HIDs are bulbs that use a sustained electrical spark to create light. Very bright(and very efficient), can be focused really well as in can throw far) but requires a ballast which takes up space and is 10 Watts minimal. Smallest size I've seen them is around a normal 2D light size. You can choose from many different types, powers, color tempreature and such. The lowerest I've seen from a HID is around 500 lumen and highest goes over a million lumen. They usually have a longer life then an Incandescent bulb. Price uis uisually high though at over $100 for the cheaper ones. Usually powered by internal rechargeable batteries.
Incandescents, Halogen, Xenon, what ever that uses resistance from a thin wire to heat it self up to a glowing tempreature to privide light I will group into incandescents. Thes are the most common, easiest to find lights. Efficiency is pretty low(compared to LEDs and HIDs) but it is found everywhere. There are also many powers to choose from(watts and lumen wise) but the max color tempreature I've seen is in the high 3000ks(maybe 4000k). Sunlight is around 6000K. They give better color rendering then LEDs(things pop out more) but for the same output, have much shorter runtime then LED or a HID fo the same lumen. Many stil use them for the color rendering or in hotwire mods(hotwire mods drive the lamps past their intended voltage and current for more output and a whiter light. They can give a good bit of throw(this depends more on the refelctor then the emitting surfece). The normal 2D incandescent light you see is around 15 lumen. Powered by all types of batteries, higher power ones use good rechargeable batteries.
LEDs give the best output to runtime ratio for smaller lights. They can be dimmed without much cange in tint unlike incans and HIDs(HIDs can be degraded faster by under or over driving). They have the longest life out of all the above two light sources. They come in a variety of different colors. They most common ones are the 5mm LEDs, you'll need to use quite a few to equal one of the high power LEDs that most LED lights discussed here have and are hard to focus. They are very popular for smaller lights and many peopel here one at least one. The current gen of LEDs are the brightest ones out right now(they are the Cree XR-E P4-R2 bin, Seoul P4 U-V bin, Luxeon Rebel 80-100 bin, Luxeon TFFC 180 bin and up, Seoul P7 C bin). The better ones can easily hit over 200 lumen when driven withing spec and can hit 300 if overdriven. They are mainly powered by Li-ion batteries of various sizes, CR123s, and AA batteries. There are some that use other batteries. Many have multiple modes for longer runtime, higher outout, strobe and so on.
I'm probably missing a lot of other info.
So, what are you looking for in your next light(price, output, runtime, modes, power source)?
This thread is probably better in the General Flashlight section.
:welcome:
