Glance in the future: Mercedes-Benz MULTIBEAM LED Headlamps

With recent advancements in LED lighting technology for headlamps, Mercedes-Benz will be introducing 84 LEDs per headlamp for the new CLS-Class instead of the 24 LED set up in the current version. Now the system is already state-of-the-art and very sophisticated, but the MULTIBEAM LED system will further enhance the headlamp’s capability to being more helpful for the driver and other road users.

Mercedes sates statistics prove how important are precision LED lamps for night time safety, when the risk of an accident becomes highest. The new MULTIBEAM LED headlamp technology will yet again raise the bar in terms of illuminating the road at night. Trust me, the system becomes al the more important for our country as even city roads are barely lit at night and people refuse to drop their beams for oncoming road users.

What is it all about?

By increasing the number of LEDs from 24 to 84, the system now boasts even better illumination quality and innovations from an already advanced safety system. The use of 1024 pixels per LED will provide greater flexibility to the system in reducing dazzle on to oncoming traffic thus enhancing road safety in night-time driving. Without getting into technicalities, I must explain that regular halogen or Xenon bulbs can be made powrful, but they cannot be made intelligent. This is where LEDs come to the picture as they provide a higher state of flexibility for numerous innovtions in headlights.

How can MULTIBEAM LEDs help you?

No more dazzle in your eyes!

One of the major issues while driving at night is dazzle from oncoming vehicles with full beam, or even from behind reflecting in your mirror straight to your eyes. The MULTIBEAM LED system detects oncoming vehicles and masks light distribution from the oncoming vehicle.

Straight or a turn, the system masks the headlight beam swiftly when it sees an oncoming vehicle and re-illuminates as  soon as the vehicle passes. But however, while masking off the light, your own lane stays illuminated while you drive ensuring safe visibility. Similarily if a vehile is driving in front of the system, it masks off the light from the rear thus avoiding glare in the drivers eyes reflected through mirrors. As soon as you overtake the car ahead of you, the system activates the full beam quickly to show you the way ahead.

Drive around bends safely!

Active bending lights have been around for some time now and most of us know what they are. The headlights bend with the steering directional changes thus illuminating corners more efficiently. But the new MULTIBEAM LED system has what Mercedes-Benz calls Predictive Actice Bending lights.

Camera feeds information about an oncoming turn to the headlamp, and the lights are turned according to the bend before the driver turns the steering wheel. According to the situation, the beam comes to its normal straight position before the steering turns. This ensures even better visibility to people or objects on turns and bends so that the driver may safely judge what has to be done.

Round-abouts made safer!

Another new feature in the MULTIBEAM LED system is the Round-about light. This system uses the help of the vehicle’s navigation system to understand round-abouts and accordingly light up a wider area on the left and right of the headlight beam. Again this lets you foresee any potential hazards on your left or right on round-about ensuring safety at night.

In the near future, Mercedes-Benz MULTIBEAM system will gain HIGH RANGE LED to the system that will be capable of high beam range above 600m ahead of the driver. Sure LED technology is expensive to develop and vehicle price goes higher, but you cannot put less price on safety equipment, right!