HIDs vs. LEDs in common usage (round 2)

[Bloodnut]

A couple weeks prior to SHOT I posted a thread asking when we would see HIDs overtake LEDs. The response to that thread was surprisingly energetic. The nerds on the board (and I mean that in the best possible way ) quickly started referencing the technical aspects of HID that lost me - but that's all good.

Now here we are post-SHOT and we see that SF is rolling out an HID light with manageable physical dimensions and I note that Polarion, according to Ken Good, will be rolling out an LED light. THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout!!! It seems to me that, up until now, HID occupied a niche in the lighting world and only Super-Flashaholics ventured down that road. (I've been at this for a minute and I'm still largely ignorant re: HIDs.)

So I'm back to wondering if we are on the cusp of seeing HID lights that are suited for common usage in terms of price, runtime, and physical dimensions. I don't expect to ever see HIDs at the counter of the local gas station, but it will be interesting to see if manufacturers will eventually shoehorn HIDs into a Mag-sized form factor that won't tear the wallet off your arse. What say ye?

 

[yellow]

I have a 10 W Solarc mod in a bike light setup. Three levels that cover lowest, 10W and highest "safe" input voltage for the ballast.
While it surely is brighter than my main bike light (a single Cree modded 6P), the output color of the light is very much on the green/blue side. That Cree seems brighter and gives the much nicer light (much better, even in the outdoors).


with the upcoming of ready made multiled-setups, the HIDs are obsolete
(remember seeing all those numerous HID-ads till beginning of last year? Have seen any bike-light HID-ads from then?
Must have a reason, imho)

in the 24 W class, HID still seems to be unrivaled

 

[nutz_about_lights]

While HIDS are superior to LEDs in terms of pure raw output and lumens, I'll still say that LEDs' trump card is the fact that there is no "start-up" time and you can switch it on and off as quickly as possible without fear of damage.

 

[Ra]

With HID's about at their top right now, the revolution in the LED-world is not over yet: Efficiency (drasticly..) improves, colortemperature improves. If they aren't more reliable and versatile compared to HID now, they will be in a few years!

HID always needs quite complicated electronics to operate, but still has the advantage of higher surface brightness (throw!). But that will not be for long..

Middle- and big- sized flashlights still perform best with HID, but smaller lights will absolutely benifit on the still improving led's.

Take a 10280 LiIon cell and a Cree R-2 and be amazed by the amount of light it produces based on 3 hours of runtime!

The future will be energy-efficient: We already see led-based car-lights, I beleve we will see led-street-lights and gas-station lights (among others) in the near future!


Today: HID for high throw and high lumens.. LED for small, very practical and durable flashlights..

Tomorrow: LED'S EVERYWHERE !!!!



Best,

Ra.

 

[ttran97]

I've seen LEDs in the brake lights of some cars. That seems to be growing in popularity. I have 4 HIDs in my car, two for the regular headlights and two for the fog lights. There's very little "startup" time for the lights. When I turn on my lights, there's a flash and then a quick, steady brightening of the lights until full power. But I'll tell ya...these suckers are bright!

This picture was taken last year when they were putting in my HIDs. For comparison, you can see one of my fog lights was still incan...what a difference the pure white HID makes!

And just for fun...this is what my baby looks topless.

 

[Ra]

ttran,

That is propably the most impractical torch I've ever seen! Ok.. It has wheels, but try to carry that in a forest for a few minutes...


Best,

Ra.

 

[Nos]

common useage for me means 0-20 watts power...and this region is the leds, because they give instant like, are compact builded and can have a better colour rendering if mixed smart enought :naughty: hid will still stay the best high power/throw choice for a while

but basicly its all what ra said before

 

[jzmtl]

ttran,

That is propably the most impractical torch I've ever seen! Ok.. It has wheels, but try to carry that in a forest for a few minutes...


Best,

Ra.

I did just that, in fact my torch carries me around in the forest. :nana:

 

[ttran97]

ttran,

That is propably the most impractical torch I've ever seen! Ok.. It has wheels, but try to carry that in a forest for a few minutes...


Best,

Ra.

Ra...are you kidding? This is THE most practical torch that I have! Why carry my car, when it carries me? haha! Plus, girls are more impressed with this torch than any of my Surefires. :naughty:

 

[EV_007]

I love HIDs but the LEDs do seem to have an edge over them in terms of portability, instant-on and generally have warmer tint from the bluish hues found on most HIDs.

The very few warmer HIDs out there really kick out some serious useful light which cannot be matched by today's LEDs.

 

[yellow]

to be honest:
if it were not for the green color and if the light of my 10 W HID would equal the output of four leds (and not seem like on par with my single emitter bike light I use now),
that "slow" startup time would by my argument for using it - its a freaky cool show.
Could even last longer than the ~10-15 secs that it needs now.

but it does not and its next to impossible to say if waymarks are white/yellow/red, or green/brown/blue from a distance of more than few meters, because the light seems to be same than a cyan emitter (while it should be soooo much better than these limited spectrum - bad outdoors light emitting diodes.

 

[Beastmaster]

Ra...are you kidding? This is THE most practical torch that I have! Why carry my car, when it carries me? haha! Plus, girls are more impressed with this torch than any of my Surefires. :naughty:

Hehe...I love my HID light carrier.

-Steve

 

[jufam44]

I use HID's now and then for walks at night with the dog-the brightness of a 10w solarc system overdriven to 14 watts is quite a killer. And I get about a 1 hour runtime, which is plenty to walk fido until he gets tired. (Nova Scotian Retrievers appear to never run out of energy) (wish my flashlight did that )
I do find the HID useful when walking the dog for it's own reasons (mag host is big enough to whack someone should the need arise, and HID is really, really bright!) Led's are great for short walks (~20 minutes) but aren't that bright relative to a 14 w HID. Just my $.02

 

[ttran97]

Hehe...I love my HID light carrier.

-Steve

I wanna see your carrier crush mine!!! That would be awesome! We'll set up a ramp and you can go all monster truck on it. haha! :thumbsup: