Types of Car Headlights available in the market
Car headlights are one of the most essential parts that create its exterior look. They help you to light the dark and dingy road. The technologies for these lights have come a long way from carbide car bulbs used earlier to LEDs and laser lights in recent times. There are various types of headlights used by car manufactures based on the type of vehicle. For a typical end-user, the headlights are typically thought of as an addendum on vehicles unless one of them breaks or burns out. Many of us forget the vital role they play in securing the safety of the drivers.
Having innovative, contemporary, and proper functioning headlights is crucial for safety on the road. Always remember to fix the faulty car headlight as soon as possible as this can lead to legal implications and can hinder your safety precautions. The local laws have made it compulsory to have both the car headlights to be working in good condition. They not only secure the car and driver but also provide safety to the pedestrians and animals on the road too.
Vehicles in the modern era are seeing all types of new and innovative technologies, headlights have become safer, and more complicated. The changes have enhanced the look and feel of the cars over the years. Now car manufactures are keener on providing cutting-edge technology to their cars and especially to the headlights. As car headlights are one of the most frequently changed items and if you are looking to change those outdated headlights, then here is a list of them available in the market.
Halogen car headlights
These lights contain filaments on a single bulb which deliver both bright and dim light functions. The car bulb has pressurized gas and not a vacuum within it. The bulb filaments are made of tungsten and are pressurized with inert gas and halogen gas. A small amount of halogen gas is present that is chemically reactive with iodine or bromine. This helps the halogen bulb to burn brighter and for a longer period. It does not blacken the inside of the bulb. Some of these halogen bulbs come with a blue coating that makes them burn brighter than the normal ones.
Modern headlights have halogen casings bulbs. Older car’s sealed beams have halogen capsules that are built into the glass sealed beam casings and not in the original type of filament. If the traditionally sealed beam casings get hit by a rock or suffer any hard shock on the road, the vacuum inside will be lost and the filaments will get oxidized and burn out immediately. Small rocks hitting the light will not harm it as the halogen capsule provides the required safety.
The manufacturing cost of these halogen bulbs is less when compared to other types of car headlights. They are easy to replace too. They provide a slight yellowish hue which affects the eyes of oncoming vehicle’s drivers. Halogens burn hot and that decreases their lifespan.
Xenon or HID car headlights
Also known as High-Intensity Discharge lights, xenon is usually installed in high-end vehicles. These car bulbs are a combination of xenon and argon gases united with vaporized metals. This helps in emitting an extremely bright light. Several conversion kits are also available to upgrade to xenon car headlights from Halogens.
These lights deliver bluish-white lights that provide a greater and better range of illumination during night drives when compared to Halogens. Xenon lights take several seconds to provide maximum light and are too bright that might impair the night vision of the oncoming drivers.
LED car headlights
When electrons are fired towards positively charges holes inside a semiconductor they release photons that are energized particles of light. Thus LEDs are also called electroluminescence. This same technical expertise is now available in on-screen consoles and dashboard lights too. The LEDs are also frequently used in tail lamps, flashlights, home lighting systems, and many more.
These lights are highly advances and can be easily arranged in tight places. This quality of LEDs makes them the favorite among car manufacturers. It helps them to come up with more stylish and sleeker headlights that not only just look good but perform better too. Lights from OSRAM such as Night Breaker H7 are very sleek and innovative car headlights that help the driver have a clear and crisp view during the night driving. They produce bright white light that illuminates the road for a longer distance.
The LEDs are designed to produce any color of the spectrum. These lights do not blind the oncoming drivers and are very energy efficient. These lights range from 4000 to 6000 kelvin on the color scale. They do not produce heat that provides long hours of illumination usually the entire life of the vehicle.
Laser car headlights
The most recent innovation in automotive lighting technology, laser light gets its illumination through a process called chemiluminescence. They produce light by triggering a chain of chemical reactions. The phosphorus gas inside the chamber starts glowing when laser beams are shot on it. The light in front of the car is emitted from the gas and not the laser beams. When a laser shines onto the mirrors that reflect onto the lens which is filled with a special gas, a strong light beam is created. All these activities happen in an intricately small and sleek headlight unit.
They are very energy efficient and are much smaller in size that produces approximately 1000x amount of light. This allows the car manufacturers to develop a shallower assembly for the car bulbs. These lights can be fit in any high-end modern car and are easily adapted to the design of the car. As they are far-reaching, these car lights are very good for night driving.
Headlights are an important part of your car and they aid you in driving not just for your safety but for the visibility of your vehicle to others. The types of headlights discussed above evolve and regress with time, technology and demand. Each type comes with its pros and cons that you should consider before replacing your car bulbs. Each of them can be upgraded according to your requirements but the only prerequisite from you is to buy these car headlights from established brands for better quality and support.
