2023 Tacoma LED bulb

LEDs in halogen projectors typically product less glare than stock, because the uplight/glare slit in the projector is in front of the bulb and since replacement LEDs shine light to the sides and the LEDs are not transparent, light does not shine light out the uplight location, and the opaque LED obstructs light from being redirected out the slit from the projector bowl. This is actually bad, because you do want some uplight to see beyond the low beam cut off.

Example of a performance halogen vs older XD LED. You can see the light above the cut off is less with the LED. LEDs have improved since this example, but demonstrates the basic concept.


LEDs in reflector housing on the other hand can be a recipe for bad glare.

You are looking in the wrong spot.

This is the GE/Tungsram +130 vs stock. The performance H11 is 74% brighter than stock, including increasing the uplight/glare. Look at where the arrow is pointing and the uplight/glare increase is easily noticeable on the GE/Tungsram side. Again, headlights are supposed to have some uplight/glare but it is to be a regulated controlled amount so that it doesn't blind other drivers. The pattern hasn't changed, it has just all become brighter.


But that is a performance halogen vs stock halogen.

Here is that performance halogen that has already increased light output 74% vs an HID in a halogen projector. The HID uplight is significantly brighter than the performance halogen, in fact over double the performance halogen, meaning it is 3.3x+ more glare than the designed stock allowance with a stock bulb. Even when compared to a significant halogen bulb upgrade, the HID uplight/glare easily overpowers the halogen uplight/glare. And this is the problem. The pattern did not change, it is brighter everywhere, including the uplight/glare. Add to that, that on coming drivers eyes are more sensitive to light containing short wavelength light (whiter/cooler) compared to long wavelength (warmer) and the effect is amplified to the on coming driver.



An HID projector fixes the issue by increasing output below the cut off, without the excessive light output in uplight/glare, because it is designed for the HID light source, unlike the halogen projector that is designed for more uplight due to a lower intensity light source.

All LED light bulbs sold for headlights in the US were part of the recall. Replacement LEDs are illegal for use in headlights, and IIHS cracked down on vendors that sold them as such.

Those were the best focused replacement LEDs on the market at the time. The Morimoto 2stroke 3.0s covered here are far more advanced with better focus for improved optical compatibility vs the Hikaris. This means you'll have less foreground light shift and better distance projection vs the Hikaris. The Morimotos are now the only replacement LED I'd recommended if absolutely set on using replacement LEDs. They are still outperformed by performance halogens in a halogen projector.

You can look up the headlight ratings on IIHS. The previous Gen F150 is cited for excessive glare from the OEM LEDs.
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/Ford/f-150-crew-cab-pickup/2018#headlights

 

Good comments regarding technical, bit of a cheap shot regarding their promotion of certain brands without any evidence.
In any case I continue to look at drop in LED developments for low beam projectors and the video has several of interest though IM not convinced yet. I much prefer something in the 3200-4000K range. Also worth reading reviews on Am-azon and other sites to get folks real world experience and several on the list (including some on your list) have some cautionary reviews.

 

Could be a leveling kit. I have seen some of those trucks pulling a trailer, the lower lamps shine right up into your side mirrors.

 

Unless it was measured it is in fact opinion and not fact.

The only way to determine if it improved throw is to measure the light on a target at a distance.

 

Agreed on the lower color temps. The only one I've seen actually pursue a 3200k LED headlight is the Morimoto retrobrights, which are obviously not going to work as a replacement LEDs. The problem with most Amazon type reviews, is that the average reviewer is going to rate a replacement LED headlight product as good, for all the reasons it is actually bad. LEDs that have big increases in foreground light look impressive in pictures and first person impressions, but that is actually bad for a headlight as you've traded your distance light for short range foreground light, so you really have to take many of those types of reviews with a heavy does of salt. Any LED that has 2 rows of emitters on one side of the blade to mimic a single filament is going to be awful, you cannot focus light to replicate a halogen with that large of a surface area and it is going to cause a massive light shift to foreground light. You can use that easily visible technical trait to start weeding things out as you look for LEDs.

 

I say driving down the same back country roads over the years is a pretty good indication it is an improvement, so yes a fact is the way I see it.

 

Speaking of "reviews", and a comment worth making considering the comments here.

I purchased a set of cheap led bulbs. They were $5 from an Amazon return site, normally $40 or so. Untested on here but fully expected poor performance.

Utilized these bulbs in my high beams. If you know what you are looking for you and distinctly see lower performance at far distance.

That said, my wife (who doesn't have anything invested here) is absolutely convinced they had better light. She is positive it's better, and that's because it is a flatter color, higher K light.

She is also convinced her fog lights make it better to see at night, so there is that. I'm always trying to turn them off when she isn't looking (we don't get fog)


It has been proven in multiple studies that lux on the object at distance is the only improvement in lighting. That said, and as you well know, folks "like" the crisper white and regardless of if it improved light they "feel" like it is better.


Question for the crowd. Folks claim their high output lights (morimoto) don't cause glare, yet it has been shown they don't increase the peak intensity. If it has higher output but didn't increase peak intensity where do you think those extra lumens are going?

 

That is not what a FACT is. That is literally the opposite of a fact.

 

“I don’t get flashed! My lights are perfect!”

Because that driver in front of you cursing up a storm from your stupid blinding lights in the mirror cannot flash you from behind. - Fact

Been there way too many times when I cannot see a damn thing for miles, and I’m sure that jackass thinks his lights are the best thing ever since he’s not being flashed.

All the others oncoming have given up flashing every other truck on the road.

 

Good post. A lot of the reviews on Amazon do indeed show pics of high foreground lighting and calling them great. At least one review however identified poor down range lighting, good for them. Many reviews listed poor reliability or issues requiring additional hardware to get them to function, ghosting etc., even with the Morimoto 3.0.
I’m not totally convinced you have to completely mimic a halogen filament to have good beam patterns out of a LED in a projector, but concede the evidence thus far, and as you yourself have tested a number of these, it seems to indicate this may be true.

 

So you say, best to agree that we disagree.

 

Projectors are challenging because by their compact nature they are the most optically sensitive to small changes in filament size and position, which also happens to be the biggest design challenge in making a replacement LED is getting the size and position to correctly match a halogen. This is why the performance halogens excel so well above stock in a projector, because those small changes in shrinking the filament size for better focus give great returns. But the opposite is also true, having a slightly larger light source also causes greater harm and reductions in output intensity. Reflectors are less sensitive to those changes (they still significantly matter of course) but then you have glare issues. Really the best case for an LED is a wide and short reflector where the top and bottom of the housing is not used as a reflector surface for light output and is flat, and light is primarily redirected from just the sides of the bulb output. This is the style of some of the F150 halogen headlights. This plays to the strengths of the LEDs while downplaying some of the weakness of not being a perfect replication of a halogen bulb. Of course things like double stacked emitter rows in an LED are still going to have poor performance, because that isn't even trying to replicate a halogen.

 

Probably the best geometry for an LED bulb would be a 4 sided (or more) LED arrangement. Then you have no heat sink and a 1 second lifetime lol.

 

The high color temp reflectivity off of signs in urban environments is often a factor. Signs glow like they are radioactive, because 6000k is highly reflective and 3200k is not. Which the 6000k then actually works against you with any kind of precipitation.

High output LEDs often have lower intensity numbers because the light isn’t focused like a headlight pattern should be. They might put out more light, but without the focus, the light gets dumped off in a short range foreground flood light. So rather than concentrating the light into a focused hotspot to project distance, leading to high output intensity numbers, you have a short range flood with low intensity numbers even though the replacement LED may output more light.

 

If you look at some residential LEDs, they’ve come up with a way to emit 360 degree light from a coated wire, similar to an incandescent bulb. I’ve thought that developing this for replacement automotive bulb use could maybe get to the point of actually replicating a halogen bulb. However the output intensity performance isn’t there in the technology currently to match the needs for an automotive headlight.

 

Yes, we see this in building flashlights (my other hobby). There is big discussion that happens around various emitters and intensity numbers. For the longest time the emitter that had the highest throw had relatively low output. Since the output per emitting surface was higher than other emitters it could push light out farther than other emitters, even emitters with ten times the output.

There are some tricks to increasing intensity, unfortunately not anything that can translate to led bulbs. I wish I could get my hands on a busted oem housing as I have some ideas...

 

Standard optics 101. Very simplistic article from Philips explaining how shrinking the light source without increasing output can actually be brighter:
https://www.philips.co.uk/c-e/au/ca...es/technology/improve-your-lights-easily.html

 

Thanks for the link!

 

I have the decorative wire type GE relax LEDs for my ceiling fans, as you say these are generally low power. These particular ones are 2700k, 300 lumens, 4 to a fan fixture and provide a nice warm ambience.
House has been all LED for a while but I’ve began replacing the cheaper LED bulbs in my enclosed ceiling fixtures with CREE 60W equivalent 2700K 815 lumens CRI 90+. They are expensive comparatively but provide superior lighting and should last longer in my enclosed fixtures.
I replaced the 4ft fluorescent lights in the closets with “Toggled” brand 4000k leds, I really like these, 120V, ballast deleted so no more failed starters or bulbs and come with wiring/sockets needed or can reuse existing if desired (just have to rewire using supplied twist on connectors).
For the garage I bought an adapter kit to replace the 2 8ft fluorescent bulbs and starter with 4 Toggled LEDs. Garage ceiling is 13ft high and tired of replacing fluorescent bulbs and starters!
Wife is sensitive to bright lights so no 5000-6500Ks for me, few years ago they retrofitted our office with these and I hated them as well.
Please excuse the off topic talk but I was an early adopter of LEDs and pretty much converted the other engineers in the office to using appropriate K rated LEDs for different applications in the home, was a bit of a passion lol.

 

You might find this thread interesting:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...lighting-using-leds-hirs-and-halogens.574930/