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HID Xenon ~ What, Why, How?

What is HID Xenon?

HID is an abbreviation of High Intensity Discharge.

It is also referred to as a "Gas Discharge System" or Xenon system.

Xenon light is identified by the clear white/ blue/ purple light it produces.

Automotive Xenon lights require a much higher voltage to operate (typically 23 thousand Volt) than the normal Halogen (12/13.8V) light.

Light is not produced by a filament (as in a Halogen bulb), but by the igniting of a gas mixture in a sealed bulb.


Click on any light above, to see the effect of different types of Xenon head lights on the road ahead.

>> Please note: we have standardized on 6000K <<

How Does It Work?

Before we tell you how Xenon bulbs work, lets try to understand how normal Halogen lights work. Halogen lights produce their light by an electric current which flows through a filament. The filament loses it's initial brightness after a few months, and also becomes brittle after repeated usage (heating up and cooling down).

In contrast to this, the HID bulb does not have a filament. Instead, the bulb is filled with Xenon Gas and Metal Halide particles. This system requires 23.000 Volts to ignite. This high power is provided by a Ballast. When power is supplied to the bulb, the electrons inside the bulb collide with the Metal Halide particles. The subsequent action is a beautiful bright, even, and constant light.



Why Use HID Xenon in your vehicle?

In a nutshell, just like many vehicles now have Airbags, ABS, Traction Control and other features, HID is here to stay. Many luxury and 4x4  vehicles are already equipped with HID, or may offer HID as an upgrade at the time of purchasing. If the BMW or Mercedes sales person does not offer you an upgrade to HID when you place your order, he is not doing his job. More and more vehicles will be equipped with Xenon lighting in the future as standard.

Light has a "colour temperature". Colour Temperature is a measurement in Degrees Kelvin (K) which indicates the hue of a specific type of light source. Many people believe (incorrectly) that colour temperature is a rating of the brightness of the bulb or light source. This is incorrect!

Halogen is rated as +/- 3200K (Kelvin). Normal halogen lights may appear to be white, but in actual effect still fall into the "yellow" category.

Xenon HID falls into a higher category, namely 4300 to 12000K. At these levels, the colour is yellow to white / pure white / white blue/ white purple - which is considered daylight. The actual brightness of a light source is measured in "Lumen" and has nothing to do with the colour temperature of a light source.

It is a scientific fact that a person of around 40+ years of age, needs 10 x more light to see with the same clarity as a 20 year old; installing HID lights in your car will address this problem. HID lights are proven to reduce night-time driver fatigue. Needless to say, this improves safety, since the driver is more alert over longer distances. Improved safety is also evident in the fact that better light provides better visibility at night (road markings, warning sings, pot-holes, crossing animals, bad weather conditions etc). This becomes more important for older persons, since older drivers need up to 10 x more light then younger drivers to see properly.

The actual light output of HID (35W) is almost 3 times that of a normal 55/60W Halogen bulb. Additionally, HID light produces a more "even' light pattern and has almost double the luminance compared to Halogen.

Of a pure technical advantage is the fact that the HID system actually runs cooler (heat/temperature) than Halogen, and the power draw from the alternator is reduced by 40% - ideal for those who like to use extra spotlights or fridges on their vehicles.

In off-road use, the superior contrast and light intensity of HID/Xenon lights is much superior to normal Halogen lighting. Also, the HID bulb is much less sensitive to the vibrations of the vehicle - which means less bulb failure. Most rally drivers use a full complement Xenon lights nowadays (with added spot lights in HID Xenon or LED).