In HID terminology, it is well understood that the temperature does denote light output for all intents and purposes. 4300k is the magic bullet for most visible light output and least ambient glare, hence 90%+ of OEM HID lighting uses it. Most conversion charts list the equivalent lumens per temperature bulb. For normal road use 4300k and 6000k are pretty much the most effective temperature ratings. I guess they can theorize all day about what certain temperatures do and what type of lighting is best, but I think actually leaving the lab and trying driving at night would answer the questions immediately. Its pretty much a stupid thing to argue when the conclusions are just flat out wrong when it comes to what you can see on the road in REALITY. What supposed scientists think about a lab test means exactly diddley ****, not to mention how many 'tests' are a bunch of teenage kids in college.

In our S-197 mustangs, a 4300 or 6000 HID bulb conversion puts out more light over any halogen bulb available no question whatsoever, and lights road signs and painted lines far better. Glare does goes up to a much higher then average level, but not as bad as some other fully approved factory HID setups, nor many halogen setups as well.<--period The slight rake of our cars and the hooded shape of our housings keep it withing tollerable limits as most people's line of sight is higher then our cars'. If our bulbs were in an F-350, it would be another story. If you have not tried the setup yourself, you just won't understand.

 

To metroplex's point, yes I understand that the K range has to so with the color of the light output and that the farther up the scale you go the more "glare" you get.

However high end halogen bulbs assuming stock wattages (55/60 low/high) put out 18 lumens per watt so on low setting thats 990 lumens of light. Standard issue HID bulbs regardless of the K range put out 72 lumens per watt. Most HID bulbs are 35 watts thats 2520 lumens. divide that by you halogen bulbs lumen out put and you get 2.5x the light per bulb.

As kevinb120 said, until you have experenced them at night it's really hard to describe the difference.

 

The maximum legal limit is 75,000 candelas in the high beam whether it is halogen, HID, or LED. The Chrysler 300C's halogen high beams put out 60,000+ candelas and are 4300K. Until you actually go into a lab and do qualitative testing, all this talk about color temperature being the magic bullet is pure rubbish (like bench racing about how much hp bolt-ons make without putting the car on a chassis dyno). FMVSS 108 refers to the SI units (candela). Some vendors like to use lumens.

Some HIDs can be well designed and put out a lot more light on the road, which is why they're brighter than some halogens and NOT because of the color temperature.

 

Here's an excerpt from some shady HID vendor's FAQ:

How many Candles or Lumens do your HID kits produce?
There are standards on what a candela is and what a Lumen is but amazingly there is no accepted international standard on how to measure that in an automotive application. So I cannot get my suppliers to provide that info without them altering the test procedure to favor their product. This type of info is incredibly unreliable, so please take caution when you see that kind of info.

Obtained from:
http://www.coolbulbs.com/HID_faq.asp

I guess these guys haven't heard of SAE, UNECE, or FMVSS eh? All 3 standardization bodies have plenty of documents on where and how to measure candela, and have limits on the color temperature given by SAE J578C (white).

 

Two problems with this bold statement:

1) light output DOES decrease with increasing color temperature for HID lights. It's simply the physics of the light. It takes more energy to produce higher frequencies of light, therefore with the same energy input, the intensity of the light will decrease as the color temp goes up.

2) Our eyes are very well adapted to looking at light that is close to "normal" sunlight. We can adapt pretty good to higher or lower color temps, but as you get away from that sunlight "sweatspot", our eyes loose the ability to detect (aka: perceive) the light. If your eye can't SEE the light, then the light isn't there as far as being usable for "SEEING" things goes! If you get far enough away from sunlight (say UV or IR), you can be bathed in enough light to fry your butt and you will STILL be in the dark. At least until your skin catches on fire...

 

Oh, and I thought this thread was started by asking what color temp HID bulbs were best... But I'm seeing post after post arguing about HID vs. halogen, etc.

You won't get any agruments from me wether HIDs produce more light than halogen (even at reduced power levels). They do. That is exactly why they are used on reef aquariums. You couldn't get enough incandecent bulbs over an aquarium to provide the light the corals need. And even if you could, you couldn't afford the electric bill nor could you keep the water temperature from heading towards the boil!

 

All of this is irrelevant when dealing with the white color bin defined by SAE J578. Thanks for playing though.

ETA: Another reason why #1 is irrelevant is because candelas is candelas. Whether your light is 10,000K or 4,300K, the lamp that is throwing out less (visible) light is well... throwing out less light. Now if you throw in advanced halogen designs into the fray, the amount of candelas (or lumens) are getting very close to HIDs and the color temperature itself has very little to do with this. SAE J578 happens to be a primary requirement for light color as defined in FMVSS 108, and the white color bin/envelope is what our forward headlamps have to stay within, therefore you comment about IR/UV is irrelevant since it isn't going to be visible white light within the defined envelope.

 

And all this worthless looking up 'research' on hids means what?

 

As long as the HID light source is in the same placement as the filament of the halogen, it should throw a similar light pattern. The reflector is parabolic in nature, so putting the light at the focus of the parabolic reflector ensures the light will be thrown down the road (hi-beam) and having the light above center of the focus, will place it downward (lo-beam).

Thx,

Mike

 

The human eye is most sensitive to light in the yellow-green part of the spectrum--that matches the spectral output of the sun.

Not a Ph.D but I am a physicist!

If our solar system were around the star Vega, then we'd all be sensitive to blue-white!

Mike

 

Hate to bring a thread back from the dead...but would hate even more to Start a new one with such a simple question---

Is this kit the correct one to get high/low HIDs for the HEADLIGHTS? (Im assuming yes because it says H13- but I just want to clarify before I pull the trigger)
http://www.vvme.com/product/detail-20022.html

 

Bump onto my post lol- I really wanna order these but Im not sure which kit is the correct one?