RE: BMW adds IR night vision
Monday 27th March 2006
Now comes with Night VisionBMW has announced that its Night Vision system, which uses infrared technology to allow the driver to see beyond current headlight range, is now available on the BMW 5 and 6 Series.
BMW adds IR night vision
New car prices inch upward too
Now comes with Night Vision
It first appeared in the 7-Series six months ago and uses a Far Infrared (FIR) thermal imaging camera to see heat-emitting objects; some alternative systems use an IR beam to illuminate objects at night. According to BMW, its system creates an image of pedestrians, animals or other heat-emitting objects at distances of up to 300m – far further than any other system currently on offer and further than the 150m range of xenon headlights. The images are then projected onto the iDrive screen.
BMW said it believes its system is superior to rival manufacturers as the images shown are only those that emit the most heat, and so stand out far better in a driver’s peripheral vision. The system means drivers do not have to take their eyes off the road, said BMW, and it is particularly effective on long stretches of unlit road or motorway.
Night Vision is available now on BMW 5, 6 and 7 Series models and costs £1,385.
Price increases
BMW has also inched up the prices of its more popular models, such as a big chunk of the 3-Series range, especially the convertibles, which go up 1.3 per cent while the 6-Series price rises are as high as 1.6 per cent – roughly £750.
Discussion
"...The images are then projected onto the iDrive screen.
BMW said it believes its system is superior to rival manufacturers as the images shown are only those that emit the most heat, and so stand out far better in a driver’s peripheral vision. The system means drivers do not have to take their eyes off the road..."
Other than taking your eyes off the road to look at the iDrive screen of course.
Can't these things project onto the windscreen? That said, this could get confusing if they are projecting elswhere on the screen than where the driver would actually see the heat-emitting object finally appear.
All too clever for it's own good if you ask me. What happened to Hella rally lights?
What ever happened to decent street lighting and pedestrians/cyclists wearing visible clothes and using lights?
I think lights should be made compulsory on push bikes, particularly ones for kids. Exemptions could be made for racing bikes, but these should really be used off road anyway.
Mind you, this wouldn't necessarily mean the lights would be used/batteries maintained, but if they're fitted cyclists may actually use them.
I think lights should be made compulsory on push bikes, particularly ones for kids. Exemptions could be made for racing bikes, but these should really be used off road anyway.
Mind you, this wouldn't necessarily mean the lights would be used/batteries maintained, but if they're fitted cyclists may actually use them.
hendry said:
"...The images are then projected onto the iDrive screen.
Just what I was thinking....between Sat-Nav,scameras and now this ,there are more "reasons"
than ever for distracting your attention from road conditions ahead of you.Just out of interest,I cant recall the stopping distances,but if xenons can illuminate 150m ahead,what speed do you need to be doing to require warning of drunks in the road,in the dark,at 300m??
hendry said:
All too clever for it's own good if you ask me. What happened to Hella rally lights?
Two Carello 100W rally lights, accept no substitute... Although they might be illegal. I think this whole IR thing is a bit of a gimmick. Anyone remember Jason Plato testing the new S-class and the night vision-IR thingy not working? Obviously TV stuff must be taken with a pinch of salt, but i'm still not sure about this stuff.
hendry said:
"...The images are then projected onto the iDrive screen.
...
Can't these things project onto the windscreen?
That's exactly what Cadillac did with their Forward Looking Infrared system which used a heads-up display projecting the FLIR image onto the bottom of the windscreen of the Deville DTS starting back in 2000. Gee, think BMW marketing should look at what BMW engineering copied badly before announcing how much better they are?
stenniso said:
What ever happened to decent street lighting and pedestrians/cyclists wearing visible clothes and using lights?
Not much point in stringing streetlights along a deserted highway, I suspect that is where it's most use, maybe some sort of audible beep if it spotted some large heat source like a human or animal (which obviously could be turned off in the city where 300m visibility isn't needed or wouldn't work correctly anyway).
Ballon said:Ever driven with it?
i-drive, I crash, is distracting enough as it is without adding a function that would undoubtedly make it more so. Heads up might help but which eye are you going to use for the sat nav?
No, I thought not.
Anyone who can use a PC will get used to it in a few hours.
Zod said:
i-drive, I crash, is distracting enough as it is without adding a function that would undoubtedly make it more so. Heads up might help but which eye are you going to use for the sat nav?
No, I thought not.
Anyone who can use a PC will get used to it in a few hours.
I've driven with it and it's unneccesarily complicated.
Not sure it would make me crash but it is definately too complex.
whoami said:My only real complaint about it is that they moved the air distribution from a simple dial on teh dash to two steps down in the climate menu. They've fixed that on the 3. For the entertainment and nav systems, it is no more distracting to use than the touch screen Alpine system I had in the CSL.
i-drive, I crash, is distracting enough as it is without adding a function that would undoubtedly make it more so. Heads up might help but which eye are you going to use for the sat nav?
No, I thought not.
Anyone who can use a PC will get used to it in a few hours.
I've driven with it and it's unneccesarily complicated.
Not sure it would make me crash but it is definately too complex.
We have it on a 7 series and it is brilliant.
When they can add it to the head-up display it will work better.
Yes it is a gimmic and a bit of a distraction if you what it to be...... but its all about inovation and pushing the boundaries of what can be done IMHO
Nowt wrong with that..!!
When they can add it to the head-up display it will work better.
Yes it is a gimmic and a bit of a distraction if you what it to be...... but its all about inovation and pushing the boundaries of what can be done IMHO
Nowt wrong with that..!!
Zod said:
i-drive, I crash, is distracting enough as it is without adding a function that would undoubtedly make it more so. Heads up might help but which eye are you going to use for the sat nav?
No, I thought not.
Anyone who can use a PC will get used to it in a few hours.
Curiously I have!
The ergonomics of the Idrive are very good and theoretically it should be an improvement over previous systems. However the functionality and response times are not as good as the system in my M3, hence I personally find it more distracting. Neither does the M3's system fall over as does the Idrive for no apparent reason.
I would also prefer to twiddle a knob for the ventilation but you can't have everything.
Back to the 'Abacus' for me.
Ballon said:I agree that it sometimes reacts too slowly.
i-drive, I crash, is distracting enough as it is without adding a function that would undoubtedly make it more so. Heads up might help but which eye are you going to use for the sat nav?
No, I thought not.
Anyone who can use a PC will get used to it in a few hours.
Curiously I have!
The ergonomics of the Idrive are very good and theoretically it should be an improvement over previous systems. However the functionality and response times are not as good as the system in my M3, hence I personally find it more distracting. Neither does the M3's system fall over as does the Idrive for no apparent reason.
I would also prefer to twiddle a knob for the ventilation but you can't have everything.
Back to the 'Abacus' for me.
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