Audible
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Lights
have come a long way since the original tungsten filament light was introduced
and subsequently replaced by the Halogen lightbulb in the early 60’s. It
remained the standard with little in the way of innovation until the early 90s
when the HID headlamp was unveiled by BMW and then 13 years later the LED
Headlight by Audi.
These
days the most common head lamp to be found on cars is still the halogen
headlight, but this is eventually going to become antiquated in favour of newer
technologies such as HID, LED and as futuristic as it sounds LASER.
Before
we get into the details of each of the above there are a few things to become
acquainted with if you intend on buying a replacement or upgrading your
existing headlights.
Alignment:
A lot of people may be unaware of this
but your headlights are actually aimed specifically to suit countries that
drive on the right side or the left side. Headlights for use in left lane
traffic countries have low-beam headlamps that dip to the left, the light is
distributed with a downward/lefthand bias to show the driver the road and signs
ahead without blinding oncoming traffic and vice versa for countries that drive
on the right side with most of their light directed downward/righthand. So you
could not buy a Headlight in Ireland if you intend to drive in France unless
you plan on having the car lights properly calibrated for the change in the
road. However, some cars have headlights that can adjust themselves with the
flick of a button that will set it to either RHD or LHD.
Auto
Levelling/Load adjustment: Used
very effectively in trucks load adjustment means that the headlights will
adjust themselves and dip the beam downwards to not blind other road users if
the car becomes higher or lower depending on the weight fluctuation or when the
car accelerates or decelerates.
Lumens:
This is the standard measurement of
light output.
Reflector
and Projector Headlights:
A reflector
headlamp is just what it sounds like, the actual light comes
from a bulb in the center of the headlamp housing and reflects off of the sides
of the housing. This allows the light being emitted from the small bulb to be
spread out on the road in front of the vehicle.
Projector
headlights also do exactly what they sound like-they project
the light rather than reflecting it. This type of housing calls for a different
type of light bulb to accommodate the housing. Projector headlights allow for
more control of the light beams as they are emitted from the housing. One should
not confuse projector headlights with HID headlights. While all HID’s come in a
type of projector housing, not all projector headlight housings use HID bulbs
which is why you will see projector headlights come with H1/7/15 bulbs etc.
Halogen
Headlights
Halogen:
Halogen lights contain a gas, usually a
combination of nitrogen and argon, and a tungsten filament, that are encased in
a glass tube. The glass is made to resist extremely high temperatures. When the
light bulb receives the electrical current from the car, this heats the
tungsten filament creating light. The most common headlight bulb you will find
in the automotive world, it is estimated to be installed in as much as 80% of
all cars. Since the 60’s it has become the standard due to the cheapness and
the ease of replacement mixed with a relative good lifecycle. They also turn on
extremely quick in comparison to a Xenon bulb
However,
there are reasons why newer technologies are being developed to replace this
type of Light.
- It is inefficient and dim in
comparisons to other available light options. A standard Halogen bulb will
produce 1300 Lumen. While this is good there are far better options if the
better light is what you seek.
- Another downside is that they are
extremely sensitive to substances, using your bare hands will leave an
oily residue on the glass which will alter the heat distribution and lower
the lifespan emphatically.
- Energy wise it is inefficient as
it creates a lot of heat which is then wasted.
- There is also the problem with
light not being focused so any illumination of the road isn’t what it
could be.
HID
(High intensity Discharge):
HID: Sometimes referred to as Xenon made
their debut in the early 90s by BMW for the BMW 7 series and since then it has
gradually been adopted by increasing numbers of manufacturers for various
Premium and non-premium level cars.
High
intensity discharge headlights contain a mixture of gases and rare metals that
are heated to generate a bright white (or blue) glow which legislators have
stipulated all new cars must illuminate. Not only do they produce white light
this white light has a blue hue to it which adds to the aesthetic beauty of
your car.
HID’s
are roughly two to three times brighter than the standard halogen bulbs about
3000 Lumen compared to 1400 produced from Halogen bulbs and as a result, has
led to complaints about the level of glare these lamps produce.
This
increases vision which increases reaction time to unforeseen obstacles making
driving safer at night.
HID
lamps actually require more power to start up but once they are on they operate
at a much lower power usage than Halogen. Drawing only about 35 watts of power,
they generally are good for about 2000 hours of life. This makes HID lights
more efficient than halogen.
This
also means there will be less taxing demands on the alternator which won’t
require more engine torque to sustain the electricity demand. However, any fuel
efficiency gains will be minimum at best but if your environmentally aware it
does mean slightly fewer emissions.
Like
most things it is not all plain sailing for Xenon lights or everybody would
install them.
- Firstly, the cost alone is most of
the reason these haven’t completely taken over as the industry standard.
They are not cheap to replace due to the rare metals they use.
- They are also notorious for being
a failing component of car inspection tests(NCT) if someone manages to
jerry rig these bulbs into a halogen bulb housing.
- The uncontrolled brightness will
cause huge amounts of glare compromising road safety. These Xenon bulbs
require a projector style headlamp to house them.
- They require a short period of
time to attain full brightness.
- Some countries require a Xenon
equipped headlight to have an automatic washer installed.
Bi-Xenon: On most car models, HID lighting is
only used for the low beams while the high beam light is provided by an
entirely separate set of halogen lights primarily because high beams need to be
turned on and off instantly which HID is not great at. For vehicles with
bi-xenon headlights, the HIDs provide both the low and the high beam from the
same enclosure of xenon lights via a shutter that moves up and down when
prompted meaning since the bulb is already operating there is no delay when
turning it on.
Also,
a Bi-Xenon lamp uses two bulbs whilst normal Xenon lamp uses 4 which means more
cost attached for replacements in the long run.
However,
whilst not overly common the shutter is susceptible to wear and tear and could
malfunction given time. However, this is not a problem for standard Xenon
lights which don’t use shutters.
LED
LED
(short for light emitting diodes) car lights have surprisingly been around
since 2004 but have only begun to gain popularity recently with more and more
people looking for better alternatives to the standard Halogen bulbs.
One
of the biggest draws for the LED bulb is that it is by far the most energy
efficient option on the market. LED Bulbs draw 15 to 18 watts of power whereas
Halogen bulbs draw 55 to 65 watts and HID draws around 42.
They
also have an incredibly long lifespan 30000-40000 hours which could potentially
see out the entire lifetime of the car which is pretty unprecedented in itself.
LEDs do
not contain mercury and a push is being made to replace lead-containing
solders with material devoid of any lead, keeping them in line with
European directives further decreasing their environmental footprint.
Their
small size also enables them to be arranged into virtually any design which
makes them ideal for customization fanatics. In terms of illumination, they
fall in-between HID and Halogen for brightness.
However,
LED’s like most things have their own drawbacks.
Although
LEDs do not produce heat like halogen headlights would they do however create a
small amount of heat at the emitter when electricity passes through since this
location is close to a number of sensitive cables and other electrical
components this creates the possibility that other parts (assemblies and
connectivity cables) become damaged.
This
is why LED headlights require cooling in the form of fans and heat sinks to
keep from melting. However, LED cooling systems are generally positioned in the
engine bay. This limits manufacturers ability to make lights for certain makes
and models, this also explains why they are more expensive than other types of
headlights.
Something
to be very wary of when buying LED kits and if the price is a consideration…A
lot of the cheap LED kits use poor quality aluminium heat sinks, and these
sometimes significantly shorten lifespans.
Luckily
LED daytime running lights and tail lights don’t use heat-sinks because DRL’s
and rear lights/indicators aren’t used to see at night so less power is
diverted to the running of these lights/ less power = less heat when it comes
to LED’s. The current running through the chips is not enough to create any
sort of problem.
They
also have the shortest rise time (the time it takes to turn on) at 1
millisecond, this makes it over 250 times faster than Halogen making it
extremely useful as a brake or indicator light.
Unfortunately,
at the moment LED large scale manufacturing isn’t cost effective as there are
so many components human hands have to do the majority of the assembly. This
leads to high production costs that are pushed onto the end user, so far now LED
lights are going to be pricey.
LED
Matrix:
It’s
a sign of Audi’s
confidence in LED lights that despite their poor adoption rates by large scale
manufacturers so far, they have kept on innovating and recently they unveiled
the Matrix LED headlights sort of the headlights version of the
smartphone, they allow drivers to leave the high beams left permanently on as
they have the capability to detect other vehicles and pedestrians and divert
light away so that they don’t blind other drivers while at the same time
continue to cast their full light in the areas where there isn’t another
vehicle(probably why they are sometimes referred to as smart lights). This is
made possible because the light path is created using numerous LEDs roughly 25
per headlight unit spread over a grid (or matrix), and these are controlled by
a central control unit that is being fed information on road conditions through
a camera mounted on the front of the vehicle.
It
is interesting that this technology is currently banned in the US due to an
outdated law made back in the late 60s requiring vehicles to have a driver
controlled High and Low beam, it also took nearly a decade for the US to
approve of Halogen lights so it might be a while before the US sees smart
headlights!
LASER:
The
word laser probably conjures up images of Star Wars and other Sci fi type
scenarios where lasers are used as deadly weapons. But in the real world, it is
not quite as dangerous, or at least the laser headlights produced by BMW and
Audi. Laser headlights are touted as being the next big thing in headlights
technologies being brighter and more energy efficient than existing lights.
How
new are they you ask? Very new is the answer. So new in-fact that only a couple
of cars currently have them (and not the cheap types of cars either) BMW’s i8
which costs upwards of 100k and BMW’s 7 series range also currently supports
laser light.
Laser
headlights also boast at being much brighter than LED or HID lights, so bright
in-fact that LASER headlights only kick in when you drive in speeds excess of
60km, anything below then the LED lights take over so it will be tricky showing
these lights off in any urban setting.
And
if you were worried that an abundance of these lights on roads posed the risk
of blinding you then don’t worry as the dangerous part of the lasers are buried
deep in the assembly and have reflectors and all sorts of safety systems built
in to prevent any danger to the public.
Earlier
we discussed the LED Matrix smart-light system, BMW have also come up with
their own laser version called the ‘M4 Concept Iconic Lights’. Not only do
these lights prevent other drivers being blinded but they also project messages
onto the road warning of a dangerous over take etc.
Lasers
have many advantages over the conventional LED lights:
Pros:
Pros:
- They use energy more efficiently,
even though the actual lasers are 1,000 times brighter than LEDs, the
system uses only about half the power.
- Because laser-powered headlights
can put out more brightness for their size, the headlamp units themselves
can be much smaller. As a result, designers can have a lot more
flexibility to make more aerodynamic designs.
- The laser lights can be much
smaller than conventional lighting systems, they can use less energy to
operate and well, they look pretty darn cool.
- Lasers lights as we know are much
more focused so do not get scattered easily thus they illuminate longer
distances than conventional lights.
Cons:
- At the moment they are only
available for an extremely small range of cars.
- They are going to be insanely
expensive for the foreseeable future since last Gen innovations such as
LED and HID are still on the pricey side of things.
Which
should I buy?
It
goes without saying that unless you’re driving a BMW i8 or M7 then you should
forget about laser headlights for the time being until they become more widely
available. If the price isn’t too big of an obstacle, then HID for better
illumination but if you’re looking for something almost as good but way better
for efficiency and the environment then LED is the way to go.
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