DVN Takes the New Audi A8 for a Dazzling Test Drive
The Driving Vision News (DVN) team recently attended a presentation of the updated Audi A8 that included a test drive and technological demonstration of the digital matrix headlights and digital OLED rear lighting. The team was impressed by the dynamic sequencing and capabilities demonstrated by the Audi team and wrote that the vehicle “sparkles ahead and behind”.
Read an excerpt from the article below.
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The A8’s rear lighting is also digital with 48 OLED segments. Audi have pushed the state of the OLED taillight art quite successfully since their introduction in 2016 on the TT RS, and this has created more freedom and opportunities to design dynamic lighting scenarios.
Digitalisation brings the possibility of changing the taillight signature individually. These features are based on OLED properties: high contrast; the capacity for segmentation; great homogeneity, and the smallest possible gaps between segments. Audi light design conceptualises a specific selection of digital OLED rear light signatures for each model, and digitalisation allows the driver to customise their car by picking which of three tail light signature they want (four on the S8).
And there’s more: the digital OLED rear lights use a proximity indication to grab the attention of other road users. When a car; bicycle, or scooter gets critically close to a stationary A8, the parking sensors detect it and all the OLED segments are lit, so the additional brightness and larger surface area make the car as conspicuous as possible. When the proximity alert ends (the A8 pulls away), the rear lights revert to the selected signature.
That’s a lot of highlights, but there’s more to come; Audi are actively developing more ideas; digitalization, animation, communication, and personalization are setting the tone. Here are a few examples of what Audi are working on for future vehicles:
Flexible Digital OLED
Digital OLEDs with up to 100 segments per panel
