HID Vs. LED Bulbs - Which Is Better?

HID VS. LED HEADLIGHT BULBS - WHICH IS BETTER?

When people are thinking about upgrading their headlights, they frequently ask us which is better: LED or HID. In this video, we will discuss the four primary factors to consider for each technology: color, components, brightness, and beam pattern.

Note: In the United States, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) regulates lamps, reflective devices, and related equipment. Despite the fact that these LED lights can be used to replace the original halogen light bulb, using them on cars that are registered for on-street use is illegal. This kind of alteration is only permitted in jurisdictions outside of the United States, where it is allowed or in fog lighting applications or off-road applications, for further details on how to assess whether a product of this kind is safe to use and permitted on US public roads.

Color

The color of your illumination is crucial since different colors respond differently under various driving conditions. A warmer color, like 4,000K or 3000K, makes more sense in certain situations, such as when you're in bad weather like snow, rain, or dust. Some of the higher Kelvin color temperatures, however, are preferable on a clear night. The majority of people enjoy the bright, clear white hue that a 5,000K, 6,000K, or 8,000K produces as we drive.

The process by which a HID bulb produces color is quite fascinating. Within this glass tube that you have, there is a glass capsule. Electrodes and a combination of salts, metal, and gas are contained within the glass capsules.

Electricity drives the ballast, travels up the wiring to the bulb, and forms an electric arc inside the glass capsule when you flip on your headlight switch. This produces a plasma that generates a certain hue of light from the gases and chemical mixture. Altering the chemical makeup within that tube may also change the hue. The circumstances are quite unstable.

A HID produces a variety of colors right out of the box. Other options are available, including 3000K yellow, 4,000K, 5,000K, 6,000K, 8,000K, 10,000K, and 12,000K; you can even do red, pink, and green. The contents of that glass tube allow them to create almost any hue you desire.

The issue lies in the numerous differences across manufacturers and batches. A 6,000K bulb with a tinge of green might appear once. On another occasion, you may receive a 6,000K bulb with a little blue tint. Although it's always a possibility, the hue will be more consistent with a more reputable light brand.

The process of producing color is now entirely different with LED. It's just a circuit board rather than a volatile chemical reaction of gasses and electricity. This is the exact location where the power from your headlight switch enters the lightbulb. These light-emitting diodes are solid-state.

Fundamentally, when you power a lightbulb, a process known as a PN junction occurs, and when atoms and electrons move back and forth, they release energy that produces light. That's a blue light on a white LED. Your LED chips are yellow because of a filter. Different colors of white are produced when blue LED light is passed through a yellow phosphor filter.

Different colors can be obtained by applying varying amounts of phosphor as a filter over the LED chips. When there is more yellow phosphor present, the hue is warmer, such as 4,000K or 5,000K.

6,000K or 8,000K is a cooler hue with less yellow phosphor.

Because of this, when many individuals say, "I have a 6,000K LED headlight bulb," or "I have a 6,500K LED headlight bulb," they may be attempting to produce it, but the color of the light will vary according on the amount of yellow phosphor applied to the bulb.

The hue of the majority of LED headlight bulbs is 6,000K. It's the simplest to produce. It's affordable, which is what most people desire. This explains why there aren't many alternatives for various hues available.

One 6,000K from one brand will appear differently in the actual world than a 6,000K from another brand, which is the issue.

Additionally, alternative headlight bulbs in yellow or 3000K are emerging. Particularly for fog lights, this bulb is perfect for bad weather conditions like fog.

That hue is produced by a white chip with amber or yellow filters in front of a yellow or amber chip with a filter. How the manufacturer chooses to make the chip will determine everything. It depends on whether you're purchasing a high-end or bargain brand; specific approaches are more effective than others.

After testing every HID color, we discovered that the purest white, 5,000K and 6,000K, which are in the middle of the color spectrum, provided the finest illumination results. Therefore, choose one of those hues if you just want the brightest thing.

Components

In summary, a HID conversion kit has a lot more functionality. Depending on what you're working with, there are either two or three parts.

Depending on your application, you may also require a relay harness along with your ballast and bulb.

First, let's talk about the ballast.

The ballast transforms the vehicle's electricity into a high-voltage, 23,000 AC electric spark that ignites the Xenon gas lightbulb. The ballast will be made slightly differently depending on the brand you purchase, but rest assured that the components are the same.

There are two power inputs and outputs on the ballast body.

Despite being modular, that will be the same thing as something like this Morimoto (shown below). The ballast body, power input, and power output are all present. Therefore, despite their slightly varying appearances, all HID ballasts essentially function and accomplish the same task.

The main distinction between ballasts is their level of solid power, dependability, and startup speed. Most of the time, they all work the same way, but if the internal parts aren't up to par, you'll get some color and brightness fluctuations.

Single Beam And Dual Beam

There are two varieties of HID bulbs available: single-beam and dual-beam. Many cars have one light bulb for the low beam and another for the high beam, so your single headlight may have two different bulbs. Another car that features dual-beam bulbs has a single lightbulb that may be used for both high and low beams.

Let's begin with a single beam, then. One glass capsule that can be used for either your high beam or your low beam, the single beam is arguably the most popular form of HID bulb you will discover.

Because a HID kit typically needs to pass through the headlight housing, you have a grommet, the bulb with wiring coming off of it, and your wiring to link everything.

According to the theory, your ballast is too large to fit inside the headlight housing. The wiring must be passed through, which is why it's quite difficult. The inside of the headlamp has a power input, a grommet for passing wires through the headlight housing, and all of the connections to your ballast.

Whichever brand you choose, they will all fundamentally function in the same manner. You have your exterior wiring, your grommet, your interior wiring, and your lightbulb.

It now connects in the same manner when you try to connect everything. These HID kits all connect in a single direction.

Your final arrangement consists of two smaller wires that connect on the outside.

If your car has dual-beam bulbs, such as the 9,004 H13 or H4, which can provide both high and low beams in one bulb, you'll need a few extra pieces of equipment. The bulbs are completely different.

This one actually has an electromagnetic solenoid on the bottom that, when activated, moves the bulb inside the housing rather than having a single bulb that emits a single beam. You get your low beam when it's up since it's farther from the reflector base.

When you turn on your high beam, the light bulb is drawn downward, bringing the light source closer to the reflecting base.

What do you do with all of this now? Although there is an additional step, it still plugs into your HID ballast in the same manner.

Additionally, a dual beam relay harness is required if you have a dual beam bulb.

The wiring in your factory is directly connected to this harness. It includes all the wiring for the ballast, bulb, and battery. It runs the length of your car, from the battery to the headlight housings, ballasts, and tubes.

Although it requires a little longer installation time and is quite a complex process, it is tried and tested and functions well.

When discussing LED light bulbs, things are far more straightforward, sophisticated, and succinct. For a single-beam bulb, we have one that can only do your high beam or your low beam. Here it is.

The LED is installed when the old bulb is removed, the wiring for the original housing is plugged in, and everything fits inside the headlight housing. It is easy to install. Since you are only creating a single beam pattern, you have a single set of LEDs.

It is quite similar to a dual-beam bulb (as seen above), where one light bulb can do both beams, such as high and low, simultaneously. You really must have this. Once more, it's just a single LED that screws into your wiring, fits in your headlight, and fits neatly inside the casing. It is basically plug-and-play and requires no relay harnesses to be mounted.

As you can see, this one differs greatly in that it has multiple LED arrays rather than just one. Two are yours. Your high beam is done by one, and your low beam by another.

There are no moving parts, and no additional relay harnesses are available. Generally speaking, installing an LED headlight bulb is easier.

Some LED kinds are slightly different. There are several like these where the driver is absent. The cable is relatively short. Everything is integrated within the LED.

With this type, the driver is built in, which makes them more likely to fail and typically less intelligent.

Some of them resemble HID kits, with a grommet to run the cabling through, an external driver, and a connection in the middle.

Most of these can be installed without the need for all these extra pieces, but depending on your application, they can occasionally be incredibly helpful.

Brightness

Brightness is among the most crucial factors to take into account while deciding which course to choose. For years, if not decades, people have known that the brightest option for your headlights is a HID conversion kit. However, we observe that several LED technologies enter the same field as the brightest HID kits in specific applications.

Your original halogen light bulb typically produces between 900 and 1000 lumens of light. Lumens are a measurement of brightness or the amount of light produced by a light source. In this instance, it's a tiny filament that illuminates when power is applied. Approximately 3,500 lumens are produced with a 35-watt HID setup.

A ballast plus that bulb produces light that is roughly three and a half times brighter compared to your stock halogen bulbs. If you swapped out your ballast for a 55-watt ballast, you would receive roughly 5,000 lumens of light. Your stock bulb's light output has increased significantly.

There are many different options available on the market when it comes to LED headlight bulbs.

HID has a proven track record. The technology is now flawless. Not much progress is being made with HID. But in the area of LED headlight bulbs, we see more and more goods that get better every year.

However, not every LED headlight bulb is made equally. If you watch our other films, in which we compare a variety of LED headlight bulbs, you'll notice that while they all use identical designs and technology, some of them even have the same appearance.

We're only discussing the distinctions between LED and HID today.

When you turn on your headlights with HID, the first thing you'll notice is that they become highly dim, perhaps less bright than your original halogen headlight bulb. However, they warm up and emit a tremendous amount of light in eight to fifteen seconds.

Since LEDs don't have moving parts, they operate instantly. No chemical reaction occurs, and neither warming up nor charging up is required.

It's a solid-state diode that emits light. It becomes active when you give it energy.

Beam Patterns

If you're thinking about upgrading to an LED or HID headlight, the likelihood that you had a halogen lightbulb at first is high. Now, you may have a halogen light bulb in a projector headlight with a chrome bowl behind a glass lens that focuses the beam, or you may have a halogen light bulb in a reflector headlight with these large chrome mirrors all over it.

Because of the light source's omnidirectional nature, we used to inform you that HID was the only option for projector headlights.

Around it, lights are shining. Since LED headlight bulbs have highly unidirectional LED chips, the light will only beam in the direction that the LED is directed.

Therefore, an LED bulb that was manufactured improperly will not provide a decent beam pattern when placed inside a projector. We have tested a variety of LED headlight bulbs in projectors. They don't always work, but they do occasionally. As we have demonstrated numerous times, we are increasingly seeing that some of the most significant LED headlight bulbs do function well in projector headlights.

Therefore, you can't just buy any old LED headlight bulb and fit it into a projector headlight and expect it to operate.

A strategy isn't your want for the finest one.

The technologies regarding reflector headlights are far more lenient. This type of headlight has a lot more flexibility when it comes to what will work. To a certain extent, almost all LED headlight bulbs are compatible with reflector headlights, and in a reflector headlamp, almost all HIDs will function to some extent.

We've discovered that even the greatest HID has a little bit more scatter in the beam pattern and glares at oncoming cars. However, with the correct LED bulbs, we notice more exact optical alignment that creates the optimum beam pattern, but it works both ways.

If you purchase the incorrect LED bulbs that you haven't tested, read reviews for, or had us test, you might experience more scatter than with an HID. Therefore, you simply need to be knowledgeable. Conduct a study to make sure you're installing a functional headlamp.

This is the objective. Take inspiration from the original beam pattern.

Beyond glare and appearance, beam pattern encompasses so much more. Better beam patterns result in safer and brighter headlights.

Therefore, will you choose LED or HID?

One proven technology is HID. It's a high-quality product that functions in almost every situation. Although LED bulbs are a new technology that is constantly evolving, you won't see many changes in the market for HID conversion kits. The latest developments and the greatest of the best are interesting and deserving of attention.

By now, you've probably figured out that I'm going with LED. We tested to find the best, and when they work well, they work well.