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posted by
martyb
on Tuesday January 15 2019, @11:27PM
from the blinded-by-even-more-distant-oncoming-traffic dept.
from the blinded-by-even-more-distant-oncoming-traffic dept.
Most people don’t turn on their car’s headlights and think, I wish they were brighter. Shuji Nakamura is not most people.
The Nobel Prize-winning illumination scientist has spent the past five years developing a laser-based lighting system. His company, SLD Laser, says the new design is 10 times brighter than today’s LED lights, capable of illuminating objects a kilometer away while using less power than any current technology. And unlike a regular, dumb headlight, the laser can potentially be integrated into current and forthcoming driver-assistance systems.
Do headlights need to be brighter?
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The Headlight of the Future Is a Laser
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @12:03AM (29 children)
I've had enough of being blinded by poorly adjusted HID headlights. They are NOT BETTER, they are a hazard to oncoming drivers !!!!!!
Fuck all the engineers who thought that brighter lights were a good idea. May they all die a painful death from some horrible disease.
And if you disagree with what I wrote, fuck you too.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @12:15AM (20 children)
There is some possibility that those lights aren't exactly "too bright". Often enough, I see them poorly aimed, into the eyes of oncoming drivers. If the damned idiots took the time, or paid a mechanic to adjust the lights properly, life would be better for all of us.
Of course, even with all the headlights on the road properly adjusted, some of them are still just too damned bright!
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @12:44AM (1 child)
BRIGHTER THAN THE NEW AMERICAN DRIVERS WHO LEAVE THEM IN THE "BLIND ONCOMING CARS" SETTING.
"HIGH BEAMS" for those of us who remember that you DON'T USE THEM IN TRAFFIC.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:41PM
But some people have a headlight that has failed. So they brilliantly come to the insightful realization that switching to the high beams all the time means that they will never need to get their malfunctioning headlight fixed. Nothing could possibly go wrong. It's easy, quick and cheap. The American Way.
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @12:45AM (9 children)
I agree with both of your points, however, there are many hills and curves where I live. No amount of properly aiming a fixed pattern will stop the insanely bright headlight from hitting me directly in the eyes frequently. I don't understand how we're all safer when drivers are being blinded.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @01:57AM (2 children)
One of the counterintuitive tricks I was taught growing up - as you top a hill, switch to high beams, so they don't shine into the eyes of oncoming drivers. As you level off, switch back to low beams. I don't think that is taught anymore, and even if it were, no one would actually do it.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:56AM (1 child)
Hah, I do that too, but was never taught. Seems like a courtesy.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:45PM
Friend, you use such strange words. What is this courtesy thing you speak of? Some strange new thing that nobody has heard of?
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(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:11AM (5 children)
Sounds like the solution here is dynamically adjusting headlights, you know, maybe throw in a gyroscope and program some smarts into it. Heck, maybe use the gyro in your phone and have it so it connect to the phone..
But nooooo, we need moar brightness!! Fucking hoons!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @04:28AM (3 children)
I don't know what a "hoon" is, but evidently they procreate. :)
But I digress... Long before any of us were born, very industrious, intelligent people worked tirelessly figuring out what headlight brightness, pattern, and color temperature was the best compromise for all drivers in all road and driving conditions. Of course with the addition of "high beams", "brights", whatever you want to call them. For probably 70 years these standards were law. Now suddenly insanely bright headlights are better? Did human eyes evolve suddenly? Mine did not and I'm in fear of, and reasonably sure I will end up running into something or someone because I can not see anything when there are oncoming headlights of new cars. I bought and always use a dashcam.
I hated HID (High Intensity Discharge) when they came out. They're xenon arc lamps for anyone who cares (camera flash lamp in continuous arc mode.)
Now they literally pale in comparison to the LED lights coming out. New LEDs are absolutely insane.
Of course you get the idiots buying the aftermarket LED lamps which are significantly brighter still, and not DOT approved pattern nor power; off-road only, right?
I noticed an infomercial for yellow-tinted glasses to help cut down on headlight glare. I already have some similar so I will try them at night and report back.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Webweasel on Wednesday January 16 2019, @09:58AM (2 children)
A hoon, in Australia and New Zealand, is a person who deliberately drives a vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner, generally in order to provoke a reaction from onlookers.
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:47PM
Interesting. I thought they drove like that in order to more effectively communicate by text massages.
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(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @03:29PM
> A hoon, in Australia and New Zealand, is a person who deliberately drives a vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner, generally in order to provoke a reaction from onlookers.
Thanks for that! You'd think I could have looked it up or something. It was the wee hours and my ambition was minimal. I'm in the USA and I haven't seen nor heard of such animals, but we have lots of car racing, monster truck rallies, etc., so maybe in the US hoons are capitalists. They do make for some awesome youtube videos, especially under the "like a boss" titles.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @05:13PM
How's a gyro going to help? Ensure the light is incorrectly pointed more steeply into an uphill slope?
The beam should be tracking the road not the orientation of the car. The gyro won't tell you enough about the road.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @01:15AM (7 children)
There is a slight chance that older car drivers will add brighter lights to compensate living in a brighter world, and make comments about your family.
But you are one of those dim americans who need it bigger, brighter, faster.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @01:53AM (6 children)
No, retard. I don't see old people with HID's on their vehicles. The vast majority of them are running OEM headlights. The HID's and assorted other headlights are on vehicles owned by younger drivers. Teens and early twenties own the most, then the 25-35 year olds. From 35 on up, it seems to taper off to near zero. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Just for information, when I was a kid, there were none of these bright lights. Pretty much all headlights were incandescent lights. I must have been 20 when quartz halogen hit the market, and they were not widely adopted immediately. Earliest halogen lights were fairly bright, but not exceptionally so - they were still a yellowish light. Over the course of a few years, halogens got whiter, and brighter, until it made sense to pay a little extra for them. A good halogen bulb is truly superior to any incandescent. Anything brighter just doesn't make a lot of sense, unless the drive suffers from libido problems. And, THAT from a guy who drives pretty fast, even at night.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @04:41AM (4 children)
In my area there are plenty of older (80s) people with new cars (esp. anything German) with HID and the way brighter LED headlights. I live amongst the wealthy.
Perhaps you're referring to the illegal aftermarket retrofit lights? You can always spot them because they're absurdly blue and there's no high beam, so the idiots aim them higher.
You mentioned the halogens. When I was a kid (early 80s) I knew a guy who had aftermarket halogens and he had to change them out for every state inspection, which he gladly did. I never had the heart to tell him I didn't think they were all that. Those guys have fragile egos and all. By the late 80s sealed-beam halogens were legal and available, and getting brighter. They're in a new much brighter flavor now too: Sylvania Silverstar for example.
(Score: 2) by NoMaster on Wednesday January 16 2019, @11:03AM (3 children)
What backwards 3rd-world country was that in? Because halogen headlights have been standard fitment throughout most of the world since the early-mid 70's. My first car was a Toyota with H4 halogen headlamps as original equipment from 1979; miles brighter than even the last tungsten headlamps from the 60's & early 70's (and even brighter when fitted with 95/70W globes ;))
(Oh. Wikipedia tells me the US was way behind everyone else, and when they did adopt halogens in the 80's they generally had 25% less output than the rest of the world...)
Live free or fuck off and take your naïve Libertarian fantasies with you...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @03:36PM (1 child)
Yes, the US stays behind in automotive technology because the DOT spells out exactly what is permitted, meaning anything else is NOT permitted. Seven to ten years after Europe and Asia adopts something new, the DOT gets around to approving it. In the traditional sense of conservative, our DOT is ultra conservative.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @06:38PM
As well it should be, at this point the essential bits of how to build and operate a car safely is pretty well established. Additional features and the like should be added and changed cautiously.
The bigger issue tends to be that we allow cars to use the brake lights as brakelights and turn signals which causes all sorts of mayhem when the car behind you has to guess from first blink whether the car ahead is braking or about to turn. It's foolish and just there to save a few dollars.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @04:00PM
I'm in USA and you're probably not. It's amazing how much misconception there is about USA.
I don't like: "the US is way behind everyone else". Maybe we exercise wisdom and caution. I don't think that blinding oncoming drivers is progress (although it's rampant now).
USA is made up of States, and "States' Rights" has been an ongoing fight since 1776. The Feds try to force their rules onto the states. They can't really do it legally, but they gather and redistribute so much money that they can force us into conformity by threatening to withhold $. A great example is federal highway money.
Yes, when halogens were first allowed they had a 35W limit for low-beams and 55 for high. The bulb manufacturers figured out how to get maximum light output from that 35W. As an engineer, I'm amazed at the stupidity of enacting a law regarding light output based on watts consumed. We have the ability to measure actual light output, right?
But I digress- generally transportation laws are uniform, but each state has much discretion re: interpretation, implementation, enforcement, etc. For example: many states have enacted laws specifically forbidding the use of "driving" or "fog" lights when there are oncoming cars. Half of cars seem to have them on anyway. Many states have annual auto inspection, but some do not (!!!). My state allows independent shops to both do the inspection AND the repairs (with the owner's approval). That is Conflict of Interest. I'm a car nut and do all my own work, but most of my friends and relatives get huge bills for unnecessary work. You'd think there would be more policing, undercover stings, etc., but nope. A brake job used to cost $50 / axle. Now I get friends coming to me in desperation due to a $500-1500 estimate. Shops are offering financing now!! I think it needs to be a law that if a shop does the inspecting, they are NOT allowed to do the repair. I'd rather have state run inspection stations.
And yes, headlight type, bulb wattage, aim, etc., are all part of state inspection, and it's up to the shop to do it, and some do. In my state and most states, at any time a state cop can pull a car over and fail it for state inspection violation, and if it's bad enough, prevent you from driving it.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @05:20AM
No, retard. OLDER CARS. Not older drivers driving newer cars. TFA is about headlights of the future so commenting about drivers' age seems out of place.
You dim bulb.
(Score: 4, Funny) by requerdanos on Wednesday January 16 2019, @01:05AM (5 children)
Gee, I never thought I'd find people who seriously advocate the position of "640 lumens ought to be enough for anyone."
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @01:55AM (4 children)
Funny - but yes, there is some limit. I've actually been driving along on a nicely sunlit day, and met a pair of headlights that were painfully bright. That is well and truly excessive.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by coolgopher on Wednesday January 16 2019, @03:04AM (1 child)
It's always lovely when you're on the freeway and the car behind you has bright enough headlights that your own car is casting a shadow in front of you where you're driving, and all you can really see are the sides of the road...
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @11:09PM
For me it's that the inside of my vehicle is so brightly lit by the car behind me that it's 100% distracting. It's illegal to drive with interior lights on, so it should be illegal for someone to illuminate my interior similarly.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Wednesday January 16 2019, @08:00PM (1 child)
You're doing it wrong.
The purpose of the light is to see and be seen.
See things so that you don't hit them; be seen by other things so they don't hit you and/or stay out of your path.
To be seen, you don't need a whole lot of light, which is why so-called "daytime running lights" can be so much dimmer than full headlights and still be effective.
To see, you need to emit different amounts of light depending upon whether or not you are trying to see something that, itself, emits light.
If the something emits light, you need a low light output just to get the context of the lighted thing (you can see the lighted thing because of its own light).
If you are not hurtling towards something that emits light, then there is a linear relationship more light=safer as regards visibility.
A sane, intelligent control system for this would be to observe and detect light received from within a certain number of degrees of straight ahead, and reduce or increase light output based upon whether light's coming in.
Is is bright ahead? Don't emit much light. Be respectful.
Is it dark ahead? Try to re-create the luminous conditions of a small sun. Aim for visibility.
Frankly, if your light control device of choice is a shotgun, all this is probably sailing over your head with the speed of photons, but perhaps having the information here will at least help someone else.
"Not getting any better" is a stupid solution.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 17 2019, @01:51AM
For me, you miss the "funny" mark. But, you do hit on something. Maybe all those high intensity light sources should be mandated to be self dimming. Even professional truck drivers neglect to dim their headlights these days, or are slow to react when they meet a vehicle. Headlights that dimmed themselves immediately when meeting another vehicle at night would be great. Or, measure the lumens coming in, and dim when the light level reaches that of a rather dim, but legal headlight 3/4 mile away. I chose 3/4 mile distance, because that is how far away the HID is blinding. With old, incandescent headlights, the law said lights should be dimmed at a distance of 500 feet, but we can't use that as a safe distance with today's lights. (actually 500 ft was inadequate even with those headlights of days gone by)
(Score: 5, Funny) by sjames on Wednesday January 16 2019, @07:03AM
The punishment should fit the crime. They should be belted into a car seat and blasted with a bank of high powered spot lights until they burst into flames.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday January 16 2019, @11:46AM
Please, for the sake of my ears, stop swearing AC? Thanks in advance!