What's all the hype about LED lighting?

[dosjockey]

But you can still see better with the lighting package at night than you can with the mk7 without it. You know how I know that? I have a 2018 without the lighting package and a 2019 with the lighting package.

I know you want to be right, but you just aren't.

We're all talking about one thing, but you're on about another. That's the issue, here.

Nobody discounts the fact that in the center of that beam, LEDs illuminate more to the human eye currently than other sources. Nobody is claiming that's not the case.

I've used my share of LEDs, in this regard, as well as more conventional sources in many environments. Back to back, snow, sand, utility, and pounding washboard for hundreds of miles. I've had elephants pop out of shadows that would have been visible with other lighting technology.

They have limitations that don't have to exist. Acknowledging those limitations will allow them to reach their potential.

 

[KevinC]

It's a well know fact that police find criminals with dim lights in order to see in the shadows where bright lights aren't able to see.

 

[southpawboston]

But the problem is that you focus on stuff that is the brightest and nothing else. You also lose the ability to see Bambi in the shadows.

This is exactly the debate in long-distance endurance cycling where you ride throughout day and night. One camp insists on bright headlights that scatter light everywhere and the other camp insists on more dim, downcast light that projects a uniform beam on the road in front of you. The latter camp is dominated by German made headlights which all have horizontal cutoffs to prevent light scatter (to meet German StVO requirements). I happen to have these lights on my bikes and what I appreciate is that your pupils remain dilated so you see much better in your peripheral vision. You can also see the stars and the moonlit pastures and enjoy the beauty of nighttime. With the bright lights, your pupils constrict and you have tunnel vision. Too much of anything is not good.

 

[southpawboston]

I could write a whole thesis on this subject very easily...& I have been doing "stuff" for the past 4yrs since our stupid council fitted 4000K LED lighting everywhere in our town...with NO diming!...I had to get black out curtains as I had more reflected/bounced light shining into my bedrooms than the previous son/sox stuff!

Our town has replaced all the street lights with higher K LEDs which I'm not happy about either, but on the plus side they are very directional and barely scatter. I find my front yard (garden) is much darker now with the new LEDs. But the sidewalks (pavements) underneath the lamps are very brightly lit.

 

[GTIfan99]

We're all talking about one thing, but you're on about another. That's the issue, here.

Nobody discounts the fact that in the center of that beam, LEDs illuminate more to the human eye currently than other sources. Nobody is claiming that's not the case.

I've used my share of LEDs, in this regard, as well as more conventional sources in many environments. Back to back, snow, sand, utility, and pounding washboard for hundreds of miles. I've had elephants pop out of shadows that would have been visible with other lighting technology.

They have limitations that don't have to exist. Acknowledging those limitations will allow them to reach their potential.

LED's can certainly be improved. That doesn't make halogens any less crap in the mk7. As I stated before, the majority of the issue with any headlights is the reflector and aim. I've seen cars with excellent halogen head lights. VW doesn't make them. In our cars, the LED is far superior to the halogens in every way if both are properly adjusted. My LED's don't have an abrupt cutoff anymore, because......................................


I properly adjusted them. It takes some effort, but you can adjust them to be not blinding to oncoming traffic and not have that hard cutoff. It took me 4 tries, but it's worth it.

 

[Strange Mud]

page 4 and no DeAuto LED?



......I do like my B/up bulbs from them

 

[dosjockey]

LED's can certainly be improved. That doesn't make halogens any less crap in the mk7. As I stated before, the majority of the issue with any headlights is the reflector and aim. I've seen cars with excellent halogen head lights. VW doesn't make them. In our cars, the LED is far superior to the halogens in every way if both are properly adjusted. My LED's don't have an abrupt cutoff anymore, because......................................


I properly adjusted them. It takes some effort, but you can adjust them to be not blinding to oncoming traffic and not have that hard cutoff. It took me 4 tries, but it's worth it.

Now we're on the same page.

I've noticed that, in comparison to my other halogen-equipped vehicles, the lights on the GTI seem a touch weak. Now, I've got some incredibly rare eyes, so I can see just fine, but I can imagine someone moving from LEDs to this and wondering what was wrong. I'm not sure what sort of bulb they use just yet, but different bulbs have different built-in reflector solutions.

Moving to a different bulb could potentially improve them a bit; but that only goes so far. To be honest, I did expect them to be a little better; but in my case it was a pleasant surprise that they weren't.

They're about as good as the headlamps on the 2000 Infiniti I just sold.

 

[dequardo]

To be honest, I did expect them to be a little better; but in my case it was a pleasant surprise that they weren't.
They're about as good as the headlamps on the 2000 Infiniti I just sold.

Huh? This is one weird thread.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Bam.

I'll get LED headlamps the day they design them properly.

Aside from the Cybertruck... I'm in the pre-order pool, and I'm pretty sure those are LEDS.

Don't care.

I don't see anything wrong with my GTI's LED headlights. They're fantastic. And I hope that they make the lens covering the Cybertruck's LED headlights more shatterproof than the windows. ?

 

[jimlloyd40]

We're all talking about one thing, but you're on about another. That's the issue, here.

Nobody discounts the fact that in the center of that beam, LEDs illuminate more to the human eye currently than other sources. Nobody is claiming that's not the case.

I've used my share of LEDs, in this regard, as well as more conventional sources in many environments. Back to back, snow, sand, utility, and pounding washboard for hundreds of miles. I've had elephants pop out of shadows that would have been visible with other lighting technology.

They have limitations that don't have to exist. Acknowledging those limitations will allow them to reach their potential.

I'm quite sure that they're working on improving the LEDs and I'll watch out for the elephants. ?

 

[KevinC]

page 4 and no DeAuto LED?

PLEASE don't draw that guy into this. He'll post 800 pictures of "his" Chinese crap bulbs projecting nuclear explosion levels of blinding light onto walls and down roadways and claim it's proof that his products are great. Never mind that most of them aren't even street legal, and for good reason. And did anyone else ever notice that he NEVER posts any kind of name for himself? Not even a first name? He's just - the deAutoLED guy. If I were selling all that illegal crap, I probably wouldn't want to put my name out there either.

 

[GTIfan99]

I'm quite sure that they're working on improving the LEDs and I'll watch out for the elephants. ?

The elephants are in the shadows, so you'll never see them coming...

 

[Diggs24]

Did anyone read Water for Elephants? It's pretty good.

 

[GTIfan99]

Did anyone read Water for Elephants? It's pretty good.

No, but I like Babar books.

 

[dosjockey]

No, but I like Babar books.

Holy crap I'd forgotten all about those.

You've got to watch out for those damned elephants, though. They're mean as hell, alarmingly intelligent, and vindictive.