HID vs. Tungsten Halogen Headlamps: Driver Preferences and Visibility Distance 2009-01-0550

Today’s discussions about high intensity discharge (HID) headlamps are often reduced to a simple discussion about glare. Glare is an important aspect when talking about the performance of automotive headlamps. It is not completely understood today and more research has to be done. Nevertheless a more “global” view may be very useful to characterize the pros and cons of HID headlamp technology. This paper describes a direct comparison of latest serial production cars with both tungsten halogen (TH) and HID headlamps. The results of the performed driving tests in real traffic and visibility distance measurements show that HID headlamps provide many benefits regarding different aspects of traffic safety. Moreover the results illustrate that drivers clearly tend to prefer HID headlamps.