Hids?????????????????

[gloryaccordy]

I dunno about all the color stuff, but I had Silverstars and they were completely washed out in the rain. If I get HID's I'm going with the closest to OEM color bulb as possible...4100's

[Fearit22]

I disagree. If you look at lumens as temperature increases you will see that lumens decreases. The 4100-5000k area is somewhat debateable and constantly argued as far as what's best. I say this because I have looked at several different Kelvin graphs and they are not all stating the same ranges of color for the same kelvin levels. So having said that, working with the rest of the spectrum, outside the debateable "grey area" of 4100k-5000k, lumens decreases. Some have felt that usable light has increased with the color but again I think this plays in the grey area only. I have known people to state they feel that they can see things better with 5000k bulbs vs. some of the others.

What you aren't understanding is that when they are measuring the light it's how much "white light" is produced. So look at the charts and you will see the maximum white light is produced around 5000k or so. Lumens for white light will decrease after that, but overall luminosity is still constantly increasing. It's just shifting so that the hotter it gets it produces more blue, then purple, then on to light outside our visible spectrum like ultraviolet. This means usable light is decreasing because more of it is going outside of our visible spectrum, but the luminosity still goes up. They just simplify the graphs to say it's decreasing because the luminosity of usable light is, not because overall luminosity is.

[Gemini]

What you aren't understanding is that when they are measuring the light it's how much "white light" is produced. So look at the charts and you will see the maximum white light is produced around 5000k or so. Lumens for white light will decrease after that, but overall luminosity is still constantly increasing. It's just shifting so that the hotter it gets it produces more blue, then purple, then on to light outside our visible spectrum like ultraviolet. This means usable light is decreasing because more of it is going outside of our visible spectrum, but the luminosity still goes up. They just simplify the graphs to say it's decreasing because the luminosity of usable light is, not because overall luminosity is.

what he said!

[H23Accord]

What you aren't understanding is that when they are measuring the light it's how much "white light" is produced. So look at the charts and you will see the maximum white light is produced around 5000k or so. Lumens for white light will decrease after that, but overall luminosity is still constantly increasing. It's just shifting so that the hotter it gets it produces more blue, then purple, then on to light outside our visible spectrum like ultraviolet. This means usable light is decreasing because more of it is going outside of our visible spectrum, but the luminosity still goes up. They just simplify the graphs to say it's decreasing because the luminosity of usable light is, not because overall luminosity is.

No I do understand how the graph works. The problem is consistency amongst the graphs. I have seen graphs that say 4100K is the whitest. I have seen others that say 5000k is the whitest. Others state 4300K is the best. I have used the different Kelvins and understand what you are trying to say. This is why I mentioned the "grey" area within many graphs. There is a lack of consistency. I have seen the difference with my own eyes of bulbs that are 4100k, 4300k, 5000k, 5300k, and 7500k and have personally owned a few of those. Lumens is a measure of brightness, not white light. As Kelvin increases, lumens decreases. 4100K bulbs typically emit in the area of 3200 lumens while those in the roughly 6000k range are putting out about 2400 lumens. As HID bulbs mature they change colors. As the color changes the lumens decreases. What is happening is the bulb is slowly fading out. Think about your oem headlight bulbs. Notice that as they get older they tend to not be as luminous? Then when you replace them after so many years, or after it is blown, it is a big difference. It is a noticeable difference if you have 1 new bulb in and an old bulb in on the other side. This same thing happens with HID bulbs. I have seen a few older cars around here with OEM HIDs with 1 bulb that is more violet while the other is closer to a white/blue. One bulb has gone out and has been replaced...can you guess which one it is? The whitish/blue one is the new one and is quite obvious at night especailly on the ground. There is constant debate of what is the best bulb to get. Bottom line if you stay within the grey area you should be fine.

[Fearit22]

No I do understand how the graph works. The problem is consistency amongst the graphs. I have seen graphs that say 4100K is the whitest. I have seen others that say 5000k is the whitest. Others state 4300K is the best. I have used the different Kelvins and understand what you are trying to say. This is why I mentioned the "grey" area within many graphs. There is a lack of consistency. I have seen the difference with my own eyes of bulbs that are 4100k, 4300k, 5000k, 5300k, and 7500k and have personally owned a few of those. Lumens is a measure of brightness, not white light. As Kelvin increases, lumens decreases. 4100K bulbs typically emit in the area of 3200 lumens while those in the roughly 6000k range are putting out about 2400 lumens. As HID bulbs mature they change colors. As the color changes the lumens decreases. What is happening is the bulb is slowly fading out. Think about your oem headlight bulbs. Notice that as they get older they tend to not be as luminous? Then when you replace them after so many years, or after it is blown, it is a big difference. It is a noticeable difference if you have 1 new bulb in and an old bulb in on the other side. This same thing happens with HID bulbs. I have seen a few older cars around here with OEM HIDs with 1 bulb that is more violet while the other is closer to a white/blue. One bulb has gone out and has been replaced...can you guess which one it is? The whitish/blue one is the new one and is quite obvious at night especailly on the ground. There is constant debate of what is the best bulb to get. Bottom line if you stay within the grey area you should be fine.

You totally missed what I was saying you were wrong about. I'm hear to present facts, not to argue over opinions. I don't really care about which graph shows which light is brightest in the visible spectrum. I'm just trying to get you to understand one thing. As temperature increases, so does luminosity. You are going by hear say and what you read on the internet. I'm finishing up my degree in Physics, and I actually work with this stuff. All last semester I had to go over stars in my Astrophysics class. Can you guess which equation I used repeatedly? Luminosity(L) = Area(A) * sigma * Temperature(T)^4 ... so what does that say? Luminosity is proportional to Temperature to the 4th power. Lumens is just a unit of measurement of luminosity. When they do graphs like that they are only using devices that measure luminosity(lumens) in the visible spectrum because everything else doesn't matter when it comes to visible brightness obviously. The overall luminosity is different so like I said they are only doing the part that matters not the actual luminosity. So if you think my book is wrong, my teacher with his Phd is wrong, and me then go ahead and say that, but you are definitely on your own there.

[NAiL05]

I think Fearit22 knows what hes talkin about.

[GSteg]

I dont have an accord, but it's sure nice to have OEM HID. But I took the bait and did a projector retrofit anyways.

[bigmotorcivic]

all OEM bulbs are 4300k the best light output will probably be around 4300-5600k if u want color go 8000k-12000k

[JDMCB705]

do a retrofit if u know what that is

[generation4 acc]

thanx

[accordtypeR]

I dont have hids but i have the next best (8500K) bulbs. I got them on ebay. They are bright as hell ask any of the orlando members who have seen my cb7 in person....