Audi e-tron Sportback lighting technology Animation

Audi continues to impress with its headlight technology. At the LA Auto show, the big news for the automaker is the E-Tron Sportback -- an new model with a sleeker design. But while most of that tech under the hood is the same as what's found in the regular E-Tron SUV, the lights are all new.

Ahead of the unveiling, Audi took me for a 5 AM drive on the freeways of Los Angeles to show off its new digital matrix LED headlights. In addition to the ability to mask out other vehicles so as not to blind oncoming drivers (a feature found on other Audi headlights), these new lights come with what the company is calling a "carpet of light."

Using a chip with over one million micro-mirrors, the vehicle creates a high-definition strip of light ahead of the vehicle within the car's lane. The result is a brighter area of light just ahead of the E-Tron as it rolls down the highway. The light grows and shrinks depending on how close it is to the vehicle ahead of it. So it adds additional illumination to the E-Tron's lane without disturbing other drivers.