Originally Posted by gustavo

I'm wondering sometimes what the people are talking about here?
Have you ever driven one? I don't think so.

I've got the chance to drive a S500 with night vision this weekend. I used it in the town and on the autobahn. Believe me, it's great, usefull and I had never the impression that the system isn't intuitive.

Originally Posted by bum-man

Here is Cadillacs system, warot, Mercedes most certainly tested both systems obviously the LCD screen has less drawbacks than a window projected HUD.

Cadillacs system:




"The Infrared Night Vision system activated at night when the headlights were on, projecting an image of the road ahead at the base of the windshield directly in front of me. The system displayed temperature differences in the same way that a black and white TV displays color differences. Hot items were white while cold objects were black with temperatures in between as shades of gray. People, animals and running automobiles stood out brightly in this display and were visible well beyond the range of the headlights. People and vehicles (especially the tires and exhaust pipes) showed up brightly while trees, shrubs and fences appeared as slightly warmer than the surroundings. This system provides the additional security of allowing a driver to easily spot an intruder who may be lurking in the bushes as they pull into a dark driveway.

While the infrared image was distracting at first, I soon grew accustomed to keeping it in my peripheral vision, except when something significant appeared. This system had a brightness and position control and I could shut it off on well-lit city streets. I believe that drivers who often travel on unlit rural roads will appreciate the value of Night Vision, but for city folk, it is just an intriguing novelty that is difficult to show off because the windshield display is for the driver's eyes only The only way a passenger can see the display is if they put their head on your shoulder or they sit behind the wheel. "

Originally Posted by warot

The car is not even out in the States yet... besides, I don't get to drive Benz's much so my answer is no.
I'm just so surprised that there is such a huge uproar when I say that the system doesn't seem intuitive. Why? Because it's not even in your line of sight. If that's so hard to grasp, then I'm going to have to throw in the towel on this one. Keep in my mind, I'm not only criticizing Benz's system, but also BMW's.

Originally Posted by warot

And I would also like to see proof that the range of the nightvision increases if you go past 15mph.

Originally Posted by yomomwhat

no offense but if Mercedes says it only activates over 15kph then i think they know what they are talking about, parking sensors deactivate over about 15kph and people dont say oh parking sensors suck i want to see proof that they work on motorways do they?

Originally Posted by warot

Ok I've watched the 5th gear show over and over again to see if there was any difference when it was at a standstill or actually driving. I couldn't tell the difference in the range of night view assist but I could be wrong.

What you don't seem to understand is that my main concern with the system is that it is not in your line of sight that's all. I'm not so much concerned about the range really. Again, if you still don't believe me, I also criticize the BMW's system because it is so low.

By the way, I did some research on these systems, and the BMW's system uses FIR (Far Infrared) and has a range of 300m.
The other thing is, (I'm sure BMW uses the same), Night View Assist is not even a Benz techonology. You guessed it right, it's Bosch.

Originally Posted by yomomwhat

do all the other companies systems pick up cold objects as well as hot objects? i read something ages ago about the night vision which made it different from other current systems??

Originally Posted by warot

Well that's what night vision is. It picks up heat from the surroudings so that's how you differentiate the cold from the hot.