Xenon vs. halogen headlights
Many modern vehicles have now converted to xenon headlights. Their improved light intensity provide better visibility and thus improve road safety.
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Functionality
Xenon lamps produce light according to the principle of gas discharge. In this case, no filament wire is lit, but an arc is ignited due to a high-voltage pulse. The high voltage required to ignite the xenon gas is 20,000 volts. This voltage is generated by an electronic ballast. Frequently, the xenon light is used as the light source of low beam. The normal halogen light is used for mainlight. If dipped-beam and main beam are a combined xenon light, one speaks of BI-Xenonlicht.
Die Xenonlampen erzeugen Licht nach dem Prinzip der Gasentladung. Dabei leuchtet kein Glühwendeldraht mehr, sondern es wird ein Lichtbogen mithilfe eines Hochspannungsimpulses gezündet. Die Zur Zündung des Xenon-Gases notwendige Hochspannung beträgt 20.000 Volt. Diese Spannung wird von einem elektronischen Vorschaltgerät erzeugt. Häufig wird das Xenonlicht als Lichtquelle Abblendlicht verwendet. Für das Fernlicht wird das normale Halogenlicht verwendet. Sind Abblend- und Fernlicht ein kombiniertes Xenonlicht, spricht man vom BI-Xenonlicht.
Benefits of xenon compared to conventional halogen lamps:
Unlike conventional halogen bulbs, xenon headlights provide significantly better light current, yield, luminance and lifetime.
Xenon scaleHow do I know if it’s a halogen or xenon lamp?
- A halogen lamp will have the acronym “H”: e.g. H7, H4, H1
- A xenon lamp has the acronym “D” (= discharge): e.g. D1S, D2S, D2R
| H7 | D4S | D5S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas filling | Halogen | Xenon | Xenon |
| Bulbs | Filament | Electric arc | Electric arc |
| Performance | 55 W | 35 W | 25 W |
| Light intensity | 1500 lm | 3500 lm | 1900 lm |
| Lifetime | 450 h | 2000 h | 3000 h |
Please note
For bulbs producing more than 2,000 lumens, a headlamp cleaning system and a dynamic (automatic) headlamp range adjustment are mandatory. The associated components (V20-08-0379 – washing fluid pump / V10-08-0299 – windscreen washer spray / V20-72-0546 – sensor, xenon light) quickly raise costs for car dealers. Therefore xenon lamps are a rarity in small cars. To get around this regulation, car manufacturers have introduced the D5S xenon lamp. This produces 1,900 lumens and therefore needs no headlight cleaning system and no dynamic (automatic) headlamp range adjustment.
NOTE
A functioning headlamp cleaning system and a dynamic (automatic) headlamp range adjustment are essential for the MOT of xenon headlights, due to the risk of glare for other road users.
Matching additional components such as control units, headlamp adjusters and headlight washer sprays and pumps are also available at VEMO.
