I really don't like the shelf on the cut-off, it doesn't really serve a good purpose from what I can tell. Anyone ever try to remove that say with a dremel or something.
Generally, the cut-off is there to make sure the beam pattern doesn't blind oncoming traffic.
I'm not sure what make or model you've got, but if you check out some German cars, you can more starkly see how and why that cut-off exists. Germany takes their lighting on the road very seriously (high speeds on the Autobahn, with a strong culture of "don't be a nuisance to others"), so their cars tend to have a very well optimized cutoff that sends light forward, but keeps drivers from being blinded.
To give you an idea of how much research goes into correctly aiming lights, this is a kind of fun little blurb video about Hella's light tunnel research facility:
I'll second what others have mentioned; typically keeping to a like-kind bulb and/or cleaning the housing makes a WORLD of difference. Depending on the style of your car, you can also call around to dealers in your area, and see if anyone has the equipment to re-align your headlights.
Long story short, it's a really expensive, niche machine that dealers don't use a lot (people rarely want to pay for the service), but it's AMAZING. While most individual dealerships won't have access, if they're part of an overall "family" of dealerships, they likely have one machine for all the different dealerships, and you might be able to get someone to bring it out for you. I got to have the lights on an old car of mine properly re-aligned with one of those machines, and it absolutely blew my mind. That was even after I'd polished the lenses clear, which had made an astounding difference. Over the years, lights very much can drift out of alignment, and getting them properly re-aligned is something no one suggests, because not too many people realize it's even an option.
But also, it can be really hard to find out if that's even an option. Often the service writers aren't techs, so they don't know that's a thing, and even many techs don't know it's a thing. You have to essentially find one of the like 6 people within the dealership organization that knows what the equipment is AND/OR if/where they have theirs. A couple of phone calls, and maybe a double check with some of the management (or some of the good techs) might get you a lead, though.
The other issue, which I think the U.S. is culturally struggling with (and then compensating by selling vehicles with insane, blinding lights) is that as people age, they need more light. It's something like a 50 year old needs twice the light to see as a 25 year old.
So, historically, that was part of the "old people drive so slow," but that was actually quite a smart move by the oldies of yore, as they were ensuring they never overdrove their physical capabilities. I don't know your age or situation, but if you're new to the "old guy club," let me just be at least ONE VOICE that says it's okay to alter your driving as a means of keeping you safe. There's a bit of a Zeitgeist in the U.S. that we have to pretend aging is a bad, evil thing, and everyone needs to spend money to pretend we're all just as capable as we were at 20.
I put in new, clear housings and Phillips bulbs, and I now I can sorta see and only get flashed when I leave the high beams on.
I put LED projectors in my van. They're way brighter, the cutoff is astoundingly sharp, and nobody flashes his highbeams at me.
If you guys haven't tried it, simply wet sanding the housing removes the outer layer of UV degraded plastic, and you can essentially make your housings as bright and clear as new. Toothpaste makes for a decent finish buffing compound, and/or mild abrasive if it's not too bad.
Saves a LOT of money versus a new housing, and you get to retain the stock beam pattern.
Project Farm did a video on it, and Cerakote apparently makes a UV resistant final protection coat you can rub on when you're done to retard the future UV degradation.
