VS - Lighting Systems - Lighting - 998542

11. Gas-discharge lamps

The Halogen high beam is reddish.

The Xenon high beam is bluish.

A limited warm-up time

A high light output

Different noble gasses have different start up times. Argon gas, for example causes metal-halide lamp applications to take several minutes to reach their full output. Xenon gas allows lamps to produce an adequate light immediately upon start-up and has a short time-span to reach full power. To comply with ECE R99, Xenon lamps must exhibit 80 per cent of their total luminous flux 4 seconds after start-up. In addition to the short start up time, the use of Xenon gas allows the complete colour emission profile (light spectrum) upon ignition.

Dirty headlamps produce a diffused light output and cause glare to oncoming traffic. Whereas this phenomenon is not exclusive to Xenon lamps, the dazzling effect from Xenon is much higher and not acceptable. Most of Xenon headlamps exceed 2000 lm each , they require automatic levelling devices. For European applications, Xenon systems require a high pressure cleaning device to avoid any dirt from affecting the visibility of other road users.

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