A car is not only a comfortable way to travel, but also an item of increased danger. In order not to get into an unpleasant situation at night, often you just need to resolve the issue with the lighting devices of the car. Recently, more and more motorists are beginning to give preference to the so-called xenon lamps. However, halogen headlights are also widespread. Let's try to figure out which is better - halogen or xenon.
What to install on the car: xenon or halogen.
Halogen lamps
Halogen vehicle lighting products are widespread. They are installed in the headlights of most brands and have a lot of varieties. Standard options have the structure of a flask filled with a special gas. There are two spirals inside the flask. This design is almost impossible to improve, although some manufacturers change the gas composition or use different sprays. Such lamps have various shades glow, from warm yellowish to cold blue. The shade is selected taking into account the operating conditions. A warm glow is better for use in all-weather conditions, but colder shades, as it makes the eyes less tired. The power of such lighting devices usually reaches 130 watts. The advantages of halogen headlights include:
- a fairly low price (they can cost from 300 rubles to 2000), in addition, if one of the bulbs fails, only it will need to be replaced;
- easy to install and replace;
- high luminous efficiency.
But such lamps also have a number of certain disadvantages:
- not very long service life - about 400 hours;
- dependence on vibrations: shaking can destroy the filament and the tungsten coil;
- lower brightness compared to xenon headlights;
- during operation, the headlight glass gets very hot, and therefore dust and dirt seem to stick to it, as a result of this, the degree of illumination of the road is greatly reduced.
Xenon bulbs contain xenon gas inside. It is not the filament that glows in them, but the so-called electric arc that occurs between the two electrodes. These electrodes are ignited from a special module that converts 12 constant volts into 25 kilovolts. After the lamp is on, the electronics will have to drop to 85 volts. At first, xenon lamps were used only in low beam, but over time they went through a number of improvements, and today 5th generation xenon lamps are significantly different from their predecessors. Modern xenon lamps also differ in color. Manufacturers offer lamps in three main color temperatures - Milky White, White and Crystal Blue. The color directly depends on the temperature. The lower the temperature, the closer to yellow light the lighting will be and the stronger the brightness will be.
The main advantages of such lamps include:
- efficiency in the consumption of electricity, and hence fuel;
- very bright illumination of the roadway, which makes the ride;
- when using a warm spectrum, visibility at night and during rain is significantly increased, improved light reflection from markings and road signs;
- the illumination range is much higher than that of the usual halogen headlights;
- greater coverage of the roadside due to an increase in the light beam;
- improving the appearance of the car, many choose this type of headlights;
- reduction of energy consumption by about 40%;
- the headlight glasses practically do not heat up, which reduces the adhesion of dirt;
- the operating time of such headlights is very long.
Xenon lamps also have a number of disadvantages:
- Quite high cost of xenon lamps. In addition to lamps, it is necessary to install the whole system of the ignition unit.
- If not correct installation and adjusting the xenon headlights causes oncoming vehicles to be dazzled, which, in turn, can lead to an emergency.
- In very bright light, the driver's eyes do not adapt well to unlit areas of the road.
- If one lamp fails, both will need to be replaced, as there may be a difference in light in paired headlights.
- The difficulty in installing such lighting.
What is better to choose
So, we figured out how xenon differs from halogen, and what to choose will depend on the wishes and capabilities of car owners. They will need to make a comparison and calculate the benefits of using certain headlights. Here are some comparison points:
- Halogen xenon headlights.
- Xenon headlights shine better and provide better overview road surface at night and in bad weather conditions.
- Halogen lamps are much easier to replace, but xenon lamps will only need to be replaced by a specialist. Substandard and incorrectly installed xenon headlights can blind oncoming drivers.
- The lifespan of xenon headlights is much longer - they last up to 3000 hours, while halogen headlights only 400.
- Xenon bulbs are very eye-catching, although modern halogen headlights can also have a bright white tint.
HALOGENIC INCIDENCE LAMPS
The first halogen lamps appeared in 1962 (model H1) and are still the most common source of lighting in car headlights... The design of these lamps does not differ much from ordinary incandescent lamps and is their evolution: the "halogen" also includes a sealed glass bulb, inside which electrodes with a tungsten filament are placed. But due to the high operating temperature of tungsten, its atoms evaporate onto the bulb, limiting its life. To increase the resource, it was decided to pump a special mixture of inert and halogen gases into the flask, which, interacting with the evaporating tungsten particles, prevents them from "sticking" to the walls of the flask and helps them "return" to the filament. This process made it possible to extend the lamp life and increase the spiral temperature, making the glow brighter. Despite their age, headlights with such a light source are unlikely to retire in the next twenty to thirty years. On their side are extremely low cost, which neither xenon nor LED headlights can compete with.
pros
Low cost of the lamp and optics in general, simplicity of design, installation of auto-correctors and headlight washers is not required.
Minuses
Short service life, low efficiency, strong heating of optics, weak light compared to "xenon".
The future of simple and accessible halogen lamps depends entirely on the speed of development of other light sources.
GAS DISCHARGE XENON
Progressive for its time optics with gas discharge lamps first appeared in 1991, as usual, on a premium car - the BMW 7 Series. And from the very beginning, the main advantage of "xenon" was undeniable: its spectacular and, most importantly, effective light. Also, the advantages include lower energy consumption (about 7% of energy instead of 40% goes into heat here) and a longer service life. If the life cycle"Halogens" is about 500-800 hours, then "xenon" survives up to 3000 hours (unlike an incandescent filament, in xenon lamps the glow is produced by a discharge arc between the electrodes). But the disadvantages are still very significant: such a light source requires the installation of expensive ignition units, as well as special lamps, which must be changed in pairs (in order to avoid a color difference that changes over time). But this is not enough: when the surface of the headlights is dirty, oncoming drivers have a hard time: with morein bright compared to conventional lamps, light refracted by dirty glass is scattered in all directions, interfering with the oncoming flow. But even with clean windows on uneven roads, you can dazzle the "oncoming lane". Therefore, any optics, the luminous flux of which exceeds 2500 lumens, must be additionally equipped with an auto-corrector and a washer, which actually affects the final price of the car. At Philipsfound a way out by releasing a lamp with a "safe" luminous flux of 2500 lumens - this is less than the traditional "xenon" (3500–4000 lumens), but still brighter than the halogen (1000-1500). In order to reduce the cost, the rest of the design was also revised, combining the ignition unit with the lamp. First of all, such systems will be installed on affordable small cars. Although, maybe the days of "xenon" are already numbered, because there are LED headlights.
pros
About twice as bright and 5-6 times more durable "halogen", low energy consumption, low heating of optics.
Minuses
The need to replace lamps in two headlights at once, the high cost of "reduced power" lamps.
"Hybrid" lamps, combined with an ignition unit, can make the use of "xenon" ubiquitous only if the LED optics are not cheaper.
The light beam of the headlight is highly dependentfrom manufacturing precision: thread centeringincandescent check on each lamp
A thin tube is welded to the lamp bulbka required for halogen injection
The powerful luminous flux of "xenon" requiresinstallation of auto-correctors and washers
Combined with the "deforcyan installed ”D5S lamp does not require additionalequipment. And even though the costcar becomes lower, replacement of bulbswill cost significantly more
Xenon pumped into the lamp, coolinggiven up to 190 ° С, and at the very endlamps are annealed: so colorthe temperature reaches the requiredmagnitudes
Light from various sources (top to bottom): H7 halogen lamps, new "halogenki "X-treme Vision H7, xenon lamps,lED optics
LED
At first, LEDs began to fill the space rear lightsstarting with the brake lights, after that the incandescent lamps of the side lighting were gradually replaced, and more recently LED optics became available as head lighting. The first production car to feature LED low beam was the Lexus LS 600h in 2007. In recent years, such optics began to be installed (of course, for an extra charge) and on relatively available cars Golf class. It would seem that an ideal light source has been found: the response speed of the LED is several times faster than any lamps, the service life is almost 10 times longer than that of "xenon", and the energy consumption is scanty. It looks really impressive!
But the efficiency is not as good as it seems: due to design refinements and limited space, it is not always possible to accommodate a sufficient number of LEDs, which directly affects the luminous flux. For example, Seat Leon LED-optics give out about 1600-1700 lumens - a little more than headlights with a conventional H7 bulb. And if these same headlights were "xenon", the light would be much brighter. But this option is not cheap: SEAT LEDs are priced at 47,600 rubles! This in no way means a waste of money: driving with such a light is really convenient: the light beam is distributed over road surface extremely uniform, and the color is close to white. But if instead of 6 LEDs you put 15, as in a BMW headlight, the flux will be equal to xenon 4000 lm. So not all LEDs are “equally useful”.
pros
Long service life; minimum power consumption; spectacular design; brighter than the "halogen" light; uniform luminous flux.
Minuses
In production, it is still more expensive than "xenon", light efficiency strongly depends on the design of the optics.
In terms of efficiency, LED optics have just begun to approach xenon optics, but, having reached the same cost price, they can displace it.
The more LEDs can be placedin the headlight, the brighter the light will be, which is not alwaysmore efficient than halogen
On automotive optics LEDsfirst appeared in rear brake lights
LASER LIGHT SOURCES
However, BMW is aiming for a different result. The BMW i8 will go into series production in autumn 2014: the hybrid sports car was supposed to be the first production car with a laser sourcelight, and in the coming years the BMW Group intends to equip other new products of the concern with similar technology. But the Bavarians were ahead of the guys from Audi: a limited edition of the sports R8 LMS with laser headlights should come out in the summer. The highlight of this lighting is the unprecedented light range of up to 600 meters, which is twice the range of modern LED headlights. high beam... The technology itself is very close to LEDs,but there are differences: laser diodes are ten times smaller than conventional ones and at the same time more powerful. This makes it possible to save space inside the headlamp, while reducing the size of the reflective surface by almost ten times compared to LED elements. But because the laser beam is too small, it passes through special lenses into a fluorescent phosphoric substance inside the headlight, which transforms it into bright white light. Due to the fact that the outgoing light is much brighter than modern head lighting, you cannot do without the use of a high-beam control system, which uses cameras to monitor oncoming traffic.
pros
Incomparable lighting efficiency, superior to any analogues; extremely compact headlamp design, effective appearance, low power consumption.
Minuses
The need to use high-tech, and therefore expensive electronic systems.
Laser optics is another revolutionary stage in the development of automotive lighting.
Range of the laser beamtwice as much light as LED headlights
Dense beam of laser diodesdissipates through lenses and fluorescuing phosphorus mass
Compactness laser optics gives broaddesign possibilities
ORGANIC LED
Philips is actively working on completely different diodes - organic. Organic light-emitting diodes were developed relatively recently, although the very effect of electroluminescence was discovered in the early 1950s: the French scientist André Bernanoz and his colleagues discovered the effect in organic materials by applying high-voltage alternating current to transparent thin films of acridine orange dye and quinacrine. It was only in 1989 that Eastman Kodak employees Chin Tang and Steve van Slike showed the first working samples of OLEDs. So far in mass production such lighting does not go, but experts from Philips predict the path to the organic conveyor by 2016. According to them, they are the only ones who have all the necessary resources for this. And it's hard not to believe the German specialists: over the past three years of work on OLED light, the efficiency of diodes has been increased more than 3 times: from 20 to 65 lumens / W. At the moment, this is the most efficient light source (a conventional lamp only gives out 7 lm / W). But even without this, such a light source is full of perspectives. So, for example, with the help of a special layer of substance, you can make the glass either be completely transparent, or emit light with different strengths, while adding the effect of "tinting". As for the durability, there is an order here: in 30 thousand hours, only 30% of the light efficiency is lost. Philips already uses similar technologies for lightingpremises, prototypes of the dimensional and signal car lights are already ready, and in the near future - to make the light sources completely flexible!
Once upon a time, at the dawn of the appearance of cars, simple acetylene lamps were used in headlights. But, with the course of technological progress, lighting systems have been constantly changing, improving, and by now they have come to use complex xenon or LED road lighting kits. Below we will try to find out which is better xenon or lED lamp? But in order to understand this, let's first analyze the work of the headlight itself as a light source.
At this time, the simplest car headlights are those that run on halogen bulbs. These lamps are a glass bulb with two electrodes inside, between which a tungsten thread is stretched. So, let's look at how they work.
When the current flows to the light bulb, the thread begins to glow, thus creating light near it. The bulb itself, where the tungsten thread is placed, is made very tight so that the halogen gas injected into it does not leak into the open space and performs the function of tungsten deposition, since tungsten tends to evaporate. That is why # 8212 headlights are called halogen, but in fact, this is the most common light bulb, to increase the service life of which, a halogen mixture was added to the bulb.
The principle of operation of xenon bulbs is not the same as that of halogen bulbs. But the structure of the lamp itself is the same, except that there is no tungsten wiring here. Instead, light is created by the formation, between the electrodes, of an electric arc when current is applied to the light bulb. In terms of brightness, halogen lighting is much inferior to xenon. The luminous flux of xenon is twice as high and requires 25,000 V voltage to obtain this result. To obtain such a high voltage indicator, a special block must be installed.
To avoid the possible dazzle of oncoming car drivers, it is necessary to use headlight correction, which will change their position in case of unevenness on the road. But such correctors are present only on expensive and high-quality xenon headlights from branded manufacturers. Chinese counterparts, for example, do not have them, since the manufacturing process is rather complicated and also very expensive.
A couple of years ago, everyone believed that subsequently gas-discharge headlights would be the leader in this market segment, and halogens would fade into the background. However, the invention of LED optics broke all trends and, perhaps, it is LEDs that will become the most common lamps for headlights in the future, ahead of both halogen and xenon in sales. But this is only possible. Yes, today diodes are the same in power as halogen ones, but they have a very high cost and are demanding on the lighting system itself, since a strong reflector and cooling must be present.
Today, to invent an inexpensive lighting system that works equally well for the most different cars, scientists are hard at work on LED problems. For example, a Dutch company Philips has made a lamp that looks exactly like the # 8212 halogen lamp and emits a light like xenon. Their essence is that the bulb of the lamp itself is filled with a special xenon gas mixture, which makes possible use such lamps are longer and more powerful. But at this time, these are only developments, so you have to choose from the already existing copies of xenon or LED. Next, let's do a little analysis and highlight the strong and weak sides these lighting systems.
The main advantages of xenon lamps include:
- strong and bright luminous flux, which provides a wide range of inspection, respectively, and greater safety;
- long service time (2 - 2.5 thousand hours versus 150-600 hours for halogen lamps);
- only 7% of the energy is converted into heat, which makes it possible to install this electric lamp in different headlights. By comparison, a halogen lamp emits as much as 40% of the heat, therefore it will heat up much more than xenon.
The main disadvantages of xenon lamps are:
- in Russia, it is allowed to use only xenon lamps installed during the production of a car, all other installed fakes will lead to fines and not going through a technical inspection;
- the need to install additional complex equipment ("ignition block" and automatic correction of the angle of inclination of lighting devices);
- fuel consumption increases due to the additional load on the generator;
- high price for xenon lamps;
- if one of the bulbs breaks down, you have to change two, as time changes color range stream of light. And if you put one new one, then there will be a difference between the light of one and the other headlights.
LED bulbs have the following advantages:
- to create a luminous flux, diodes require only 6 to 8 watts of energy consumption, which is ten times less than a halogen lamp consumes to create the same flux, due to this, fuel economy is about 0.3 liters / 100 km;
- no need to install any additional devices;
- an LED lamp emits up to 4% less heat than a xenon lamp, and therefore hardly heats up;
- very long operating time, which can reach up to 10 thousand hours;
- the luminous flux is the same as that of a xenon lamp;
- the manufacture of LED lamps produces them in a wide variety of sizes and models. Therefore, you can put diodes on almost any car.
The disadvantages of LED lamps include:
- to some extent the price, although their cost is higher than halogen lamps, they are still cheaper than real branded xenon;
- the illumination brightness is slightly lower than that of xenon.
Very often there are disputes between motorists about which bulbs are better to use in headlights: ordinary halogen, xenon or LED? In order to come to the correct balanced decision, in this matter, one should understand the mechanism of the light sources themselves. In the case of halogen lamps, we note that their work is based on the supply of current to a pair of electrodes located in a glass bulb. Further, the current enters the tungsten spiral, which is stretched between the electrodes, and it begins to glow, which creates light. At its core, this is the most common incandescent lamp. There is only one difference here, and this is the pumped halogen gas mixture into a hermetically sealed glass flask. Halogen gas tends to deposit evaporated tungsten, which makes the light bulb more durable.
Another type of headlight bulbs on vehicles, xenon (gas discharge), works on a different principle. In fact, they also look like a glass bulb with two electrodes inside, but the difference is that there is no tungsten or other filament, and the light flux is provided by an electric arc created between the electrodes (when current is applied). The xenon lamp shines very brightly and resembles electric welding. A gas discharge lamp has a luminous flux of 3200 lm, while ordinary halogen lamps have only 1500 lm.
But if halogen lamps were predicted to be suppressed in the market by xenon, then in the future the displacement of the discharge lamps themselves by more advanced and advertised LEDs may occur. But this is all in perspective, since now LEDs are very expensive and demanding. The cost of a pair of such headlights is about 2500 euros, and this, let's say, is not so cheap. A modern LED lamp requires a very large reflector, for which the headlight itself has to be enlarged to a large size. Also, the need for constant cooling leads to the fact that in the near future in the field of car headlights, a massive transition to LEDs is not expected.
So, will everyone be using xenon lighting? No, of course not. Today, the problems of LEDs are seriously studied by scientists all over the world, therefore, the creation of a powerful and cheap diode light source that can be used in headlights for cars is a matter of time. And halogen lamps will also be used. Already today, a company from Holland Philips (which has long been known to the whole world) produces very interesting, in essence, lamps that have a light power that is not much inferior to xenon. The essence of the operation of such a lamp is that the usual halogen lamp is filled not with a halogen, but with a gas mixture based on xenon. So the light power is twice as much, and the service life is doubled than that of conventional lamps. These bulbs can be purchased at any automotive store.
Philips is also working hard to improve Xenon lamps. As mentioned above, the receipt of light in such bulbs is provided by an electric arc created between two electrodes. But to get the arc, you need a special xenon block, with which you can create a powerful voltage pulse (25000 V) alternating current... Chinese xenons, which drivers like to put on the headlights of their car, do not have a corrector. And it is necessary in order not to blind the drivers who are going to meet.
When the car moves over bumps, the corrector, in turn, automatically changes the position of the headlights. So, before, all these components for a xenon lamp required a lot of space, but Philips specialists managed to reduce their size to such that the assembled xenon kit fits in the palm of your hand.
So, we can safely say that in the near future in the segment of car headlights, both halogen and xenon, and LED light sources will be used. On inexpensive cars it is simply unprofitable to install expensive types of lighting, so lighting with halogen lamps will be used here. Because xenon components are expensive and complex in design, HID lamps can be used for luxury premium vehicles. Well, for cars of the most expensive and fashionable segment, they will supply LED lamps. At this hour, the LEDs are still used for auxiliary purposes (brake light, turn signal, daytime running lights).
In order for us to be able to summarize later, the following should be mentioned. All Chinese xenons are, no less, a fake or hack (whichever is more convenient for you). Simply in order to manufacture gas-discharge lamps, it is required to establish a very complex and expensive process, and under conditions that are not appropriate for this it is impossible to do this. So the production takes place at a very primitive level. For some reason, there is a very great confidence that the Chinese are simply unknown concepts such as an automatic corrector, which must be present on xenon car lighting systems, focal length or color temperature. Because of this, the use of Chinese xenons is very dangerous, since they constantly blind the drivers of oncoming cars, which often leads to accidents on the roads and death of people.
Of course, halogen car lamps are the most common and common in everyday life. This is the same incandescent lamp, inside of which there is a tungsten filament, and the lamp itself is filled with a certain halogen-based gas mixture. Halogen lamps get very hot and are afraid of various irregularities (shakes) on the roads, which, in turn, can lead to breakage of the light source due to rupture of the tungsten filament.
In bad weather, despite being protected by double glass, dirt quickly adheres to halogen lamps, which reduces the illumination of the path.
Also, halogen lamps have a low brightness (1500 lumens) and, in comparison with xenon, six to seven times less service life, which becomes only 400 hours versus 3000 hours.
Xenon, on the other hand, can provide problems only if a low-quality (collective farm, left-hand), non-branded product is installed, since then it will not be possible to adjust the light flow, and this can lead to emergency situations on the roads.
The letter of the law, in fact, does not prohibit the use of gas discharge lamps, since there is no separation of lighting automotive instruments to halogen or xenon. In order to understand what is possible and what is not, you need to be well versed in the marking of lighting devices.
All headlights are divided into three types. Each type is assigned its own mark. Headlights that are marked as DR, DC, DCR are xenon lamps, which, according to the rules Technical regulations (the part that talks about transport security), if installed correctly, can be used without violating the Law of the Russian Federation.
If xenon is not equipped with the necessary equipment, then the driver will be punished. During the technical inspection, in case of violation, lighting devices taken away, and in addition may face deprivation driving license (six months or a year).
By law, it is possible to supply optics, which are not provided for by the "dear" complete set. You just need to install a headlight washer, and there must also be an automatic tilt correction. All changes that are independently made to the vehicle lighting system using xenon bulbs must be coordinated with the relevant authorities. Reverse replacement of xenon lamps with halogen lamps is permissible with a complete replacement of headlights.
Now, halogen headlights for xenon are becoming very popular, since installing a high-quality (branded) xenon lamp is a complicated and expensive procedure. Such lamps have a temperature spectrum of luminescence, like xenon, which makes it possible to obtain white saturated lighting.
There are also lamps for cars under xenon, which retain the yellow color of the glow, such as halogen. Of course, real xenon is brighter than such headlights, but for halogen bulbs they are a very good alternative.
So many car enthusiasts, now, ask the question of what is better xenon or LED lamps? Technological progress has not passed by and lighting systems for cars. All more companies for the production of cars are looking for ways to move from, outdated technologies halogen lamps, to completely new car lighting systems. The use of xenon is no longer a rarity and it is almost impossible to surprise with the presence of such headlights.
What can not be said about LED lamps, which are gaining great popularity lately. Everyone is pushing for the introduction of LED backlighting or making the main lighting of the car completely LED. So, where to stop, which is better than xenon or LED lamps? Here the comparison is inappropriate, since the technologies are completely different and in the so-called battle of different lighting systems for cars, those who have the future will win, and these are, of course, LEDs.
Xenon
The pluses of xenon lamps include:
- High road safety and wide visibility. Thanks to the bright and powerful luminous flux, the road is seen much better than with halogen headlights.
- Lamps of this kind hardly get warm. In halogen, 40% of the energy is converted into heat, which is quite a lot compared to xenon, in which only 7%.
- The service life is much longer than that of conventional halogens (2000-2500 hours versus 150-600 hours). The absence of a tungsten filament makes such a lamp invulnerable to various kinds of shocks and shaking, which in halogen lamps could lead to breakage of this filament.
The disadvantages of xenon lamps are much more than the advantages, they include such as:
- Complexity of equipment. To supply a xenon lamp, you also need to install additional complex equipment, because car system does not withstand the loads required by a xenon lamp. This is 20000 V voltage for lighting the lamp and 70-80 V for supporting combustion, so you need to install expensive ignition blocks.
- Not all xenon bulbs are legal. The law of the Russian Federation states that you can use only those lamps that were installed at the factory when manufacturing a car. Various Chinese counterparts are prohibited and punishable by a fine or deprivation of rights, with the confiscation of the equipment itself.
- Increased fuel consumption. Despite the fact that the xenon unit provides the lighting system with electricity, the generator is still heavily loaded, of course - and the engine, which leads to an extra 0.3 liters per 100 km.
- Expensive equipment. Xenon lamps and their components are, to put it mildly, expensive. For branded xenon, prices are "cosmic", while Chinese prices can cost up to 10,000 rubles and plus you will have to pay for the installation. And if one of your bulbs has burned out, then you will have to change two, because over time, xenon lamps fade and change color, so if you change one, they will shine differently.
- The lamps are very powerful, so you need to think carefully about the inclination of the headlights. To avoid an accident, do not lift them up very much. It is logical that car manufacturers who use xenon in their lighting systems are required to have headlights with tilt angle correction.
Next, let's talk about LED lamps, which are the future of automotive lighting systems. It is believed that LED lamps in the near future will replace halogen and gas-discharge lamps into the background, and they themselves will take their rightful place at the top.
LEDs
The advantages of LED lamps are as follows:
- To the most big plus LEDs include their economical power consumption.
- Easy to install. Lack of additional components when compared with xenon. It is enough to unscrew the old one and put on the new one.
- Low fuel savings. The lower the load on the generator from the lighting system, the less the engine is loaded, and this makes it possible to save on fuel.
- Very little heat generated to keep the lamp cool. The energy consumption for heat is even less than in xenon lamps by 3-4%. Can be used not only in main lighting but also in fog lights.
- Light flow. The first generation of LEDs for xenon lamps, of course, could not be replaced in terms of brightness, but instead of halogen lamps, it could be put. But the second is a different level of light brightness, which is approaching xenon. On the road, at times, you will not be able to distinguish which headlight is, because the same blue-white bright glow.
- The operating time of LED headlights is very long and reaches 10,000 hours.
- Legal use. The use of LED lamps is not prohibited by the laws of the Russian Federation, since the light flux is no different from halogen lamps. It's just that in LEDs it is possible to make whatever color of the light bulb you want, which is also possible in halogen lighting systems.
- Shapes and sizes. LED bulbs are now available in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, making it possible to mount them on a variety of car headlights.
The disadvantages include:
- Price. The cost of LED lamps is high compared to halogen lamps. But when compared with gas-discharge ones, the price is lower. In the end, when you weigh the pros and cons, buying LEDs will be profitable.
- Brightness. If you look at it, then yes, LEDs are inferior to gas-discharge lamps in terms of luminous flux brightness. But it is worth noting that they are already pressed close behind. And on the road, a very bright light is not necessary. You can get by with the glow of the power that LED lamps give out.
Today we looked at the question of which is better than xenon or LED lamps. As for me, it is better, of course, LEDs. Recently I bought myself this type of lighting. I'm going to put test lamps on the foglights of my car the other day. Firstly, these lamps are allowed by law, unlike Chinese xenon, and I do not want unnecessary problems for myself. Secondly, in end result they will come out cheaper. Thirdly, they have a very long service life, and the brightness of the luminous flux is not much lower than the glow of xenon lamps.
Also based on the foregoing, we can conclude that if you do not know which type of lighting to prefer from these two, without hesitation, choose LED lamps.
For any driver who often operates his car at night, it is very important that car headlights provide high-quality illumination of the roadway, because traffic safety directly depends on this. Earlier, conventional incandescent bulbs were used as lighting elements in car headlights. Now, other optics have come to replace them, including halogen headlights.
Next, we will consider what halogen headlights are, how they differ from other types, what are their positive and negative qualities. We note right away that the concept of "halogen headlights" is not entirely correct. Although, for simplicity, this term is used by almost everyone. In reality, the device of a halogen headlight is identical to a conventional one (with an incandescent lamp). That is, there is a housing, a reflector, a glass diffuser and a lighting element. The only difference is in the last component.
Design features
In general, even general arrangement A halogen lamp is in many ways similar to a conventional 12 V incandescent light bulb. There is a base, through which voltage is supplied to the lighting element, thanks to which the lamp is also fixed in the socket.
The base is connected to two electrodes, between which a spiral is stretched from a refractory material - tungsten. It is this spiral that is the source of light. When passing through it electric current this spiral is very hot, which is accompanied by the release of a bright glow.
halogen bulbs for cars - varieties
Like any metal, tungsten is susceptible to oxidation when in contact with air. To prevent this from happening, the electrodes together with the spiral are placed in the flask.
In a conventional incandescent lamp, the air is evacuated. But in the process of work, the high temperature leads to the fact that the tungsten atoms are separated (the metal seems to evaporate), and then settle on less heated surfaces (on the walls of the flask). This feature of the work has two drawbacks: the tungsten filament gradually becomes thinner and eventually burns out, and condensation of metal atoms on the walls of the flask leads to darkening of the glass (its light transmittance decreases).
The headlights are central to the vehicle lighting system. They illuminate the road in front of the car, and also serve to detect the car and its intentions by other road users. All this provides the required level of safety and comfort.
The front headlight, as a rule, combines several lighting devices in one housing: a low beam headlight, a high beam headlight, a side light, a direction indicator light, daytime running lights (if any). The combined structure is called block headlight... The main lighting devices in it are the headlights of the low and high beam. Headlights include and fog lightswhich are installed separately.
dipped headlights is essential for driving in the dark. It is characterized by an asymmetric nature (the light beam is stretched along the right side), the presence of a cut-off line (the shadow area is above, the bright area is below a certain border). The low beam headlamp is a compromise between reasonably dazzling other drivers and a sufficiently high level of illumination.
High beam headlights provides the maximum range of road illumination, because has no restrictions. On the other hand, the main beam headlamp creates maximum dazzle for other drivers, therefore it is limited in use. The adaptive lighting system significantly improves the efficiency of the high beam on the vehicle
The headlights of a modern car are complex technical systems and works of art in their own way. They are individual for each new car model. Depending on the equipment, the vehicle may have several headlight designs. The leading manufacturers of automotive lighting are Hella, Al-Automotive Lighting, Philips.
The classic headlamp combines a light source, reflector and diffuser. The following light sources are used in the headlights: incandescent lamp, halogen lamp, gas discharge lamp, LEDs.
It is a tungsten filament placed in a glass flask. When the lamp is operating, the filament heats up, which is accompanied by the evaporation of tungsten from the surface. The thread becomes thinner and burns out over time. In addition, when the tungsten evaporates, the lamp darkens.
IN halogen lamp the tungsten filament is surrounded by a halogen gas (iodine, bromine), which allows the filament temperature to rise and the lighting level to be increased. The service life of a halogen lamp (up to 1000 hours) is much longer than a conventional incandescent lamp. heating of tungsten occurs in a closed cycle. When evaporated, tungsten combines with the gas and circulates through the flask. On contact with the filament, the compound disintegrates, and the tungsten settles on the filament.
IN gas discharge lamp (High-intensity discharge, HID) luminous flux is created by heating the gas with high voltage. Automotive gas discharge lamps use xenon, which has a high luminous efficiency. To ignite and power the xenon lamp requires optional equipment, which significantly increases the cost of the headlight. Life time gas discharge lamp reaches 2000 hours.
(Light Emitting Diode, LED) are gaining popularity as automotive light sources. They have a lifespan of up to 3000 hours or more, consume less energy and provide an acceptable level of illumination. Nowadays, LEDs are widely used as indoor light sources ( instrument lighting, indicator lamps) and external ( rear lights , additional brake lights, daytime Running Lights) lighting. Since 2007, white-spectrum LEDs have been used as sources of low and high beam.
Light sources are characterized by a number of parameters: voltage, power, luminous flux. The derivative of these parameters is the luminous efficacy ( luminous flux per unit of power), which serves as a kind of indicator of the efficiency and economy of the lamp.
The main characteristics of light sources for a 12V network are shown in the table:
The reflector, depending on the type of headlamp, provides a reflection of light from the source directly onto the road or an optical lens. The reflector is made of plastic or metal. More versatile plastic reflectors that allow you to create any geometric shape. A thin layer of aluminum is applied to the reflector surface. 
The main types of reflectors are parabolic, free-form and ellipsoidal. used in classic headlights where the illumination level is proportional to the size of the reflector (more reflector more light).
(Homogeneous Numerically Calculated Surface, HNS) is divided into separate areas (vertical, radial), which have their own focal length and are optimized for a specific nature of light reflection. Reflector type HNS ensures high uniformity of illumination. The geometrical surface of the reflector is developed using computer simulation.
A parabolic reflector and a free-form reflector form the basis of reflective (reflective) headlights.
It is part of the Poly Ellipsoid System (PES). An ellipsoidal reflector, together with an optical lens, can significantly reduce the size of the headlamp while maintaining the illumination level and direction of the light start. Ellipsoidal reflectors have projection (projector) headlights, they are commonly called lensed headlights.
The role of the diffuser in modern headlights is minimal, because light distribution is carried out mainly by the reflector. Since 1992, plastic diffusers have been widely used.
Halogen headlights
Halogen headlights are currently the most common type of headlight. They use a halogen lamp as a light source. Halogen headlights are used for low and high beam. Structurally, the headlights can be divided and combined, the so-called. bi-halogen. Dipped beam headlamps use free-form or ellipsoidal reflectors, high-beam headlamps use free-form or parabolic reflectors.
The creation of the cut-off line for the dipped beam in the combined headlights is done in two ways: a reflective cap on a halogen lamp with two filaments, a light screen in the projection system. Maintaining a certain position of the headlight relative to the plane of the body is provided by an electromechanical corrector.
Xenon headlights
Xenon headlights are very popular due to their high level of illumination. Headlights are offered as basic equipment in business and premium vehicles, as well as optional for budget cars... Unlike halogen headlights, xenon headlights are more complex in design. In addition to the headlight itself, an ignition unit is included in the system and the electronic unit controls that provide ignition of the gas with a 10-20 kV alternating current voltage pulse and power supply during operation.
Xenon headlights can be reflective and spotlights, while spotlights are more popular with consumers. Separately for low and high beam, xenon headlights are rarely used. Mostly bi-xenon headlights are used, in which the low and high beam functions are implemented in one headlight. The creation of a cut-off line in bi-xenon headlights is carried out in several ways:
- light screen in projection headlights;
- horizontal movement of the discharge lamp in reflective headlights.
Bi-xenon headlights are usually equipped with a swivel module in the vertical and horizontal plane. This greatly expands the scope of the headlamp. Due to the design features, xenon headlights are necessarily equipped with an automatic headlight range control and a headlight washer.
LED headlights
LED headlights for headlights began to be used quite recently and there are not so many examples of their use - a number audi models, Cadillac, Lexus. For example, in the Audi R8, the LED headlight consists of three multi-crystal LEDs. Each multi-crystal LED includes two simple LEDs, each with its own reflector. The luminous flux from all LEDs is converted into a common projection lens. To create a cut-off line in led headlight a light screen is used. Despite the significant advantages, LED headlights are still very rarely used.
A number of manufacturers offer LED lamps with a base for placing halogen lamps in the regular places. Such LED lamps, despite the fact that they shine very brightly, do not provide the required level of illumination.
