High-resolution automotive projection is moving beyond welcome graphics, with
suppliers demonstrating systems that can place dynamic content onto the road and
surrounding environment.
Source date: 2025-2026 Primary organisation: Marelli and wider automotive lighting sector
From logo to interface
Ground projection entered the mainstream as a relatively simple welcome feature: open a door and a logo
appears on the pavement. The underlying idea is now becoming much more ambitious. Digital light engines can
place guidance, warnings and animated graphics into the physical environment around a vehicle.
A new output surface
The important conceptual shift is that the vehicle no longer needs a built-in screen for every visual message. The
road, garage floor or adjacent surface can become a temporary display. That opens applications in navigation,
safety, loading guidance, personalisation and brand experience.
Optics meet software
As resolution rises, projection becomes closely tied to the software-defined vehicle. Cameras and ADAS systems
determine what is happening; software decides what information is useful; the optical system renders it at the
right location and intensity.
Constraints remain real
Ambient light, road texture, dirt, legal restrictions and the risk of distraction all limit what projection can do. The
strongest applications will be those that exploit location: information that is more useful on the ground than on
another screen inside the car.
The Lux View
Projection is valuable not because it can create a very large image, but because it can put information exactly
where it is needed. That makes the technology a bridge between lighting, HMI and the physical world around the
vehicle.
Publishing information
Source and research links
Marelli – Auto China 2026
Audi – digital lighting interview
https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/press-releases/digital-lighting-provides-added-safety-16878