HID headlights

[Mayhem_J30]

I'm having trouble thinking this through and maybe some of you engineers can give me a hand.

There are vendors out there selling different color temperature bulbs for existing HID headlight systems. (keep in mind I'm not interested in this just skeptical). They sell different bulbs in different temps to achieve different colors. :rolleyes

My question is with the same system w/35W and stock ballast is the intensity of the light going to remain the same after putting in a bulb rated for a different temp?

Two good articles I found while researching my question:http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/thes...u.pdfI liked the part about how resonance was corrected with flat/square currents.http://www.ee.bgu.ac.il/~pel/pdf-files/conf56.pdf

[Eswift]

i researched HIDs briefly a while back, and it is my memory that higher K's didnt necessarily yield greater lumens. Also keep in mind that the more bluish or violet the light, the less good it actually is for increased vision.

[Q45tech]

And all lumens are not the same as the eye sensitivity varies by individual as to light frequency.http://www.amastro.org/at/ot/othcs.html

"The spectrum of the HID headlights is too broad. The high frequency (blue) components of their spectrum inhibits the night vision adaptation by the victim driver. It is well known that low frequency (red) light does not disable night vision (dark adaptation) while high frequency (blue) light does disable night vision. For this reason, astronomers use red-light flashlights when they are working in their observatories at night.

Conventional automobile headlights have less of an impact on night vision because they radiate in the low frequency (red and yellow) end of the visual spectrum."

http://opl.ecn.uiowa.edu/Prese...3.pdf

http://www.nuconverter.de/assets/2/pbd2 ... u/...t.pdf

The HID has 5-7 sharp color energy peaks of intensity: the blue and purple ones cause the problems vs a smooth relatively even spread of halogen/incandescent.

[s13sr20chris]

yeah, hids suck for everyone that doesnt have 'em. i hate oncoming traffic with hid lamps.

[Eswift]

yell at your local congressman then, we arent allowed to have the more advanced lighting solutions already in use in europe.

oh wait, their not just in use, they are mandated!

[s13sr20chris]

you know, it irks me to no end that we have inferior lighting technology legislation. i usually try to steer clear of stuff like, "everyone in europe is doing it!". in this case it seems that we really need some action in congress.

[maxnix]

in this case it seems that we really need some action in congress.

Actually, I think Congress has plenty of issues of more importance on it's agenda for the time being.

Ever since DOT went to a performance based criterion instead of a design based criterion for headlights, almost anything mad is available in the US if it meets teh US DOT regulations. Just take a look at all the systems available on cars sold in the US in recent years. It's a lot better now than the old days when we had to surreptitiously install Cibié and Hella halogens on our cars, aiming them perfectly so we wouldn't be noticed by the gendarmes.