Xenon HID headlights have recently been taking the automotive world by storm. Since the invention of the car, there have been a great many inventions and innovations in various parts of cars, such as in the area of in-vehicle entertainment systems and better brakes, suspensions, and other areas. One area that has seen little or no innovation, however, is headlights.
Headlights have long been regarded by automobile manufacturers as being a dead-end area, with no prospects for improvement. After all, how much different could a new light bulb be from an old one? The answer is – very different. Xenon lights rely on an entirely different technology from regular lights, giving them much better overall performance.
Whereas older light bulbs rely on a tungsten filament to heat up and glow, producing light, no such filament is used in Xenon lights. Instead, Xenon HID bulbs, also known as High Intensity Discharge bulbs, make use of an electrical arc that forms between two electrodes made of tungsten to produce light. Compared to regular lamps, the power efficiency of Xenon lights is much higher because they produce more light within the visible spectrum and less heat. With regular lights, much of the energy that they use is released as heat, which is a waste of that energy.
Xenon HID lights are known as High Intensity Discharge because they produce a great deal more light than regular bulbs. Xenon lights are filled with a gas that contains metal salts. Once the electrical arc forms and begins to emit light, the metal salts evaporate and form plasma. This greatly increases the intensity of the light produced by the bulb. This is also the reason why Xenon HID lights take some time to warm up before reaching their full brightness. This warming up period is the time it takes for the plasma to form.
With such technology being made available to manufacturers for commercial lighting purposes, it was only a matter of time before car manufacturers realized the potential for application in cars. While introduction of Xenon HID headlights into the automotive industry was slow at first, it is now proceeding at a rapid pace as more and more drivers realize just how much more enjoyable driving at night can be with Xenon lights.
Another advantage of Xenon technology is that, due to the lack of filaments in the bulbs, they last much longer than regular lamps. This means that Xenon lights rarely need to be changed, and if you purchase Xenon HID headlights for your car, you will most probably be in need of a new car before you are ever in need of new Xenon lights.
Overall, Xenon lights have taken the area of headlight technology way past the boundaries that car manufacturers previously considered the limit for innovation in that area. The advantages offered by Xenon HID headlights make them an extremely worthwhile investment, not least because they greatly increase visibility, and therefore safety, on the roads. Even now, car manufacturers who previously thought that headlights would never change are installing Xenon lights in their vehicles as part of the factory manufacturing process.
