We have talked at length about car lights on numerous occasions. Today we are going to focus on lighting technology. Intelli-Lux LED Pixel from Opel. It is the latest evolution of the German brand (now integrated into Stellantis) that has always stood out for its lighting technologies.
A brief history of Opel headlights
- 1968: The Opel GT impressed with its innovative Cola bottle-shaped body… as well as being the first German car with pop-up headlights.
- 1989: The Opel Calibra was one of the first production cars to feature ellipsoidal headlightsThe headlights were just 7 cm high, which was key to achieving the coupé’s exclusive design and excellent aerodynamics.
- 2003: Opel became the first manufacturer to offer a dynamic cornering light system and a static 90º turning light system when it introduced the innovative AFL system (Adaptive Forward Lighting – Adaptive Lighting System –) in the mid-size segment. In 2004, the Opel Astra was the first compact car to feature cornering lights and in
- 2006: The brand arrived this lighting technology by offering the Bi-halogen headlights with dynamic light cornering and turning statics in the small car and MPV segments, with the Corsa and the Meriva.
- 2008: The AFL + system is launched with the launch of the OpeI Insignia. It was about variable bi-xenon headlights which adapted the distribution of the light beam to the profile of the road, taking into account the speed at which people were travelling and the weather conditions.
Opel’s Intelli-Lux LED Pixel technology
The 2016 Opel Astra, the previous generation of the compact, was the car in the segment that debuted the matrix lighting to the compact segment. In the current Opel Astra 2022, it relies on fully adaptive Intelli-Lux LED Pixel matrix lighting.
These optics have 168 LED diodes (84 per headlamp) to ensure that the light beam is distributed accurately and smoothly at all times. And without dazzling other road users, as oncoming vehicles are “cut” out of the light beam while the rest of the areas remain illuminated with the high beams.
Intelli-Lux LED Pixel lighting technology is more precise and powerful than xenon headlights. High beams turn on automatically when leaving urban areas, the light beam is continuously adjusted, both in length and width (turning LEDs on and off so as not to disturb other drivers). This is a technology that allows the driver to identify objects and recognise the road in advance.
In addition to improving lighting, it represents a significant cost saving. And each headlight with this technology consumes 13 Wwhen a halogen needs around 70 W, they are much more efficient.
