yes, the OE bulbs in my car are 4300k, more towards white than halogen but not as white or blue as most other xenon or LED bulbs. Will definitely search for 4300K bulbs again
Xenon bulb questions
- Thread starter 92saturnsl2
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the new cars with LED bulbs seem to be running with high beams on when roads are wet. All they are achieving is blinding others though
I have 4300K xenon bulbs in my Sedona... While I don't hate them, the color is still much whiter and "purer" than standard halogen, I definitely prefer the whiter bulbs that came in the Pacifica. Not sure what OEM color temperature is as I haven't taken old bulbs out yet, but it's definitely whiter than what my Sedona comes with, and I prefer the whiter light in all conditions even if scientifically, the 4300K is considered optimal.
I should be replacing the bulbs today, doesn't look fun. At a minimum, I have to remove the airbox to get to the passenger side, and the battery definitely has to come out to get access to the drivers. Possibly other stuff as well.
I should be replacing the bulbs today, doesn't look fun. At a minimum, I have to remove the airbox to get to the passenger side, and the battery definitely has to come out to get access to the drivers. Possibly other stuff as well.
This is why people do things for aesthetics rather for logical reasons and that's why you have the super white craze when it's actually worse. Same with the larger wheel bit, more bent/cracked rims and flat tires due to that. I suppose not being able to see well in bad weather doesn't really come into play.
Why are manufacturers trending more and more to higher color temperatures / whiter light? It's not like they can't tweak the LED phosphors to create the "perfect" 4300K light. Instead they continue to move in the direction of >5000K.
I don't care one bit about aesthetics, or what other people think of my vehicles. For me it's about visibility, and having compared both, one clearly trumps the other. I think it's foolish to dictate that one color temperature works better in all conditions / driving environments for all drivers, too many variables at play.
That's known as science. Market demands make manufactures do things to sell cars, not because it makes sense. Look at the night package. Now instead of customizing your car, you can get the blacked out look from the factory. Never mind that studies shows that white is the most visible color and gets into less accidents. But now you can get a car even darker. Same issue with wheels. They do it to sell cars, not because it's the best.
I will agree to disagree on the premise that one light color temperature is better than the other for everybody in all driving conditions (even if science supports your position,) but I am in complete agreement on the night packages. Big profit puppy for the manufacturers-- they can paint wheels black and use (often) unpainted body cladding both of which save them money, then turn around and charge more for it!
That's the beauty of science. All you have to is look at the data. Have you? Basically the yellow light is better for the human eyes in bad weather conditions. It's a compromise. Whiter light you can see further in clear weather. Human eyes just work on a particular range. If you have a night vision package then maybe you can do both, go with a whiter light and still be able to see well in bad weather.I will agree to disagree on the premise that one light color temperature is better than the other for everybody in all driving conditions (even if science supports your position,) but I am in complete agreement on the night packages. Big profit puppy for the manufacturers-- they can paint wheels black and use (often) unpainted body cladding both of which save them money, then turn around and charge more for it!
Pretty sure leds emit their most lumens at higher temperatures. LEDs at 4300k won’t be as bright as at 6000k, so it’s done for marketing reasons ie 4000 lumens @ 6000k vs 3500 lumens at 4300k, even though 4300k gives better vision. HIDs are the opposite being brightest at 4300k.
That depends a lot on how they're designed. Even some supposedly regulated output ballasts, can have a change in output based on the input voltage, and that is IF they are working as designed rather than failing.
Philips Xenon X-treme Vision gen2 are what I bought recently and they are fantastic. 4800k and super bright.
The problem is glare. The human eye is very bad at glare from higher color temperatures, and in fog (and to lesser extent rain and snow) it is worse because more light is reflected back at your eyes.
The same is true to a lesser extent in EVERY driving condition, that whatever you can see, you see because light is reflected back from that object. High color temperature lights create a perception that they are brighter because they create more glare, but cause worse vision than same amount of lumens at a more moderate color temperature that is less glaring.
A whiter light is something to pick if you just don't like to see well and prefer making it more difficult for everyone to see, both the driver of the vehicle and others around it.
Why they are brighter? White LEDs produce blue light, then how much that blue is warmed up depends on phosphor coatings and the more it is warmed up, the more loss there is in the conversion. However there is an upper limit to a safe amount of light, and the efficiency differences running off a relatively high powered electrical system are insignificant. The only real reason to make it a colder color temperature is to market to people who are uneducated about effective lighting, or prefer a certain look, or to save a minor amount on the construction cost by using a small % fewer LEDs or smaller dies.
If you're in a contest to build the brightest flashlight that might be important, but the surface area, and power supply potential from a vehicle is so much greater that it is more important to pick a color temperature that the human eye is most compatible with.
It's something that's not really subject to debate. The human eye contains (approximately) FIFTEEN times more red cones than blue cones. A lumen rating is typically not weighted for this, so a lower lumen, warmer color light, can be more effective at illuminating something a human has to recognize, but still visually seem less bright because it's blinding you less.
Some of the things you talk of I'm not knowledgeable about, but the stuff I recognise I totally agree with.
Just want to add, due to the angle that the light hits the road ahead, it's quite possible more light is reflected to oncoming traffic than back to your eyes, increasing the glare for everyone else. And if LED headlight assemblies are frozen or wet from dew, glare can be horrendous and straight from the source, while the driver gets even less light reflected back. At least halogen and HID will defrost/dry the lenses.
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