Had the 2024.8.7 update for a week or so and today was the first day the car really put adaptive high beam to the test. So far so good i think. On a 80ish mile journey with it on for most of the time, i didn't get flashed once - so must be a positive right? On a dark road with hedges either side you could really see it doing its work
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Hows your adaptive high beam?
- Thread starter Craigm86
- Start date
Doudeau
Member
On 8.7 too.
I’ve just driven back from up North to West London and on the motorway (not the most beneficial place to have it) it was quite interesting to see it keep changing its beam ,quite rapidly, based on where cars were on the road ahead.
If I was in inside lane with cars in lane 2 it seemed to increase throw down lane 1 and hard shoulder. If in lane 2 or 3 with cars in lane 1 and 2 it was a neutral beam. If I was in lane 3 with no cars ahead in that lane I never saw it light the central reservation - so I guess it was being mindful of blinding cars on other side of road.
I’ve just driven back from up North to West London and on the motorway (not the most beneficial place to have it) it was quite interesting to see it keep changing its beam ,quite rapidly, based on where cars were on the road ahead.
If I was in inside lane with cars in lane 2 it seemed to increase throw down lane 1 and hard shoulder. If in lane 2 or 3 with cars in lane 1 and 2 it was a neutral beam. If I was in lane 3 with no cars ahead in that lane I never saw it light the central reservation - so I guess it was being mindful of blinding cars on other side of road.
Yep was doing similar for me. Was very interesting to see it working its magic - especially in very heavy rain. So far, so big tick
I live in a small village, mainly one-way streets, some without street lighting. Driving through after dark last night in unlit one-way sections with cars parked on both sides, whenever a parked car's red rear reflector was picked up by the lights the chunk of pixels covering it switched off (as expected) - but now the reflector wasn't illuminated so the pixels turned back on, causing the cycle to be repeated about once a second. With a few cars parked on either side the multiple flashing must have been left any pedestrians totally bemused! It was quite distracting for me and my passenger.
I see that full beam is on and I'm not getting flashed - so something must be working.
But I can't see pixels turning on and off like others are noticing. Also I've long suspected that my headlight alignment is out. How does the alignment work with matrix headlights. Is there some feedback from the cameras or does it just rely on everything being properly aligned already?
As for fixing the alignment, finding a flat piece of ground where I can park with a wall 10m away is next to impossible near me.
But I can't see pixels turning on and off like others are noticing. Also I've long suspected that my headlight alignment is out. How does the alignment work with matrix headlights. Is there some feedback from the cameras or does it just rely on everything being properly aligned already?
As for fixing the alignment, finding a flat piece of ground where I can park with a wall 10m away is next to impossible near me.
We’ll probably end up losing the functionality before some get the update at this rate!
www.theguardian.com
UK government launches review into headlight glare after drivers’ complaints
Campaigners welcome move as survey suggests they have become too bright and risk causing accidents
www.theguardian.com
It's quite hard to see the beam pattern unless you are on a very dark road with hedges/trees/buildings at the sides. A bit of mist or fog makes it much easier to see.
TL;DR - I suspect the low beam alignment and adaptive high beams have little or no relevance to each other.
(Disclaimer: This is guesswork on my part, with no proof of accuracy). I suspect the headlight alignment and adaptive high beams are completely separate software modules.
The headlights are effectively a grid of individual LEDs, which have a set angle and direction they point. The low beam alignment will set a certain number of those LEDs to be on or off, based on what is set in the Service menu or automatically when the levelling system is activated. I suspect this is stored as its own data point in the car system. The individual light pixels are quite easy to see if you park close to a wall with the lights on; you can see the very square edges.
Adaptive high beams are probably a new software module which takes over when the high beams are activated. This will turn on all the LEDs when the camera cannot see any cars/lights in its line of sight. Imagine drawing a set of grid lines over an image from the camera. Each LED will have it's own point of reference on the grid. If there's a trigger in a grid square, the LED pointing at that square will be turned off. As the front camera is fixed, it's relatively trivial to set up a set of grid references for where each light points. Security cameras use a similar setup for masking areas of motion to be monitored (or ignored).
If there's a car in front of me when moving from a dark road to a fully lit one with street lights, I can see the bottom few rows of LEDs on my car come back on. They were off for the high beam blocking out the car in front, but revert to the low beam "alignment" when adaptive is deactivated.
Random image I found online to demonstrate:
Edit: Added a better example image:
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I think that's more an argument in favour of adaptive beams than against. They are much more effective at not blinding other cars than a fixed alignment.We’ll probably end up losing the functionality before some get the update at this rate!
UK government launches review into headlight glare after drivers’ complaints
Campaigners welcome move as survey suggests they have become too bright and risk causing accidents
We’ll probably end up losing the functionality before some get the update at this rate!
UK government launches review into headlight glare after drivers’ complaints
Campaigners welcome move as survey suggests they have become too bright and risk causing accidents
It is a problem, mainly because we don't have long flat and even roads in the UK. We have quite the opposite unfortunately, so headlights flick up and down all the time. One could argue part of the problem is the state of our roads.
However, it's just a review at this stage which will likely take years. The consultants involved tend to drag these out, it's good and secure income. There is little they can do with current cars, few have OTA updates, so it might simply become adaptive headlights are mandated for new models and work to a defined standard. Three years and a million spent, that'll be the outcome.
Interesting video that shows adaptive and non adaptive headlights on the same roads, you can quite clearly see the pixels turning on and off, especially about half way through when a cars being followed down a twisty road.
The other observation which I find interesting is the comparison with the bmw lights, it’s only a short bit at the end of the video but the lights look blockier on the Tesla (although perform well) but how much glare you get from them even from the drivers seat compared to the bmw. I’ve no idea how or why, you’d think illumination was the illumination as the throw down the road seemed the same, maybe the Tesla has more beam spread
The other observation which I find interesting is the comparison with the bmw lights, it’s only a short bit at the end of the video but the lights look blockier on the Tesla (although perform well) but how much glare you get from them even from the drivers seat compared to the bmw. I’ve no idea how or why, you’d think illumination was the illumination as the throw down the road seemed the same, maybe the Tesla has more beam spread
Posting your own Video is fine as the channel doesn’t look monetised, and you’ve also provided a little narrative to what people will see so people can decide for themselves whether to watch.
M1tch
2021 M3P with EAP
It's the best matrix I've used...for once, Tesla nailed it with an impressive feature update. If only auto-wipers were as easy.
HenryT
Active Member
kelvin 660
White SR+ with LFP battery
It's up to you... You can push the stalk forward to change from dipped to adaptive and back again, but I think it goes back to adaptive at the start of each drive. Personally, I prefer to see pedestrians or cyclists on the side of the road, so I will use adaptive where ever possible, however if I lived in a city, with good street lighting I might think differently...
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