At CES 2023 in January, Forvia’s Hella unit will show its digital, chip-based headlamp system called the Solid State Lighting | High Definition (SSL | HD). The technology was recognized with a CES Innovation Award in the category Vehicle Tech & Advanced Mobility category as an Honoree.

“We are driven by the ambition to keep pushing the boundaries of what is feasible in automotive lighting technology and thus ensure greater safety, efficiency, and comfort in road traffic,” said Yves Andres, Member of the Management Board – Business Group Lighting, at Hella. “It is therefore a great honor to be recognized for our SSL | HD headlamp technology with the prestigious CES 2023 Innovation Award.”

Series production of the first SSL | HD headlamp recently started at Hella’s Lippstadt site. The company has received another high-volume series order for the technology from another German customer as well as an international premium car manufacturer, with a current project value totaling around €1.5 billion.

The new headlamp is an evolutionary development of established LED matrix systems. With the new technology, up to 25,000 pixels per LED chip can be switched intelligently and individually, depending on customer requirements. The light source is miniaturized with the help of development partners so that the pixels can be deployed in a light module with significantly reduced installation space by up to 75%, creating new possibilities for integrating headlamps into vehicle architectures.

The technology not only provides better illumination of the road, but also a multitude of new, high-resolution lighting functionalities can be realized. These include projections of lane markings and symbols, lane brightening and light carpets, and safety distances or protection zones for cyclists and/or pedestrians.

The software-based control of the light allows for a “world headlamp approach.” This means that adjustments to the headlamp, for example, due to region-specific requirements such as right- and left-hand traffic, can be mapped digitally in identically constructed light modules. Up to twelve technically different versions of headlamps could be eliminated, reducing development costs and capital expenditure for customers by around 50%.

In addition to the first production in Lippstadt, Hella says the tech will also go into series production in its other lighting plants in China, Mexico, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia in the coming years—bringing it to the road in all regions worldwide by 2025.