Osram Night Breaker Laser

Maybe this is already old news, but Osram has a new halogen bulb:

https://automechanika.osram.com/night-breaker-laser.jsp

It it a real advancement compared to the competition? The "laser" designation seems to be a marketing gimmick.

SubLGT said:

marketing gimmick.

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Looks like they were trying to find the last available glass areas that can be tinted blue without compromising beam performance. To me, the more interesting marketing question is: Will selling "laserbluer" bulbs in red packaging work?

Yeah, instead of a ring-shaped clear band around (one of) the filament(s), now they have a sort of diamond-shaped window, which (it is claimed) they make by using a "laser ablation process". That sounds like they start with a fully-blue bulb capsule and then use a laser to ablate (remove) some of the blue coating. I note that the blue coating is considerably darker (less light transmission) than the previous Night Breaker Unlimited. I also note that the new Night Breaker Laser claims to be a +130 bulb, which would be an Osram catch-up to Philips' top Xtreme Vision +130 bulb...except that's not Philips' top bulb any more; now they have the Racing Vision +150. Around and around and around they go; where will they stop? Nobody knows.

Have any more info on tue racing vision +150s?

Here's the Philips UK info page. Looks like no visible difference versus the Xtreme Power +130 (no bigger or darker blue bands on the glass, etc), so it's probably a matter of filament and fill gas improvements. It would not surprise me to learn these are a by-product of the research and development that went into Philips' new H18 and H19 bulbs.

-Virgil- said:

Here's the Philips UK info page. Looks like no visible difference versus the Xtreme Power +130 (no bigger or darker blue bands on the glass, etc), so it's probably a matter of filament and fill gas improvements. It would not surprise me to learn these are a by-product of the research and development that went into Philips' new H18 and H19 bulbs.

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Marketing specifications
Expected benefits Style and Passion
Product highlight Enjoy your passion

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What does that even MEAN?

and

The specific colour temperature in Philips RacingVision headlights (available in H4 and H7) allows your eyes to focus better and perceive contrasts in the distance.

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They didn't specify to us the specific color temperature.

C'mon, Philips: Up your game by not treating this like a game.

Looks like the only upgrade from the previous generation is 100%Xenon gas filling (Nightbreaker used to be Halogen+Xenon)..
I believe Philips XtremeVision has the exact same specs (+130% and ca 450h lifetime), but Philips has not stated the gas composition.

Seems like Osram has just caught up to Philips. Not really any news except for the hour-glass shape of the blue tint.

PS: Philips states 3700°K CCT so if the Osram is the same construction it should perform similarly.

nakamoomin said:

Looks like the only upgrade from the previous generation is 100%Xenon gas filling

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I saw that, and it's not true. A headlight bulb with 100% xenon fill gas would fail very quickly (minutes). Some marketer made that up on the spot.

Seems like Osram has just caught up to Philips

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...in time for Philips to retake the lead, LOL.

-Virgil- said:

A headlight bulb with 100% xenon fill gas would fail very quickly (minutes). Some marketer

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... might be interested in learning that several different Xenon isotopes exist. It opens up three more Xe "isotope tech" (=marketing) dimensions:
rariness; lightiness; nuculiness

Studying them would be a noble venture! Personally I'm waiting for 177+ bulbs before I get excited.

-Virgil- said:

I saw that, and it's not true. A headlight bulb with 100% xenon fill gas would fail very quickly (minutes). Some marketer made that up on the spot.

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Interesting, I always thought the Krypton/Xenon addition was to reduce the evaporation of the filament (extend lifetime of the bulb). In my understanding this allowed the manufacturers to burn the filament at a higher temperature, effectively negating the lifetime benefit for higher output/higher CCT (which also increases efficacy somewhat).

Is it because of Xenon arcing that the bulb would fail or are there other mechanisms/reactions at play?

nakamoomin said:

Interesting, I always thought the Krypton/Xenon addition was to reduce the evaporation of the filament (extend lifetime of the bulb). In my understanding this allowed the manufacturers to burn the filament at a higher temperature, effectively negating the lifetime benefit for higher output/higher CCT (which also increases efficacy somewhat).

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Yes. All of that applies to non-halogen bulbs (regular household incandescents when they were still made, a whole bunch of different turn signal/brake light/marker/etc type of miniature bulbs, and so forth). Adding xenon to the fill gas of a halogen bulb does improve things...up to a point. In a halogen bulb you have to have halogens (bromine or iodine...) to enable the halogen cycle to occur so the tungsten that boils off the filament is re-deposited back onto the filament. So no, there is no such thing as a "100% xenon fill" in a halogen bulb.

Is it because of Xenon arcing that the bulb would fail

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Too, also.

fastgun said:

I'm waiting for 177+ bulbs before I get excited.

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One seventy-seven, one seventy-seven, one seventy-seven, do I hear one-eighty, one eighty, one eighty, who's gonna give me one eighty...

nakamoomin said:

Looks like the only upgrade from the previous generation is 100%Xenon gas filling (Nightbreaker used to be Halogen+Xenon)..

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Which would make for a short bulb life. You need the "The Saltmaker!"1​ for the halogen cycle to work. Iodine used to be in vogue (hence, "quartz-iodine" bulbs in ad copy in the '60s and '70s) but bromine has largely replaced it. Both, of course, are still halogens (as is, of course sodium, but that isn't used in tungsten-halogen lamps, rather it's used where an arc is desired, such as in streetlighting. And such lamps, particularly high-pressure sodium lamps, have a terrible CRI.) Then you get fluorine, chlorine, and astatine, which also aren't used in tungsten-halogen bulbs.

"Gee, Wally, this Borosilicate-Bromine bulb sure is SWELL!"

fastgun said:

Studying them would be a noble venture!

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I see what you did there!



1​Playing with the etymology of "halogen" and Mentos commercials.

Seeing these on other country (non-US) websites, do you think they will be coming to the US as legal?

fastgun said:

Studying them would be a noble venture! Personally I'm waiting for 177+ bulbs before I get excited.

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ha ! i see what you did there

Also at Automechanika, Vosla introduced a new 120+ halogen bulb.

http://www.vosla.com/en/news-fairs/news-fairs/news/vosla-puts-more-light-on-the-road.html

The bulbs have a "special coil design" and a "modified filling gas".

I get the impression from reading the linked web page that all of Vosla's halogen bulbs, including the Narva brand, are manufactured in Germany.

Funny how they advertise +130, but the Osram Family Data Sheet still lists the exact same lumen output as the standard OEM H4 and H7 ... Download the PDF from here:

https://www.osram.com/automotive/pr...headlight-lamps/night-breaker-laser/index.jsp

SubLGT said:

Also at Automechanika, Vosla introduced a new 120+ halogen bulb.

http://www.vosla.com/en/news-fairs/news-fairs/news/vosla-puts-more-light-on-the-road.html

The bulbs have a "special coil design" and a "modified filling gas".

I get the impression from reading the linked web page that all of Vosla's halogen bulbs, including the Narva brand, are manufactured in Germany.

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Although some of the Narva Branded Miniature lamps are made in Poland, the majority of them are made in Germany. Especially the forward lighting.


http://www.vosla-german-lighting.com/en/trademark-philosophy/vosla-marke/philosophy/index.html

CPInc said:

Funny how they advertise +130, but the Osram Family Data Sheet still lists the exact same lumen output as the standard OEM H4 and H7

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What's funny? The +130 doesn't refer to an increase in source lumens. Notice that the bulb's envelope has that laser-ablated blue coating? The coating reduces maximum output so it's within the nominal spec for its bulb type-- the coating is ablated from the envelope in such a way that the filament is still properly exposed to the reflector to produce the beam. That filament is tightly-wound and otherwise highly optimized so there is better beam focus and higher intensity in the beam hotspot. Therefore, you get your +130 without exceeding the H4 (or H7's) maximum permitted luminous flux.