Mr. Mercedes

Did they comment on the positioning of each screen? I wonder which one they prefer?

You know whats funny about these systems is you wouldnt really get to test them properly at a dealership test drive since theyre always during the day.

The Artist

i think its a big minus that the BMW sys cant detect cold objects.. a system like that has been in cadillacs that are several years old..

EnI

True.

But such a systems were developed in first place to prevent pedestrians & cyclists to be run over in night traffic. And in such case BMW system proves to be more effective.

But, yes. When a stone or a dead person or deer or dog or cat lies on a road, you'll have to rely on you own eyes to see it when driving a BMW.

The Artist

well isnt that best really.. use your eyes.. .. but ofcourse there night view systems are fun.. and good car candy.. but i rather do it old fashion way

EnI

The screen position dos not matter.

In Mercedes' case you have to took a long look from a road - to look at the screen and read/recognize the images. The problem is you are not looking at directly road.

In BMW case you just take a glance at a screen with your eyes - to check for "white spots" = for warm objects like cars, motocycles, animals, humans. It takes you only a friction of time - just like checking the traffic behind the car in your rear mirror.

They had a problem with MB system because the image was so perfect all details were displayed - even the ones not important, so driver had to think about them and select/recognize important objects (obstacles) from not important ones. That was too distracting and took a much more time than checking the info from BMW system.

Summary: MB system is too perfect, displaying too much information / details so driver is distracted with reading the image - recognizing the details. While in BMW they just had to pay attention to bright white silhouettes. But BMW system do not recognize cold obstacles like dead animals, stones, parked cars - yet system is primary there to prevent humans (pedestrians & cyclists) to be run over.

EnI

That why BMW have chosen the FIR technology. Only as an addition - while in most cases you'll have to rely on your eyes and high beam.

I'm sure will read a lot more of comparisons between the system in the near future.

Alx

VIDEO: BMW Night Vision

Posted Jan 30th 2006 2:00PM by - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Filed under: - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER, - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER, - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTERWe recently - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER that BMW's Night Vision technology will be debuting on its vehicles in March. The 5 Series sedan, sports wagon, and 6 Series coupe and convertible will be the first models able to see in the dark, and we've put together a little - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER to show you exactly what the experience will be like behind the wheel.

The system seems similar to the technology used by Cadillac on 2000-2005 DeVilles, except that Caddies displayed their thermal images on the bottom portion of the windshield whereas the BMWs will make use of their nav screens. GM and Cadillac dropped their version of Night Vision after the 2005 model year since sales had fallen to 600 units/year from a first year high of 7,500 units. We'll wait and see whether or not BMW can make a better go of it.

PS: We got a better handle on this whole video compression thing and promise this one isn't the beastly download the last one was, so don't be scared to start streaming as this one should begin right away and is of much higher quality.

Yaz

I find this system useless if you ask me - especially on city streets. I mean who the hell in their right minds jog or skate at night on a dark road in the middle of nowhere.

I've driven on dark, rural roads and all I used is high beam all that time driving. Whenever I see a car coming from the opposite direction, I just turn off my high beam and turn it back on when the car passes me. Isn't this the reason Cadillac dumped theirs?

EnI

I find it usable - especially in Europe - in dry weather. Here many country roads outside towns (e.g. intervillage roads) are not not illuminated, yet you can often find cyclists or pedestrians even pets there. In such cases you can't use high beam, so such a system can help.

But the problem with this IR systems is they do not work well in rain, snow or fog since in such cases IR light is filtered in water drops - resulting in deterioration of displayed image.

So this can be quite useless in UK for example. Or anywhere in continental Europe in the Winter,

Yet BMW is developing the system further to be able to recognize the dangerous obstacles automaticly and warn the driver or even start braking. But the developent is stll in the early phases.

I find this system more interesting: - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

But IMO such nanny systems make driver even more passive - not being so alert anymore. And that's dangerous.

yomomwhat

"A scientific study in the US on behalf of the US Ministry of Transport showed that the high beam is only used in about 25 per cent of cases in which its use would be possible. As with windscreen wipers, the constant switching on and off of the high beam is an irritating and repetitive activity. So it was a logical step to exploit the potential of the high beam using intelligent technology in order to provide relief for the driver. "

ha

i think the MB screen is more logically positioned....people are used to glancing down at their speedo so it makes perfect sense to put it there, at least you dont have to turn your head, i would have like to see screens and cameras replacing the side mirrors also haaa
and also as for cold objects well...er....something like a tree in the road.....thats pretty useful if it can detect stuff like that