HID for both beams

Automotive Lighting engineers have developed HID lighting for high-beam as well as low-beam functions.

Typical high-intensity-discharge (HID) headlamp systems feature HID lighting for only the low-beam function. Halogen technology is reserved for the high beams. Providing HID lighting technology for the low- as well as the high-beam light functions, while using the same reflector chamber, bulb, and electronic control unit for both, is desirable for several reasons.

Incorporation will allow HID high-beam lighting power to match that of the low beams. Comparisons of the light distributions for low and high beams show twice the average luminous output for the HID low beam compared to the halogen high beam. To match the increased range of the HID low beam, halogen high beams often are designed with a high central maximum while sacrificing lateral spread. This approach leads to a narrow halogen high-beam light distribution located on top of a rather broad HID low-beam light distribution.