Car headlights - 4 things drivers need to know when upgrading

1. Halogen Lamp

Halogen lights are a popular type of light on popular car models today. This type of light uses a tungsten filament, which is heated to 2,500 degrees Celsius to produce light. In addition, some gases such as argon and nitrogen are added to the bulb to increase lighting efficiency. With a color temperature of about 3,500 degrees K, Halogen lights give off yellow light. This type of light has the advantage of providing quite good lighting when passing through foggy areas or heavy rain.

However, compared to other types of lamps, Halogen lamps generate a lot of heat, consume a lot of electricity, and have low luminous efficiency. The average lifespan of this type of lamp is 1,000 hours.

2. Xenon - HID Lamp

Xenon lights produce light 2 - 3 times stronger than Halogen lights, color temperature from 4,300 - 5,500 degrees K for white light; vehicles using this type of light always have improved driver visibility.

However, the production and maintenance costs of Xenon lamps are quite high as they are made up of many parts such as converging lenses, xenon bulbs and voltage stabilizing ballasts. This is the reason that limits the appearance of Xenon lamps on many car models.

In addition, Xenon lights have a slow light-up time. When the light is first turned on, it is blue, then it takes about 3-5 seconds for the light to turn white and reach its highest intensity. The glare of this type of light can also easily obstruct oncoming vehicles.

3. LED lights

LED is actually an abbreviation for the phrase “Light-Emitting Diode” which means “light-emitting diodes”. Manufacturers can make LED lights in many different shapes to increase aesthetics while still ensuring the vehicle’s lighting ability.

The color temperature of LED lights reaches 5,000 - 6,300 degrees K for white light, the brightness can reach nearly 10,000 Lumens, this parameter is double that of Xenon lights.

LED lights have the advantage of glowing quickly and not consuming much energy to activate. However, this type of light emits a lot of heat, which can easily increase the temperature of the semiconductor chip, affecting nearby parts. Therefore, LED lights are often manufactured with a cooling system, making the cost and price high.

4. Laser Light

This is the most modern and expensive type of light today, the light intensity of Laser lights can shine up to 600m compared to 300m of LED lights, but only uses more than half the amount of electricity consumed compared to LED.

The disadvantage of laser lights is that they do not have a high beam mode, so the laser light system needs to be supported by Bi-Xenon or LED lights when the driver needs to "flash the headlights". Besides, this type of light emits a lot of heat; the price of laser lights is quite expensive, so only some luxury car models have this type of light installed.