LED Front Lighting – Optical Concepts, Styling Opportunities and Consumer Expectations

In the near future, first headlamps with white LED front lights will enter into the market, both in US and Europe. Two major criteria have to be satisfied in order to be successful: the light performance has to be competitive with current systems of today (HID) and the styling of LED systems has to be attractive, thus being able to differentiate (Fig. 1). The light source concepts, which are currently in discussion along with the optical design leads to various solutions, which will be covered within this paper. Optical calculations and results of first prototypes will be compared.

Additionally, the acceptance level of the consumer by means of these LED concepts have been empirically tested. The results of this survey will be reported.