As late autumn approaches, the sun's direct point moves southward, and the days in the northern hemisphere gradually begin to become shorter and the nights longer. In some high latitude areas in northeastern my country, the sun even sets at around 4 p.m. As nighttime driving hours increase, the demand for lighting during driving increases. In this article, we will tell you how to choose car lights.
1. Introduction to car lights on the market
1.1 Halogen headlights
The light-emitting principle is the same as that of the tungsten filament lamps commonly used in households in previous years, that is, the tungsten filament lamps are energized, radiate heat, and emit light. Just replace the gas in the bulb with halogen gas, which increases the service life, usually 500--600 hours. The standard halogen lamp for car headlights is 55w. Its luminous quantity is generally 600--800lm, the color temperature is generally 3000k, and the color is yellow. However, the filament temperature is generally close to 2000 degrees Celsius, and the surface temperature will also be close to 600 degrees Celsius (a reminder here, do not change the bulb after using the headlights when the car is hot, wait until the car cools down before changing, otherwise you will definitely be burned). The temperature is too high, so long-term use of high temperatures will cause the reflective bowl to age and the reflective coating on it to fall off. The reflective efficiency is greatly reduced, and no matter how good the light source is, it will not help.
Figure 1: The internal coating of the lens that has aged and peeled off under high temperature
At present, the manufacturing process of halogen lamps is very mature, and there is basically no difference in quality between first-tier brands and ordinary brands. Everyone can buy whatever they want. The guide price is 10 yuan--30 yuan a pair.
Figure 2: Taobao halogen lamp price
1.2 Xenon headlights
The ballast instantly boosts the 12-volt DC voltage on the car to a voltage of 23,000 volts. The high-voltage amplitude excites the xenon electrons in the quartz tube to dissociate, and generates a light source between the two electrodes. This is the so-called gas discharge. The same xenon lamp is also a thermal light source, and the temperature of the xenon lamp will exceed 400 degrees Celsius during normal operation. The white super strong arc light produced by xenon can increase the color temperature of the light, similar to the sunlight during the day. The current required for HID operation is only 3.5A, the general power is 35w, and its luminous amount is also around 2300lm. The color temperature is 4300k--6000k, and the brightness is three times that of traditional halogen bulbs. Theoretically, the xenon lamp reaches its half-life value in 2000 hours, that is, the brightness will only be half of its original value after being lit for 2000 hours. However, in actual production practice, a half-life value of more than 1000 hours is considered good. Therefore, it is recommended to replace it every 2 years or so. Like halogen lamps, the manufacturing process is very mature, and there is basically no difference in quality between first-tier brands and ordinary brands. The reference price is 40-100 yuan for a pair of xenon lamps and 50-100 yuan for a pair of ballasts.
1.3 led headlights
LED is a light-emitting diode, which converts electrical energy directly into light energy. It is a cold light source, and the temperature generally does not exceed 120 degrees Celsius. Due to the limitations of LED cob packaging technology in previous years, LEDs were directly fixed on the PCB board, resulting in the inability of LED heat to dissipate. Either the power cannot be increased, and the brightness is not even as good as that of xenon lamps; if the power is increased, the LED heat dissipation will not be able to keep up, and the lamp beads will burn.
Figure 3: The heat dissipation cannot keep up with the lamp beads and they are burned out.
Therefore, some people have the impression that LED headlights are of poor quality and are not as good as xenon lamps. Nowadays, cob packaged LED headlights are basically low-end products and are not recommended for everyone to buy. The price ranges from more than ten yuan to dozens of yuan.
Figure 4 and Figure 5: Relationship between LED temperature and lifespan
The mainstream now is SMD chip ceramic packaging. First, the LED is packaged on a ceramic substrate. Aluminum nitride ceramic has the advantage of high temperature resistance and good thermal conductivity. Then it is connected to the copper substrate, heat pipes conduct heat, and fan fins dissipate heat. At present, SMD chip ceramic packaging can effectively solve the heat dissipation problem. Under this heat dissipation situation, by balancing the lifespan and luminous intensity to achieve a junction temperature of 120 degrees, a single car light can basically achieve a luminous intensity of 50w with a power of 4500lm (including its own driver board and cooling fan power consumption). This kind of high-end car lights are also expensive in the current market, basically costing 400-800 yuan, and it may be more expensive at a 4S store.
2. Buying Guide
Halogen headlights: The product is very mature and the price is very transparent. A pair of second- and third-tier brands costs 10-30 yuan, which is completely satisfactory. There is no gap with first-line brands.
Xenon headlights: The product is also very mature and the price is relatively transparent. It is recommended that xenon lamps cost 40-100 yuan a pair and stabilizers 50-100 yuan a pair. The brightness is 3 times that of halogen lamps. Similarly, there is basically no difference between first-tier brands and second-tier and third-tier brands.
LED headlights: The current LED headlight market is a mixed bag, with technology iterating very quickly and products ranging from good to bad. At present, the cost price of domestic high-end LED headlights is not much different from that of xenon lamps plus ballast. However, due to the influence of channels and information asymmetry, the price is 2-5 times that of xenon lamps. Taking the domestic high-end copper tube thermal conductivity 50W product as an example, its brightness can reach 4500LM, and the temperature control temperature can reach 110-120 degrees Celsius. The brightness is 6-8 times that of halogen headlights.
Due to channel reasons, the price ranges from 400 to 800 yuan. The reference price is not of much significance, because the control of channels is different, and everyone may not be able to buy such high-quality products.
We have been in the offline automotive supplies market for many years and have considerable understanding of car lighting products. We have also accumulated some top domestic factory resources for car lighting products. If you are suffering from lack of information channels and lack of understanding of products to buy good car supplies, then please pay attention to us! In the near future, we will bring you a high-end LED product with the price of xenon lamp.
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