The majority of car owners everywhere take whatever lights that come with the car without complaint. And why not? Today's OEM headlights are a far cry from the feeble incandescent sealed beams that passed for headlights in the 50s and 60s. Nowadays, the very minimum lighting that can be found in cars is halogen-type bulbs, with high output HID lights standard in luxury and sports cars.
At the bleeding edge of automotive headlight development are the LED headlights introduced by the luxury German manufacturer Audi for their R8 sports car. Where filament type headlights generate only five percent of the power input as light, LEDs offer much more. The heat you feel from incandescent and halogen bulbs is the energy that is being wasted. In contrast, LEDs run cooler and be more efficient, use up less power to generate the same light output. But as with any new technology, the cost is a prohibiting factor for early and widespread adaptation. Audi has offered these headlights as an option for selected models, but the owner has to fork out 5,000 dollars to enjoy the benefits of LED headlights. For manufacturers who have begun to share platforms with partner automakers, LEDs also offer a critical advantage. For decades, designers have had to design the front ends of their new cars with round or rectangular lights in mind. In fact, if you look at car designs from the 40s to the 60s, the round headlight was a constant design element that designers were powerless to modify. Now, LEDs can be arranged into less restrictive shapes, freeing designers to style the front ends of their cars in newer and more visually exciting ways. Owners of older cars don't have much of an option when it comes to upgrading to LED headlights. There is an American company that has introduced replacement LED lights but reviews have been mixed, and the shape of the lights is limited to the round and rectangular headlights that have been a standard design for decades. Still, development is continuing and any issues and technical challenges that have appeared will undoubtedly be addressed. But even without this option, many aftermarket lighting systems are available to the car owner who wants to modify his or her car's lighting system. Halogen and HID systems have proven themselves to be proven and reliable alternatives, and with the technology well-known, they are available for a price far below the thousands that OEM LED options charge.
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The first full-LED headlamps revolutionized vehicle lighting by offering many advantages over regular light bulbs including virtually daylight-white brightness, faster reaction time, low energy consumption and long operating life.
More so, the use of LED technology has given designers the opportunity to create an iconic look that is unmistakable and a unique style that is visible day or night, in fair weather or harsh conditions. Fast and BrightLED Lighting Technology produces the closest re-creation of daylight yet, surprising when one considers that a single LED or Light Emitting Diode is only one square millimeter in size. A remarkable amount of white light is generated by each diode which, when working in combinations of several other LEDs, is capable of producing a color temperature of 5,500 on the Kelvin scale. This means that the light shining on the road ahead approximates the color temperature of daylight. Important when one considers that the increased contrast perceived by the human eye allows it to relax, bringing more comfort to the driver. Further benefits can be seen in LED taillight technology. Reacting ten times faster than conventional bulbs, a trailing driver can notice the brake lights of the leading car sooner. This quickens reaction time and creates a potentially shorter stopping distance. Daytime RunningWhatever the daytime light conditions, the use of LED daytime running lights ensures that a vehicle is seen quickly by other road users. In fog, wind and all weather conditions, experts recommend switching on the dipped-beam headlights during the day or the use of any additional daytime running lights as a reliable solution to this problem. If desired, automatic activation or deactivation is available so that when the light and rain sensor of a modern luxury vehicle activates the dipped-beam headlights, the daytime running lights are switched off. As an added benefit to being seen quickly by other road users regardless of daytime light conditions, these special daytime running lights consume less energy than normal dipped-beam headlights. This also reduces fuel consumption while extending the dipped headlights' working life. Endlessly EfficientLEDs are four times as efficient as halogen bulbs requiring less energy from the vehicle's alternator to replenish. Not only does this save fuel, but significantly cuts down on carbon emissions. What's more, is that LED headlight technology requires zero maintenance and designed for the life of the vehicle. This incorporation of daytime running lights with LED light sources has now become standard for many luxury car models including sedans, coupes, and Sportback vehicles. The increased safety and efficiency which are the hallmarks of a luxury vehicle have benefited greatly from LED lighting technology. |
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