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Audi's Q5 SUV Offers Customizable Digital OLED Taillights with One Cool Function

Audi seems to put way too much thought and effort into its vehicles' lighting system, especially since the end product is little more than an indicator that zooms left and right like the red light on a certain black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
Audi Q5 OLED taillights 63 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
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We're being slightly unfair here since Audi's intelligent LED headlights can do a little more than that - they can project their light on a specific section of the road, eliminating the risk of blinding oncoming drivers, for example. Sure, other brands offer similar features, but Audi's might just be that bit more advanced. After all, it can even project custom images on the asphalt.

OK, we're back to Audi being uncharacteristically childish. You might argue there are few brands out there with a more sober image than Audi's, and yet this particular German manufacturer appears to go absolutely bananas when it comes to its vehicle's lights. Everything's grey, straight, bland, but when it comes to things that go shiny-shine, the Ingolstadt technicians suddenly pull out the party hats.

Their latest creation is the digital OLED taillights on the recently introduced Q5 facelift. The basic rundown of what's new is this: each headlight now has three OLED panels with six individual segments that can be customized in a number of ways. What that means is that the new Q5 can alter its rear light signature between three pre-set options, with one more engaging automatically whenever the dynamic driving mode is selected.

Silly? Yes, but the benefits of OLED technology are much greater than these personalization options. For one thing, it allows the entire optical units to become a lot thinner. Then there's the fact that OLED project a very homogenous light with fully customizable intensity. Third, just like LED, it consumes very little power, something EVs will be very grateful for.

Apart from all the monkeying around, Audi thought of a much cooler application for this tech, one that has some favorable safety implications. If a car comes too close to a stationary Audi Q5 equipped with the optional OLED lights, these will engage automatically on full brightness to warn the other driver. Think of it as a set of altruistic parking sensors that work for those around as well.

You can watch the clip below to find out a little more information about this premiere in the auto industry.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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