ChatterBox
HI
One other thing to check when comparing lumens is the distance they are measured at. Light, like sound, is subject to the inverse square law.
Lumens are usually quoted @ 1 metre, so make sure you are comparing apples to apples
And yes less power in watts for the same Lumens means greater efficiency
Steve
Wizard
SupporterI would imagine the d3 would be 12volt with a 24v gizmo (transfotmer?)
Superquag there's no argument about the low beams, Tombie and I were talking about driving and spot lights.
I have to admit Joel that after having Dads hid hellas, then getting my own with 120w bulbs I was very dissapointed too, and they were getting 13.2v. But everyone's ideal setup will be different.
ChatterBox
Stepping down voltage with a transformer is easy but going up is another thing. Especially with higher currents. Still interested as 24v, 250w maybe comparable to HID. The higher voltage means the same current as 12v at 125w.
Happy Days.
ChatterBox
I agree there are horses for courses. Maybe Tombie's driving is more east coast where there is heavier population and more signs because I agree that sign reflection with HID can be pretty fierce but most signs are close to town and I'm happy to drop the lights. A lot of my driving is all over Australia especially further west where the only reflections you see are guide posts and animals eyes.
Happy Days
Wizard
SupporterMmm, it's pretty lonely country anwhere north or west of Whyalla, mainly salt bush and birds.
A lot of my driving is in roads without posts!Originally Posted by joel0407
Or bitumen!
A few posts are starting to get muddled again.
HID is a light producing tech which produces a higher Lumen output per watt of power consumed (when compared to incandescent bulbs).
To state a HID is brighter than any other light is only accurate if proceeded by "for a given power consumption"
Light is light - a big enough brushfire will produce a lot of light...
In this case (driving lights) there is an incandescent technology, running 12v that produces more light output than a 70w HID set.
This has been measured, confirmed and independently tested.
One consumes 22amps the other 10.8amp at 12volt. Hardly a problem...
And yes, my D4 is running twin Step-Ups converting 12v to 24v.
And I have sustained these lights comfortably for 6 straight hours without voltage drop.
What do you do for a living to be travelling regularly?
I'm pulling around 4,400km a fortnight...
Of which only about 1,200km is sealed.
Lucky I like to drive!
Just some info for you...
The human eye is naturally designed to process yellow light - eg closer to sunlight.
The higher colour temp of HID operates in a spectrum that causes "stunned in a spotlight" behaviour of the eye - reducing its reaction time and night vision behaviour...
Do a bit of google research.. It will back up the statement.
Master
Indeed, significantly higher with longer bulb life too but the disadvantage of slow startup
Not really, a light is brighter if it produces more output (lumens), you don't need to know the power consumption of two lights to say which is brighter. But certainly not any other light, LED can match HID for efficiency and colour temperature.
130W of HID at about 80% efficiency verses 260W of incandescent means the latter would have to exceed 40% efficiency, that's about double current halogen technology, do you have a brand name to quote, this sounds interesting.
Unless the 22amps is at 24volt, that would be 520W at 20% efficiency which is about normal for incandescent but your 12-24 step up units would be sucking over 44amps.
ForumSage
Agree.
I've got a few LED torches.... Lost count but can find nearly a dozen at any given moment.
For looking in the bush/foliage/real life, the 'Warm White' one is the nicest of the lot. Gives the best contrast and definition of branches/leaves/grass. Indeed, whilst all the other LED's make mince-meat of my Maglites (3 to 6 cell) only the halogen re-chargeable puts up a fight.... and still loses to the 'Warm White' LED.
I had 4000-degree K HIDs (or was it 3800?) in my late Mazda, and they simply looked like Very Bright 'normal' globes. Great light, minimal glare from signs.
Like LEDs. it's cheaper and easier to produce 'blue-ish' than 'warm' when one is counting lumens.
Contrast is more useful than 'bright' at any cost.
The other thing is, incandescent produces a continuous spectrum, infra-red through to violet, though -obviously- biased towards the red/yellow end. Driving a filament harder shifts, but does'nt eliminate this bias.
Gas discharge (especially) and LEDs produce light that has spectral holes, and un-evenness in the curveGo here for a comparison of sunlight...to various flouro and HID curves. They will be.....illuminating.
Learn About Light: Spectral Power Distribution Curves: GE Commercial Lighting Products
LED Spectral Analysis Graphs HERE. - Lighting Forum - Nano-Reef.com Forums
Hang on.. Are you discussing efficiency or output?
If the question is: what produces the highest lumen output for the best efficiency then yes HID takes honours.
If the question is: Which light (assembly) produces the most light? Then the question changes.
A light (driving, head, torch) is the sum of all it's parts.
No point having the highest light output if it isn't controlled, nor is there any point having the best efficiency if the light is harsh, glare etc.
It's a fantastic and most interesting "nerd" topic - and one I really enjoy. I have several learned colleagues with a very strong background in this field... So I'm able to get some really good information and understanding of what works, what doesn't and the whys...
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