Optical systems

HELLA has developed a wide range of optical systems to meet the different requirements of lighting concepts. Your vehicles can shine with uniformly glowing lamps, sharp light edges, and micro-optics. We present three of these innovative concepts in more detail.

The key points in short

• With Glowing Body, EdgeLight and FlatLight, you have a choice of different lighting concepts that can be implemented in your headlamps, beacons, and rear lamps.
• Innovative LED technology enables consistently high quality while reducing weight and energy consumption.
• The lighting concepts should adapt to your requirements, not the other way around.

Let there be light: What all goes into a good lighting concept?

Attractive styling meets innovative technology: This is what the ideal lighting concept for vehicles looks like. As a customer, you have a wide choice of optical systems, technologies, and lighting systems that are compatible in terms of both functionality and appearance.

A good lighting concept can consist of various elements. HELLA has developed several systems for the highest demands on vehicle lighting: Glowing Body, EdgeLight, and FlatLight can be used in your headlamps, rear lamps, and beacons to meet your individual lighting needs. HELLA optical systems impress with the highest technical quality for all individual parts. They are highly customizable. At the same time, the LEDs installed in the optical systems are more environmentally friendly than conventional light bulbs: They consume significantly less power and lose less heat. What's more, up to 90 percent of their raw materials can be reused – a win-win all along the line!

Each application area has specific requirements for its optical system and lighting concept. HELLA has therefore established itself as a valued development partner for design and lighting solutions. This way, you and HELLA can find the right lighting concept for you.

Individual design thanks to Glowing Body

Glowing Body is a light optic installed in rear lamps, for example, that looks attractive both at night and during the day without active lighting. The modular system consists of a diffusely luminous solid body, creating a three-dimensional impression. One advantage of the “glowing body technology” is its particularly homogeneous illumination. The light performance depends on the number and quality of the LEDs used.

EdgeLight: Distinctive light signature

With EdgeLight, HELLA has developed a technology in which the light emerges from a narrow strip within the lamp instead of from a large surface as before. The LED light is coupled in at the rear edge, deflected through the light guide plate via total reflection and then emitted at the front edge. At the same time, the EdgeLight light guide provides a clear signature thanks to its luminous front edge. The light is coupled in by one or more LEDs and thus radiates over the entire length. In this way, EdgeLight generates a long-range, sharply defined light signal and ensures greater safety when using your vehicles.

EdgeLight can be used in the automotive as well as the municipal or industrial sectors. Otherwise, the technology is also used in rear lamps and headlamps, for example in the daytime running light, position light, and direction indicator function. What they all have in common is the pinpoint illumination and the characteristic design of the EdgeLight technology.

Small lamp, made large – FlatLight

HELLA has introduced another lighting innovation with the FlatLight. The FlatLight concept takes styling, function, and performance to a new level. This is made possible by a novel light guide concept based on micro-optics. FlatLight thus combines the trend of miniaturization with the possibility of customizing the lamps, and represents a more affordable, high-performance alternative to OLED lamps.

The FlatLight elements will be available in several variants. Some are equipped with passive segmentation, others with active segmentation, allowing illuminated areas to be selected individually. This enables impressive, creative solutions in the field of vehicle lighting. Various technologies are available that can be used for the FlatLight Concept at HELLA, e.g. SSO, PDO, µDP, µMX, or µDP. Furthermore, the LightCore | GAIN software developed by HELLA enables original equipment manufacturers to create and implement complex animations themselves in a short amount of time.

The metallic coating on the back of the FlatLight | µDP gives it a look very similar to OLED; it can also be made completely transparent through nano light distribution. The surface is so smooth that no further cover lenses are necessary. The light guide is particularly thin at 2-3 millimeters. You get low investment costs for prototyping and series production, as FlatLight | µDP is already fully developed and ready for use. This way, you have an optical system with all the advantages of modern design combined with innovative lighting technology.

Which lighting concept is the right one for you?

Anyone putting together the right optical system for their vehicle is spoiled for choice. In addition to absolutely reliable quality, attractive design also counts, so that vehicles can be recognized by their light signature alone. HELLA's optical systems combine both points: While Glowing Body elements create a uniform light surface, EdgeLight provides a clear light edge. And FlatLight offers you innovative micro-optics, helping you save energy, space, and weight in the lighting technology of your headlamps. Your requirements determine your lighting technology, not the other way around – we help you with the configuration!