"Philips xtreme vision", a new bulb?

Just saw an advert for a new Philips bulb, Philips xtreme vision. It is supposed to be 100% brighter than the ordinary bulb. The earlier, Philips Xtreme Power provided 90 % more light. Does any one have more information?
http://www.carbulbsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?prod=192

There is even a youtube video (with sunflowers etc).
Is this the last legal upgrade that we are going to see in Halogen bulbs, I wonder! Is it posiible to go further than 100% legally?

they were first introduce in europw back in 2007, but here in the U.S. they are relatively new. I have a set on my truck andyes, they work great! they are about 80& brighter than stock halogens, do not have any blue tint, which makes them better in rain. and the total output is like that of an "european" beam. I highly recommend them.

machine090767 said:

they were first introduce in europw back in 2007

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Noooo, they were first announced in Europe a couple of weeks ago. You are thinking of the previous Philips top-line bulb, the Xtreme Power.

I have a set on my truck

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No, you are thinking of the Xtreme Power, not the new Xtreme Vision.

and the total output is like that of an "european" beam.

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This does not make any sense and isn't even slightly true. There is no bulb you can install in a US-code headlamp that makes it into a European-code headlamp. It just doesn't work that way.

Scheinwerfermann,

I believe the previous poster was trying to say that these bulbs cause your headlights in America to have a European pattern, in the same way that many non-carcinogenic substances cause cancer if used in California.

So this bulb is an improvement over Extreme Power?

A little more light, a little less life.

Scheinwerfermann said:

A little more light, a little less life.

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Ahhh I see.

Scheinwerfermann said:

A little more light, a little less life.

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It'd be interesting to plot the lumen hours of those bulbs compared to the older ones, and to the "long life" bulbs. That, or it'd be depressing.

Philips really ought to make what I'll call HIR3 and HIR4 (my coinage for 9005 and 9006-based versions of the HIR1 and HIR2, but at a lower wattage). (I can dream, right?)

Scheinwerfermann said:

A little more light, a little less life.

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How much more light?
Say, in an H4?

And I'm looking but can't find them in an H13.

You know my problem, Scheinwerfermann; my Jeep cronies want an easy answer for more light from their stock H13s. Some have converted to H4 assemblies and wiring; some have bought "kits" that have H4 housings and only a pigtail adapter. And some have crossed the line and have installed H13-based HID crud.

Hilldweller said:

How much more light?

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A little more. Remember, it's not just a question of lumens, but also of luminance and beam focus.

And I'm looking but can't find them in an H13.

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Not manufactured.

my Jeep cronies want an easy answer for more light from their stock H13s

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They can swap H13 bulbs until the end of time, and they still won't be happy; the optics are sloppy. There is no bulb, unfortunately, that converts indifferently-engineered and cheaply-manufactured lamps into good ones. The stock JK Wrangler headlamps are, objectively, not the worst performers on the road, but are very uncomfortable to drive behind because of the sloppy beam focus and straight horizontal beam cutoff.

Some have converted to H4 assemblies and wiring

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That's one solid option as long as good H4 units and bulbs are installed; there's a lot of junk on the market even from major names (the Hella 7" H4 is carefully constructed of quality materials, but its performance is pathetic, for example), and there's a ton of garbage on the market, too -- Delta, Roundeyes, Maxtel, Eagle Eyes, Pilot, Autopal, etc. And I don't really need to go into the bulb mess (blue, "extra white", "xenon", etc.). The headlamp circuit on a JK Wrangler is PWM-controlled, so relays will buzz loudly and die early if conventional techniques are used. Some additions (capacitors and diodes) are necessary to the ordinary relay harness.

some have bought "kits" that have H4 housings and only a pigtail adapter.

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Greeaaaaattt...

And some have crossed the line and have installed H13-based HID crud.

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Stupid idea, but try telling them that, right?

Will they be available in every size the Xtreme Power is available in?

looking at this site in England it seems to be available in H1 H4 and H7 sizes. Perhjaps the other ones are on the way, who knows!
http://www.regalautobulbs.co.uk/products/philips-xtreme-vision.php

Now something about the new car bulb test conducted by the autoexpress magazine in Europe. The new Osram Night breaker plus H4 seems to be better in throwing more light on the road than the Philips extreme vision! I don't know if we can trust these results since the test was conducted in the Osram facility and they say that the filament output was better with the Philips Xtreme vision but the light on the road was not optimal, signifying some design fault with Philips xtreme vision. What really bugs me is that that the test results with Autoexpress seems to swing with whose facility they are using for the test. Last time they tested at Philips' facility and nearly all the Philips bulbs came on with high rating and now it is Osram at the osram facility. We need independent test and what we really need is comparison of the light on the road and longevity. I don't care what the filament looks like or does as long as it stays within the legal limits.
Here is the link to the recent test (three groups, standard, 50% and 90%)
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/258424/headlamp_bulbs_tested.html

Here is the older H7 test where Philips seems to score highest point (at the Philips facilty!)
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/212937/make_light_of_winter.html

Where are you Mr. S? We need your enlightened comments. Time to give up your self imposed quarantine, perhaps?

Re: "Philips X-treme vision", a waste of money!!!

I just installed a pair of Philips X-Treme Vision H7s in my 2011 Kawasaki Ninja. I spent over $60.00 for them including shipping. They claim to be 100% brighter than standard Xenon bulbs. I was totally disappointed. They seem to be about 4000K or perhaps even lower. Much warmer color than I was expecting. I had installed a set of 5000K HIDs in a Yamaha scooter recently so I compared them side by side. The HIDs were a nice, neutral white that made the X-Treme Vision look like the light from a campfire by comparison. As far as being 100% brighter? Well, I saw NO noticeable increase in brightness at all! I took the time to adjust my beam patterns thinking the Philips might have changed the pattern. It didn't make any difference how I set them.

I wish I could get my money back.

Unfortunately, I can't.

Beware.

Re: "Philips X-treme vision", a waste of money!!!

Focusing on "kelvin ratings" will just drain your wallet. The color temp of a clear-glass halogen bulb, fed at rated voltage, is between 3050K and 3450K, depending on the specifics of the bulb design. Fooling around with bulbs that claim to produce 4000K or 5000K or whatever is counterproductive, because the colored glass used in such bulbs greatly reduces the amount of light reaching the road. Color temperature is not a measure of bulb performance. And as for the HIDs you installed in the scooter: "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps or fog/auxiliary lamps (any kit, any lamp, any vehicle no matter whether it's a car, truck, motorcycle, etc.) do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. See here.

Moreover, keep in mind that what you think/feel you perceive of what you think/feel of your ability to see is usually going to be very far out of line with actual reality; subjective perceptions of headlamp performance are not useful or valid because the human visual system is very easily "fooled"; it's easy and very common to have situations wherein you think/feel your ability to see is much better or much worse than it actually is.

The blanket statement that HID kits will never project a proper beam pattern is not always true. Granted it is the case most of the time. However I installed them in a 2011 Yamaha Zuma 125 that is equipped with two round, parabolic reflectors for the headlamps. The hi/lo H7 HID emitters were constructed with magnetic solenoid bases and a very effective Casper shield. The bulbs move fore and aft within the Casper shield to project all of their light into the upper half of the parabola on low. Which then reflects the light down to the road. The front of the shield blocks light from the emitter from traveling directly forward or down and directs all of the light into the upper half of the reflector. The result is that the light pattern is cleanly projected as the bottom half of a circle. With the assembly adjusted properly up and down there is even less of a blinding hazard than there is with standard lights. When the emitter is drawn back. It is then positioned over a small opening in the Casper shield that allow a portion of the light to be reflected back off the lower half of the reflector throwing the beam from both halves and projecting a more full round pattern. The emitter is still not directly visible and the beam is well focused forward. Will the high beam blind an oncoming car? Yes. Just as a standard OEM beam will.

Teakdust said:

The statement that HID kits will never project a proper beam pattern is always true.

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Fixed that for you. You're welcome.

The problem isn't whether or not the beam pattern looks the same as the halogen one, it is whether the various test points' brightness and ratios of brightness within that pattern are within legal limits.

Also, the light source is different from the source the optics were designed for. The optics are looking for a filament coil that is brighter in the middle. An HID arc is brighter on the ends than in the middle, and the optics are designed around this fact. The wavelengths emitted at the center are different from those emitted from the ends of the arc as well. This is also accounted for in order to provide the correct "color" output from the headlamp.

All that aside, the main reason we discourage the use of any headlamp modification is that it is technically illegal, and therefore not to be encouraged or discussed here on the CPF forums.

Also, Alaric, 2 more posts before the big 1000!

I'm constantly amazed at how many people think "bluer = brighter." It would be more accurate to say "bluer = more obnoxiously irritating." My human eyes, evolved to see by yellowish light, perceive those blue HID "conversions" as irritating, and I may say "D***! His lights are bright!" But as I found when I purchased a car with blue bulbs, humans do NOT see better by bluish light.

I spent significant money on "real" HID projector headlamps, designed from the start for the HID light source, and I'm happy with their performance. I went out of my way to be sure they were "white" HID, no more than 4,200 Kelvin. They flash bluish for a moment when turned on, but very quickly turn white. Their clean low beam is nice in fog. I must confess to supplementing them when on deserted rural highways in the middle of nowhere, with one of the H7680X HIR halogen spotlights on my old former cop car (honest, Officer, I'll stop doing that just as soon as I install my nice Cibie halogen auxiliary lights:naughty. I don't perceive the color as that much different. And my eyes see very well by the light from halogen lamps.

I read a lot posted on motorcycle forums about HID "conversions," even looked at beamshot photos. They appeared to have "more light," but all of them had worse low beams, more light scatter above the cutoff. Whether on my bike or in my car, I can quickly tell the illegal HID jobs on bikes; they're irritating even in daytime, throwing glare where they should not.

I'm not opposed to HID lamps, if they are designed to be HID lamps. I purchased expensive aftermarket HID driving lamps for my bike (again, 4,200K, I returned the 5,000K bulbs). But my very best option for the headlights at the time was the factory style and wattage bulb in the Philips Xtreme Power version. Beam control is excellent. Relays and heavier gauge wiring round out the plan.

I just can't wait for the "blue fad" to run its course. Maybe someone will market a light yellow LED "moon ring" lamp, and that will be the next craze...

FWIW, I'm guessing it won't be long before the State Revenue Collectors, in the big white cars with blue lights, figure out a way to make lots of money from "headlight tickets." Someone will market a reasonably affordable gadget for checking color and measuring glare a given distance from the light and given height above the road (maybe one of the companies that sells RADAR/LIDAR to cops and RADAR/LIDAR detectors to drivers). I'll keep watching the Gall's Supply and L.A. Police Gear catalogs.

Teakdust said:

The blanket statement that HID kits will never project a proper beam pattern is not always true.

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Yes, it is. That's by objective fact, which beats your "Yep, that looks pretty good to me" opinion.

The hi/lo H7 HID emitters were constructed with magnetic solenoid bases and a very effective Casper shield.

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There's no such thing as a high/low H7 system. And those rigged up shields Casper sells are not effective at all. Not really. Not objectively. Not even if you went to the trouble and expense of buying and installing them. No matter how much you might like believing they're terrific, in fact they're dangerous and illegal. You may want to discontinue contending otherwise; it's against the rules of this forum to advocate unsafe or illegal lighting, and yours fall into both categories. If you keep on insisting you're right and physics is wrong, sooner or later a moderator will probably come along and shut you down.

Seriously?! Another HID off-topic ruckus? Ugghh!!! :sick2:

How about them Phillips bulbs?:thumbsup: I wouldn't mind hearing or seeing more.