Car headlights are likened to the eyes of a car, however, each car model has a different type of headlight, and the care and cleaning modes also require careful attention.
So, what types of headlights do cars have? What is the purpose of increasing the brightness of car headlights? Refer to this article to gain more experience in taking care of car headlights.
Headlights are likened to the eyes of a car
What types of headlights do cars have?
On the current car market, there are mainly 4 types of headlights including Halogen, Bi-Xenon, LED, and modern Laser headlights. An important factor of headlights and brightness is the color temperature of the light, measured in Kelvin (K).
Halogen headlights: color temperature around 3500K
Bi-Xenon headlights: color temperature around 4300K
LED and Laser headlights: color temperature reaching 5500 – 6000K, very close to sunlight at 6500K
Each type of headlight brings different characteristics and operates on different principles that you need to understand in order to use them better.
What is special about Halogen headlights?
Halogen headlights have the advantage of being cheap but the light is weak.
They dominate the market because of their long lifespan, affordable price, ease of production, and replacement costs of only about 500,000 – 700,000 VND. In terms of structure, the bulb of Halogen headlights is installed in front of a parabolic reflector, which helps distribute light evenly to the front of the car. Car Halogen headlights use tungsten filaments to generate light. The disadvantage of this type of Halogen light is its weak brightness. The filament bulb of the Halogen light must be heated to 2,500°C, therefore the excess heat is quite large, causing a significant loss of luminous energy.
HID – Bi-Xenon headlights
HID – Bi-Xenon headlights
HID headlights are known as headlights that do not use filaments, but Xenon gas to emit light. Xenon headlights have very strong light and cannot be directed, which can cause glare for other cars on the road if they use parabolic reflectors. This has led manufacturers to create a lens to direct this strong beam of light, helping the headlights avoid causing glare to other drivers. This lens looks like a large sphere. With a complex structure, the drawback of this type is that the cost of manufacturing is not cheap, so it is only used in high-end car models.
LED headlights
LED headlights
LED is a new technology developed in recent years, using small chips to generate light. A typical example is the smart LED headlights applied in the 2017 Mercedes E-Class with 168 LED bulbs.Its advantages are that it can be installed on many different surfaces and has extremely fast lighting time. LED uses little energy but generates a lot of heat, requiring a very good cooling system, otherwise the headlights will be affected. LED is quite expensive and is only equipped on a few imported car models.
Laser headlights
Laser headlights
This is the most modern type of headlight at the moment, capable of projecting up to 600 meters—twice as far as LED headlights—while consuming only half the electricity. A laser beam is directed onto a lens containing phosphorus gas, emitting a light beam with a temperature above 6000K in blue-white color. With quite high cost, this type of headlight is only used in luxury cars such as the BMW i8.
Solutions to increase headlight brightness
For those using cars with Bi-Xenon or LED systems, you can rest assured about brightness. But if your car uses Halogen headlights, below are 3 solutions to increase brightness: You can increase brightness by replacing Halogen bulbs with LED or Xenon bulbs with a Ballast system, which will significantly improve brightness. The additional cost ranges from 3 million to 7 million VND, from basic to high-end options. In the case that your car uses Halogen with a parabolic reflector, you will have 2 options to increase brightness: Replace Halogen headlights with LED headlights – simple, but the drawback is that it may create slightly dazzling light for oncoming sedans. Cost is about 3 million VND. Replace the entire headlight unit with Bi-Xenon bulbs – the light will have a clear cutoff line, evenly distributed, and will not dazzle oncoming cars, but the cost is quite high, over 10 million VND.
English 
日本語 
Tiếng Việt