~ Paul
 
Asinine.

New headlights are virtually indistinguishable from their high-beam counterparts as it is. I suppose the BMW driver doesn't have to worry about the unwashed masses anyway.
 
As usual, more info is useful.

Of course, the first thing we all learned about lasers is not to point them at yours or anyone else’s eyes for fear of retina damage. With headlights, that simply isn’t possible, but BMW says there’s no need to worry. Laser light is dangerous to your eyes because it’s extremely concentrated and focused. The white light produced by the excited phosphorus is not and to demonstrate its safety, the engineer in charge of the project stared straight into the headlights and invited assembled journalists to do the same. Though the lights are extremely light, neither your author nor anyone else present suffered any ocular damage. There’s also no risk of the headlights doing any damage to objects in front of them or causing any fires (despite the fact that the engineer lit an incense stick from one of the laser beams to demonstrate its power) for the same reason. The actual light produced by the headlights is not laser light despite the use of lasers to create it. And if you’re worried about escaped laser beams flying around after an accident, BMW has that covered as well. Like Xenon headlights, power is immediately cut to the laser headlights in the event of any damage.

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/bmw-shows...amic-lightspot-work-126103.html#ixzz1fmE0WBVK
Click to expand...

http://wot.motortrend.com/bmw-shows-us-how-its-laser-headlights-and-dynamic-lightspot-work-126103.html
 
This leads me to a gripe about specialist vehicle warning lights.
In the UK, when road repairs are done at night, we often see trucks with huge arrays of flashing yellow lights, warning approaching drivers.
I find these lights wildly over the top and counter productive.
My eyes are drawn to them , so I end up being dazzled and actually less able to see men in the road.

I can't help thinking, instead of shining their damned lights in my eyes, why not shine them onto the trucks from a gantry on the roof, or onto the road so I can see the men they are supposed to protect?
 
Of course, the first thing we all learned about lasers is not to point them at yours or anyone else’s eyes for fear of retina damage. With headlights, that simply isn’t possible, but BMW says there’s no need to worry.
Click to expand...
It's nice to know that they won't fry my eyes, but they can ruin my night vision. Human eyes tend to contract their irises when exposed to bright lights. This reduces the amount of light coming in, making viewing things in dim light very difficult or impossible. When you're traveling at 65 miles an hour, or on a road where deer are common, not being able to see things in dim light can be problematic, if not terminal.

In other words, it's not frying my eyes I'm worried about--it's the fact that bright headlights ruin night vision and make driving more hazardous for everyone involved. I don't care if it's a laser or 20,000 candles straped to the hood of your car, when it's bright enough to ruin the night vision of other drivers it's a problem.
 
I would want to see how bright they are, too. It depends how collimated the light is, I should think. If it is more collimated than a normal HID, then there will be less glare, even if the light itself is brighter. Might make it safer for other road users. Well, except around curves, where it could sweep over oncoming cars.


But even if it is too bright, why not use the technology for their infrared headlights? No visible light = no one blinded. They can use regular HID headlights. A more powerful infrared beam means farther looking heads-up displays.
 
Why would anyone want laser headlights? The major distinguishing feature of laser light is that it doesn't spread out. Why would you want a headlight that only illuminates a small circle ahead of you?

The solution to the problem of headlight glare has been around for over 60 years (it was dropped in the late 1940's because nobody cared enough to spend the extra money, and it's useless unless everyone participates).

Simply diagonally polarize the windscreen and the headlights (the same direction on all vehicles). Since any traffic coming towards you is turned around, the polarized light from their headlights would be opposite to that of your windscreen, and so very little light would get through.

You'd be able to see the section of the road lit up by their headlights (because striking the ground causes the light to become unpolarized), but you wouldn't see much light coming directly from their headlights.
 
Last edited:
Brian-M said:
Why would anyone want laser headlights? The major distinguishing feature of laser light is that it doesn't spread out. Why would you want a headlight that only illuminates a small circle ahead of you?

The solution to the problem of headlight glare has been around for over 60 years (it was dropped in the late 1940's because nobody cared enough to spend the extra money, and it's useless unless everyone participates).

Simply diagonally polarize the windscreen and the headlights (the same direction on all vehicles). Since any traffic coming towards you is turned around, the polarized light from their headlights would be opposite to that of your windscreen, and so very little light would get through.

You'd be able to see the section of the road lit up by their headlights (because striking the ground causes the light to become unpolarized), but you wouldn't see much light coming directly from their headlights.
Click to expand...

I think this died because of the way polarizers act to reduce the total amount of light that comes through the windscreen. IIRC there are laws about tinted windscreens in lots of places, and the polaroid film would act as tinting. I think locally you need a prescription for a tinted windscreen.
 
Soapy Sam said:
This leads me to a gripe about specialist vehicle warning lights.
In the UK, when road repairs are done at night, we often see trucks with huge arrays of flashing yellow lights, warning approaching drivers.
I find these lights wildly over the top and counter productive.
My eyes are drawn to them , so I end up being dazzled and actually less able to see men in the road.

I can't help thinking, instead of shining their damned lights in my eyes, why not shine them onto the trucks from a gantry on the roof, or onto the road so I can see the men they are supposed to protect?
Click to expand...

They probably should have day and night settings. But they need to be bright enough to be seen during the day.
 
Soapy Sam said:
This leads me to a gripe about specialist vehicle warning lights.
In the UK, when road repairs are done at night, we often see trucks with huge arrays of flashing yellow lights, warning approaching drivers.
I find these lights wildly over the top and counter productive.
My eyes are drawn to them , so I end up being dazzled and actually less able to see men in the road.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. Along with three police cars with their over-the-top lights.

~~ Paul
 
RobDegraves said:
As usual, more info is useful.

Of course, the first thing we all learned about lasers is not to point them at yours or anyone else’s eyes for fear of retina damage. With headlights, that simply isn’t possible, but BMW says there’s no need to worry. Laser light is dangerous to your eyes because it’s extremely concentrated and focused. The white light produced by the excited phosphorus is not and to demonstrate its safety, the engineer in charge of the project stared straight into the headlights and invited assembled journalists to do the same. Though the lights are extremely light, neither your author nor anyone else present suffered any ocular damage. There’s also no risk of the headlights doing any damage to objects in front of them or causing any fires (despite the fact that the engineer lit an incense stick from one of the laser beams to demonstrate its power) for the same reason. The actual light produced by the headlights is not laser light despite the use of lasers to create it. And if you’re worried about escaped laser beams flying around after an accident, BMW has that covered as well. Like Xenon headlights, power is immediately cut to the laser headlights in the event of any damage.
Click to expand...


http://wot.motortrend.com/bmw-shows-us-how-its-laser-headlights-and-dynamic-lightspot-work-126103.html
Click to expand...

The Thomas Midgley, Jr. school of safety demonstration. What was it that he did similar with, offering to taste or inhale?
 
My wife's new car (new to her, 2009 Civic) came with HID lights in the low beams and driving lights..original owner had them install by Honda when he bought the car, well, they suck as far as I'm concerned.

My buddies tell me that they blind the hell out of them when I'm meeting them on the road but they don't give me a great of light when I'm driving.

Once I hit high beams, sure I can see great, but the HID by themselves don't seem to project a beam very far down the road at all.
She is considering getting me to remove them and put back the original halogen lights. I might go with the Silverstar Ultra or something along those lines.

Laser lights? Can you get replacement bulbs for those at Canadian Tire? ;):D
 
Last edited:
The only reason HID should be blinding anyone is if a) they are adjusted improperly or b) you have some sort of vision problem.

Personally I think every car should be required to have HID lights. The difference between those and the old school lights is night and day...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom