Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
H7 is the high beam. And to my eye the 5000k white provides better visibility (without starting a debate) its what my eye see's best and at my age I know what I like. The dingy yellow is great in foggy conditions, otherwise I prefer the white. With that said, my original question. which bulb is the standout in the color range (keeping in mind id prefer not to replace them every three months)
As the saying goes, "you can't get there from here". You can get less yellow. And you can get long lasting. But not both in one product.
A halogen bulb producing "5000K light" necessarily has to be coated with a blue coating to remove some of the yellow of the light spectrum. In order to compensate for this light-reducing filter, bulb manufacturers do things to "amp up" the light output from the actual filament to keep the bulb in compliance (+/- 15% of the rated output). Often, this means using a smaller diameter filament. This has a number of advantages: smaller diameter filaments burn brighter and also create better beam focus. However, long life is not one of their advantages. Long life or heavy duty bulbs often run thicker or larger diameter filaments -- they're structurally stronger and will last longer. But, they don't burn as bright.
There is no way to get long life and 5000K light at the same time. If they don't apply the blue filter, the filament can be made larger and the bulb will last a long time -- but the light has more yellow. If they do apply the filter but don't also shrink the filament, they'll have a bulb that doesn't produce enough light to be legal. An H7's spec is 1,450 lumens. Legally, all bulbs marked as H7 bulbs approved for road use must produce between 1,233 and 1,668 lumens.