Audi Q3 introduces digital matrix LED technology with micro-LED innovation

Audi unveils the new Q3 with advanced digital matrix LED headlights using micro-LED modules featuring 25,600 individually controlled lights for improved visibility and safety.

In autumn 2025, Audi introduced the updated Q3 in Ingolstadt, featuring an innovative digital matrix LED system with micro-LED technology, used for the first time in the compact class. According to Michael Kruppa, Head of Front Lighting Development, the headlights now work almost like a video projector: inside a 13-millimeter module are 25,600 micro-LEDs, each individually controlled. This allows the light pattern to adapt to every driving situation and enhances driver orientation in the dark.

The intelligent system can project guidance lines—orientation light and lane light—directly onto the road, helping the driver stay centered in the lane while alerting others during lane changes. When the temperature drops below four degrees Celsius, the system projects a snowflake onto the asphalt, the same warning symbol that appears on the instrument cluster.

Kruppa emphasizes that Audi’s goal is to make lighting not merely a comfort feature but a tool for safety and communication between the driver and the surroundings. The new micro-LED modules are smaller, lighter, and more efficient, while maintaining high contrast even in poor visibility conditions.

Such technology previously appeared only in Audi’s larger models using DMD projection, but now the “smart light” becomes accessible to a wider range of drivers. The micro-LED units are supplied by ams OSRAM, whose innovations are also employed by other leading automotive lighting manufacturers.

With these advancements, the Audi Q3 marks the beginning of a new generation of vehicles in which digital light not only illuminates the road but also helps drivers see, orient, and react in time.