Why do all the new AMG cars' rear lights flicker while the car is idling
01-24-2012, 09:46 PM
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Why do all the new AMG cars' rear lights flicker while the car is idling
I have a question that I've always wondered about. Why do all the new AMG cars' rear lights flicker while the car is idling, revving or during pull-aways? I'm aware of the Force Brake Display (flickering rear lights when breaking hard) but this is something completely different. And I've also noticed that the Daytime Running Lamps also flicker while the AMG is driving. Please tell me more...
01-25-2012, 05:18 AM
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01-25-2012, 03:17 PM
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01-25-2012, 09:39 PM
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It's because they flicker so fast in real life your eyes can't pick them up but they show up in videos because the camera optics can actually track the split second flicker.
Or i might just be full of myself, lol.
Or i might just be full of myself, lol.
01-26-2012, 08:54 AM
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LED's are direct current, they are on or off, they can also be dimmed, so you can get multiple levels of light output.
For that matter, so are regular lights in a vehicle.
What you are seeing in the videos, is the refresh rate of the screen and camera recording defects combined (you will not notice the flickering if say the video was recorded with a RED or similar high end camera).
As a caveat, my wife's eyes are apparently weird, specifically on Cadillac LED tail lights, they appear perfectly fine to me, but to her they are constantly flickering. I think it has more to do with the optical illusion of so many LED's in close proximity to each other and a vehicle in motion...
The only time you should see lights flickering, are AC lights, which flicker at 60 times per second, or 50 in some other countries (depends on the power supply, the US is 110-120V 60Hz, South Africa is 220V 50Hz, your country may vary)
The Hz value is the number of cycles that the generator rotates at per second, AC is a sine wave, going from positive to negative constantly, when you are next to the light you do not notice it, when you are far away from the lights (like city road lights), you can notice the flickering.
