![]() BMW has also conducted further research that's found less difference between white and orange-red light at night than previously thought, so these newer cars will maintain neutral white dial illumination even at night (at somewhat reduced intensity), with orange-red displayed less prominently. ![]() Hence the X4 switchover at night.ħ Series cars use an intelligent system keyed to a windshield-mounted light sensor for more control of the light color and intensity presented to the driver. White is easy to see in bright light, and the clarity is excellent. As Heilmer explained to me, that's because during the day the key consideration is maximum contrast. When you look up from the instrument cluster, your rods are in good shape and able to scan the road ahead for bears while your cones chill and wait for the next glance at the gauges.īut as I noticed in the X4, BMW has been playing with white gauge illumination for a while now. The cones, less sensitive to light overall but highly attuned to red light, are able to pick out the details of what's illuminated pretty well. The rods, very sensitive to light in general but not so much to red, aren't dazzled by it. So imagine red light from a gauge cluster hitting your eyeball. The other piece of the puzzle is that those motion-sensing rods are particularly insensitive to red light. Most of them are tuned to detect red light, so you need less light overall to see something illuminated in that color. They're concentrated in the center of your eye. Basically, cones do details and color very well. Imagine our prehistoric predecessors checking out a cave in the dark: Rods are there to help you figure out if there's a bear in the back of that cave, and if it's coming to eat you, but not what color it is.Īnd then there are cones. They also don't really process color, which is why it's tough to discern hues or sharp details in dim light, but they're great for detecting motion. They're much more numerous, and more concentrated in the periphery of your eyes, not in the center. Remember in anatomy class, when you leaned about rods and cones in your eyes? You might not remember much beyond that – I certainly didn't – but rods are very sensitive and essential in low-light situations. Heilmer didn't get into it, but the research I came across about how the human eye processes light lends a lot of credence to 605 nanometers being the ideal wavelength for night driving. Trademark and a conscious ergonomic decision ever since. ![]() ![]() BMW discovered this in the 1970s, and it's been both an aesthetic The eye doesn't tire as quickly trying to read gauges illuminated with red-orange light, he said. The color was chosen to allow the driver to clearly see the instrument cluster, but also to be able to adjust to the darkness outside the vehicle quickly after looking up. Generated by light at a wavelength of 605 nanometers. Heilmer told me that BMW's characteristic orange-red hue is So it's appropriate that I'm speaking to Heilmer about the X4's dashboard. Designworks is a design shop wholly owned by BMW in LA, and it was intimately involved with the entire process that resulted in BMW's X family of SUVs. But I'd never really fact-checked my assumptions.Īfter some mostly unhelpful internet research, I reached out to BMW and was put in touch with President of BMW Designworks Oliver Heilmer. I thought red light was the best color to preserve night vision – hence the submarine association – felt blue was the worst, and had a profound ambivalence about green. But why white, and why orange-red? I'll admit I subscribed to some amateur theories about night vision. I like this: the white is crisp and clear during the day, and at night the orange-red looks purposeful – like the inside of a submarine conning tower or a spy plane. X4's automatic headlights kicked on and the gauges switched from primarily white illumination to the classicĬolor. I was thinking about this because I had just driven her car, and left the dash lights too low. After all, messing with the dimmer is just another type of distraction. Mazda, and sets it to a moderate level (but brighter than I like it) so she can see in all conditions, including at dusk. I driveĪn older Toyota pickup with soft green gauge illumination, and I'll jockey my dimmer so it's barely bright enough to see clearly when I glance down. As I was driving the hunch-rumped, growlyīMW X4 M40i recently, I was thinking about a long-standing but low-intensity domestic disagreement in my house.
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