Gone are the days when a car’s headlight was just a bulb in a reflective bowl, with a lens to cast the light in a simple beam pattern down the road. In the last few decades especially, car headlight technology has advanced at a startling pace, and today’s adaptive headlights are unbelievably sophisticated both in design and utility.
Adaptive headlights are now standard on many vehicles, and optional on others – even humble family cars like the Volkswagen Golf and Vauxhall Astra tend to feature adaptive technology these days. But what are adaptive headlights, and what benefits do they have for you as a driver?
We’ll explain this in more detail below, but first some context on how adaptive headlights came about. Incandescent bulb headlights were used for most of the early 20th century, with halogen lighting technology arriving in the 1960s, typically in standard round or oblong housings, before improvements in technology allowed manufacturers to set them in more inventive shapes. They remain popular today, partly due to the ease of sourcing and fitting replacement bulbs.
Xenon lighting technology arrived in the early 1990s and became more widely adopted in the early 2000s, capable of emitting a more powerful light, while reflector, projector and lens technology all made for a brighter, sharper beam pattern. LED headlights in the 2010s took this a step further still, by now predominantly using projectors to cast a more precise, more intense beam down the road.
The small size and low energy use of LEDs has other benefits though. One is greater freedom for designers, but another is being able to use them for adaptive headlights – a catch-all term that covers everything from headlights that can aim their beam around corners, to ones that can actively dip or adapt the beam pattern around oncoming vehicles. Many manufacturers define them slightly differently though, and there are several brand names for the technology too – so keep reading our handy guide to cut through the jargon.
Are automatic headlights and adaptive headlights the same thing?
No. An automatic headlight is hooked up to a sensor that detects how much ambient light there is which turns the bulb on when it goes dark. Adaptive headlights do this too, but they also have several functions besides.
There are other things that adaptive headlights can do automatically, like switching between high and low beam – often known as high-beam assist. In old school headlights, you switch between them by pulling on a steering column stalk. Adaptive headlights have additional sensors that can detect light from an oncoming car’s headlights and pick the right moment to automatically switch to low beam.
This technology can take a few different forms. As well as the simple high-beam assist function, some can angle their LEDs or projectors away from oncoming traffic while leaving the rest of the road illuminated on high beam. Others can block out sections of their beams, while the most advanced systems using a ‘matrix’ of LEDs, can turn off individual LEDs in a specific pattern. The benefit to you though is that you get the light spread of high beams at all times, without dazzling oncoming drivers.
The video below shows how the automatic low beam system works on the BMW 5 Series’ adaptive headlights.
What is an adaptive front lighting system (AFS)?
Adaptive front lighting system is just the generic term covering all adaptive headlights. Different manufacturers have brand names for their variation on the tech. For example, Audi calls it Digital Matrix LED Headlights, Porsche has its Dynamic Light System and Lexus offers Bladescan Adaptive Headlights.
It’s worth noting that some headlights with incandescent bulbs are technically classed as an AFS because they turn with the steering to light the way round corners. This technology is certainly nothing new – when the already very advanced Citroen DS was redesigned in 1967, it had a pair of headlights inside its lamp units which could turn as you turned the steering. These systems are today known as ‘curve-adaptive’ and are offered on many modern cars.
However, when we refer to adaptive headlights now, we’re referring to ones that use LED or projector light. The most advanced type of adaptive headlights are often called ‘matrix lights’. They have lots of individual points of light, usually several hundred LEDs or a smaller number of projector lights. These can individually turn off and on each lighting element as required, and tend to be paired with adjustable mirrors within the headlight unit for further control over the beam pattern.
All adaptive headlights automatically turn on when needed, and switch between high and low beam as necessary. They also turn with the steering. What marks out one set of adaptive headlights from another is how far they take those abilities and any extra features they may have.
You can get adaptive headlights of some sort on everything from a Ford Puma to a Rolls-Royce Phantom. Many cars now have them as standard, but they’re available as an option on others. Some manufacturers offer several grades of adaptive headlight, as well.
How do adaptive headlights work?
The key component in an adaptive headlight is a little electric actuator that controls the vertical and horizontal angle of each beam of light. Those actuators are linked to a camera that detects the light from oncoming traffic and scans the road for corners and junctions. Some manufacturers have their own variations on the principle, for instance Lexus’s Bladescan tech uses mirrors to direct and shape the light.
So, what capabilities do adaptive headlights have? All adaptive headlights turn with the steering, so you can see further round a corner. More advanced ones linked to road-scanning cameras or even the car’s navigation system, changing the beam of light depending on what kind of road you’re on – giving you a wider spread of light on a twisty country road for instance, or projecting a beam further down the road on a motorway where speeds are higher.
Similarly, some adaptive headlights can swivel a single headlight towards a junction you’re indicating for. If you’re approaching a hill, the headlights can point the beam upwards.
If there’s oncoming traffic, adaptive headlights can shape their beam so that the drivers aren’t dazzled (in theory at least – some systems react more quickly and accurately than others) while giving you as good a view forwards as possible. Some also work with speed sensors to determine how far ahead you need to see for the speed you’re going and they can determine what lighting you need for the weather conditions, which can be particularly useful if you’re unsure when to use headlights in winter.
On top of all that, Ford is trialling headlights that can project warning symbols and navigation instructions, turning the road into a giant head-up display. Other manufacturers, such as Audi and BMW, have incorporated laser lighting technology into some of their adaptive systems, for seriously impressive light output on very dark roads.
Are adaptive headlights worth it?
The benefits of adaptive headlights are clear. They give you, the driver, a better, brighter, clearer view of the road ahead at night, with less chance of dazzling oncoming drivers. That improves safety for everybody.
There are statistics to back up the benefits, too. The UK’s Royal Safety Observatory published a study into the effectiveness of different types of headlights. Of advanced frontal lighting systems, the study said: ‘With AFS, drivers were capable of recognising the pedestrian earlier than with a standard system, thus leading to a benefit of approximately half the length of a passenger car.’ That could be the difference for stopping in time in an emergency.
Similarly, a 2020 study by America’s Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that ‘curve-adaptive headlights were associated with a 5.8% reduction in the frequency of property damage claims loss and a 1.1% reduction in the frequency of collisions claims.’
If the car you like comes with adaptive headlights, then fantastic. If you’ve switched from a car with halogen or even early xenon bulb headlights, you’ll be amazed at how much better your night-time vision is.
However, if the car you’re looking at has adaptive headlights on the options list rather than as standard fitment, you might want to take a few moments to think about it. That’s because they can be quite an expensive upgrade. Porsche’s top-grade adaptive headlights add more than £1,300 to the price of a Panamera for instance, and because they’re also expensive to repair, they can also affect your insurance costs. Indeed, an IIHS study found adaptive headlights can increase the cost of a claim by 4.7%. As they’re sealed units, headlight restoration won’t be as easy down the line, either.
It should also be said that modern headlights are already pretty effective even without the adaptive bells and whistles, so adaptive headlights are more of a nice feature to have, rather than being essential – especially as not all adaptive headlights are created equal. Try out the ones from different brands and you’ll notice differences in how snappily they switch between high and low beam, plus how smoothly and rapidly the light beam shapes and bends.
Despite these variations in effectiveness and the extra costs that can be associated with them, we still think the potential safety benefits mean it is well worth considering a car with adaptive headlights.
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