HID color temperature - choose your side
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[Poll]
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HID color temperature - choose your side
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| 3200k Halogens - (I don't believe in that HID hooey) |
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| ~ 4000k - closest to Daylight intensity/color |
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| ~ 6000k - touching on the blue spectrum just a bit |
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| ~ 6500k - touching on the purple side, but only slightly |
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| ~ 8000k - blue from all angles, 28% less usable light (comp. to 4000k) |
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| ~ 10000k - Smurfs have nothing on you |
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| > 12000k - you're bleeding grape juice from every orifice and blind |
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Total Votes : 26
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(last vote on : 5/14/2008 9:34:11 AM)
(Poll will run till: -- )
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HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/23/2008 9:16:36 PM
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h20boy
Posts: 1293
Joined: 3/29/2007
From: Ft Worth, TX
Status: offline
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I put this together to help new HID installers see where the majority lies when it comes to picking a color of HID bulb. Purely for fun.
Some background first - "HID light sources also produce a blue-white light that is safer because it is closer to natural daylight. The color temperature of daylight is approximately 4200 K compared to 3200 K for halogens. The increased light output from a 35 watt XENON HID lamp is approximately 80% more light then a 55 watt halogen bulb. Color Temperature is a measurement in Degrees Kelvin that indicates the hue of a specific type of light source. Many people believe the misconception that color temperature is a rating of the brightness of the bulb or HID kit. This belief is completely false. The reality of the matter is that the higher the color temperature, the less useable light output you will obtain. A perfect example would be a black light. This light has a color temperature of approx 12,000k and has almost no useable light or lumens output. Higher K kits such as 7000k, 7500k, etc. have been manufactured for individuals that are more concerned about the actual color output of their lights as opposed to the actual useable light output they produce."
Approximate
Light Source K Temp Lumens (output)
Halogen bulb 3200k 1500-2000
Sunlight 5000-5500k
D2S bulb 4100k 3500
D2S bulb 6000k 2800
8000k HID 2500
10000k HID Bulb 2200
12000k HID Bulb 2100
^ (D2S bulbs above rated off of a Phillips and Phillips Ultinon bulb, respectively)
I would like to reiterate as I have said a few times before in forum, that every HID system with projectors (not reflectors) will have a color shift in appearance (visible as you approach an oncoming vehicle or as seen by illuminating your headlights on a white wall) there is that line of blue/purple (and other colors, however minimal) that is generated as the light source bends around the cutoff in your projector headlamp. Now, the whiter the light, the more definition of a blue/purple cutoff you will have. So, if you have 4300k HIDs installed, that cutoff that you and everyone will see, will have a significant amount of blue/purple and a little gold, (pink perhaps too) at the horizon... very defined and eyecatching.
As you go up the kelvin scale, the less variation in color you will see. If you are in blue territory, you will maybe see a dark blue cutoff, but nothing else. Purple HIDs get the same, all purple and no variation. I personally like 6000k, as it is enough blue to make it stand out in a crowd, and that cutoff makes some beautiful rainbow colors that everyone can clearly see. That's my vote, although from what I researched, the typical OEM D2S bulbs are 4100k.
Cast yours now!
< Message edited by h20boy -- 1/25/2008 7:14:24 AM >
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/24/2008 2:16:09 PM
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cadillac
Posts: 2596
Joined: 3/23/2007
Status: offline
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6000K 
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/25/2008 1:45:14 PM
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aquill1
Posts: 5245
Joined: 9/27/2006
Status: offline
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K it should be locked there H20boy...and 6k for the win!
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/25/2008 9:49:18 PM
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Mustapha
Posts: 49
Joined: 1/23/2008
Status: offline
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wow thsoe are the exact color light i want aquill.....6k's....SWEET thanks !! :)
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/26/2008 8:28:13 AM
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beelab43
Posts: 51
Joined: 1/4/2008
Status: offline
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Just out of curiosity...it seems that most everyone on here (and I've tried to read every post I can) agrees that 6000K is the way to go. Knowing that OEM's are approx 4300K, would you all still recommend 6000K's to someone who is mainly concerned with vision rather than appearance? I really want to upgrade and I simply want to see best, but it would be nice to "look like OEM xenons" to oncoming traffic. Any suggestions?
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/26/2008 10:02:09 AM
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310jag
Posts: 161
Joined: 5/7/2007
Status: offline
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8k. :)
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/26/2008 10:55:03 AM
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h20boy
Posts: 1293
Joined: 3/29/2007
From: Ft Worth, TX
Status: offline
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hey Beelab, I have a vehicle with both the 4300k OSRAM bulbs in the XK8, and a jeep with Philips 6000k bulbs. how about i take a couple pics of each, side by side, perhaps that would help you.
If you are going for vision primarily, the 4300k bulbs will be your best choice. I truly think that if I could do it over, I would also use the 4300s in my Jeep. The Jag still has that 'color' to it, but that could be because Jag uses OSRAM bulbs, and they have a certain appearance to them. you'll be happy either way, honestly. Very little difference in output, but measurable. Wait till it gets dark, and i'll take out the DSLR for some test shots.
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My Jag Galleries
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/26/2008 1:58:17 PM
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aquill1
Posts: 5245
Joined: 9/27/2006
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Before I bought my 6k kit I wanted to get a 5k kit but they didn't have one. I wanted to get as close to the stock hid color as possible but didn't want to be disappointed with the 4300k so I went 6k. Personally I'd still go with 6k now that I have them. When I first got them I was like wtf I didn't want to go with the fake looking blue bulbs but once I drove with them and looked at them and drove by some cadillacs I appreciated the color. The other thing to keep in mind is that the light output from projector to regular head lamps changes the look. If I end up getting a mercury mountaineer I will get a 4300k kit and call it a day. In stock headlamps w/out projectors the hids don't look quite as flattering. Most people around me in Michigan think the bluer the better and I think they look stupid. The 4300k kit is what I'd get in a non projector vehicle. The 6k kit I think looks better than the 4300k because it doesn't look fake but its more dramatic than all of the freaking cadillacs around me so it sets me apart from them. My buddy has 6k's in his 03' bonneville with fogs and mains and thinks mine look way better than his, but his look sweet as well they don't look like fake blue. I think the problem too is that people around me have been getting the 8000k kits and if you do that you might as well get the regular blue bulbs as the light output blows. I sold some subs to this kid with a 07' civic and he had 10k kit in and he hated it, the light output is terrible! Although he had the super white leds for interior lights and that looked freaking awesome!
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/26/2008 5:50:38 PM
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beelab43
Posts: 51
Joined: 1/4/2008
Status: offline
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Thanks for your input, guys. I'll wait for h20's pics, before I order my kit (probably from mydepots). But at this point, I'd have to say I'm leaning toward the 6k's. Are any of you using the HID's in your fogs as well? They may be a better candidate for the 4300's since the colors are realatively close.
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RE: HID color temperature - choose your side - 1/26/2008 8:14:34 PM
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h20boy
Posts: 1293
Joined: 3/29/2007
From: Ft Worth, TX
Status: offline
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Well, what i wanted to do didn't work out as well as I had hoped, but maybe this will help you make a decision.
Remember, the Jeep has Philips Ultinon 6000k HIDs and the XK8 has Osram 4300k (or so).
Looking at both of these, I really see very little difference in the light output from one to the other. There is a slightly different cutoff patter on each, but again, that is projector dependent as well. But each cutoff still produces the purple/blue colors that you see from those oncoming cars.
I would gladly put the 4300's in my Jeep. Osram 4300's are a little pricier, but have a color tint already, but produce that nice, bright beam pattern. If money isn't really an object Beelab, find some new Osrams...you'll get the best of both worlds.
Oh, some pics.
This is the beam patterns of each car on my garage. Jeep on the left, Jag on the right.
See the beam cutoff for the XK8...lots of purple and blue right at the horizon (along with the yellow light, which pretty much is overpowerd by the purple to onlookers)
Even on the Jeep HIDs, the cutoff creates the same rainbow pattern.
Looking at them head-on, this one taken at the Jag's cutoff level to show that visible color around the lamp...
Since the Jeep is higher, we're already in the 'white' light of its projector, therefore, the jeep looks totally normal.
Closeup of the XK8 at beam cutoff level...
Now from the cutoff level of the Jeep's HID...see the same color around the bulbs (a little uneven due to slight offset at close distances)
And a closeup of the Jeeps 6000ks
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Matt 2003 XK8 CvTbl
My Jag Galleries
Go Texas Tech!
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