- Joined
- Jul 2, 2007
- Messages
- 5,294
Ok, I may get taken to task over this observation or not and I can't remember if science backs me up, thought I'd read once where the human eye/brain combo interprets contrast and depth perception better at color temperatures below about 4000K. I may be proof of that possible reality, and I have some limited experience with both. I'll start the farthest back and go forward.
Both my Ducati motorcycles had LED beams, the 2013 had LED low beams w/ Halogen high's, the 2016 had LED's for both. My Moto Guzzi has halogen for both. All three bikes were same headlight layout: dual side-by-side (think Harley Road Glide), except the Duc's had geometric shaped reflector and lens combo instead of the traditional circular style the Guzzi has. That was bikes. My F-150 has halogens, but the wife's GMC has HID projector for both high and low beams.
Both in the dry and more especially in the wet, I see more comfortably and just more confidently with the Guzzi than the former Duc's (although wet weather time on all those was limited). Same with the truck and cuv-- while it's true the truck has me seated higher, I like the halogen light dynamics better and that's saying a lot because plenty of people complain about newer model F150's headlights being marginal on intensity. I've had extra seat time in the GMC lately with the Holiday season and we take it for most of our run around stuff due to the fuel economy is superior to that of the truck. It's not that the light *output* is better in the truck, it's *not* it's actually less I think. It's the whiteness level. There is something my eye/brain combo prefers about the lower color temperature of the halogens, lumen for lumen.
I'm not trying to be a luddite, although it would be easy to make that judgment if only skimming the above. I like the "look" of LED's and HID's better. Bright and clean. Modern. Stylish and cool for sure. When we were looking for her a new vehicle, a requirement was HID or LED headlights, because I felt like buying halogen in 2019 was a step backward or at best, not a step forward. I had my motorcycle experience with LED vs halogen as a guide but at the time chalked that up to bike headlights are different.
Short version: My eyes are more comfortable with halogen headlights at night than HID's, and I feel like I see better that way.
P.S. Not a cataract issue. Left eye underwent cataract removal in 2016, right eye they're not a factor yet (bi-annual ophthalmic exams confirm).
Both my Ducati motorcycles had LED beams, the 2013 had LED low beams w/ Halogen high's, the 2016 had LED's for both. My Moto Guzzi has halogen for both. All three bikes were same headlight layout: dual side-by-side (think Harley Road Glide), except the Duc's had geometric shaped reflector and lens combo instead of the traditional circular style the Guzzi has. That was bikes. My F-150 has halogens, but the wife's GMC has HID projector for both high and low beams.
Both in the dry and more especially in the wet, I see more comfortably and just more confidently with the Guzzi than the former Duc's (although wet weather time on all those was limited). Same with the truck and cuv-- while it's true the truck has me seated higher, I like the halogen light dynamics better and that's saying a lot because plenty of people complain about newer model F150's headlights being marginal on intensity. I've had extra seat time in the GMC lately with the Holiday season and we take it for most of our run around stuff due to the fuel economy is superior to that of the truck. It's not that the light *output* is better in the truck, it's *not* it's actually less I think. It's the whiteness level. There is something my eye/brain combo prefers about the lower color temperature of the halogens, lumen for lumen.
I'm not trying to be a luddite, although it would be easy to make that judgment if only skimming the above. I like the "look" of LED's and HID's better. Bright and clean. Modern. Stylish and cool for sure. When we were looking for her a new vehicle, a requirement was HID or LED headlights, because I felt like buying halogen in 2019 was a step backward or at best, not a step forward. I had my motorcycle experience with LED vs halogen as a guide but at the time chalked that up to bike headlights are different.
Short version: My eyes are more comfortable with halogen headlights at night than HID's, and I feel like I see better that way.
P.S. Not a cataract issue. Left eye underwent cataract removal in 2016, right eye they're not a factor yet (bi-annual ophthalmic exams confirm).