Ram 2005 headlight bulbs

APT wrote:
I understand about coatings are filters for quantity of light. But that does not mean all 5000k headlights have less light than 3500. Reducing light output with the compromise of color is silly. But I wonder why 3200-3500k is best for automotive lighting assuming all else equal. The only benefit I know of is fog where even lower color temps are ideal.

OEM Xenon headlights are in the 4000-5000k range and LED headlamps are 5000-6000k. While one of the "benefits" may be marketing it as different is better, there are a lot of engineers that design them to perform better. Owners of vehicles in general prefer both types over incandescent. I understand OEM designs are not the same as aftermarket conversions.

I suspect that the aftermarket crowds are the ones “pushing” the 5000K+ as an improvement in order to drive aftermarket sales.. Not to mention folks wanting to imitate the “look” of an expensive luxury auto on a beer budget by installing a $30 set of blue tinted bulbs (if "luxury cars" have "blue bulbs" then they must be better?).

Looks like BMW OEM bulbs are 4300K (Philips brand D2S) according to one of their forums..

HERE

No real "smoking gun" on this subject.. But many of the places I have looked at seem to agree with my observations that the blue tinted bulbs tend to not improve but may reduce your night vision. I have not been able to find any "evidence" that 5000K and up "improves" your night vision as of yet..

The Daniel Stern website has a real good discussion on what I touched about with filtering the light and the manufacturer of that bulb must use a higher output filament in order to maintain the min DOT lumens..

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A few other notable websites..

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