Has anybody tried both the Sylvania Xtravision and the Silver Star? Which did you prefer and why? Is bulb life short on the Silver Star?

 

No experence with the Xtravision, but the SilverStars are awesome.

My experiences with upgading headlights:

In my '96 Explorer I installed the PIAA Platinum Super Whites (picked them up for around $70). After the install, yeah they were whiter, but they really didn't seem that much whiter. I had to park my wife's Mountaineer next to the Explorer to really notice any difference in color. No where near the "near HID white" I had been led to believe they would offer. Within 1 year one burned-out. Boy, did I feel like a smacked a@@.

Replaced them with the Sylvania cool blues (color about halfway between stock and the PIAAs). For the money, about $10 each, I would say they were good. I had them for 6 months til some wack decided to cross the double yellow and take me out on 9/11.

Picked-up the '98 Expy in Oct and I am just finding time now to make some changes.

When I put in the first bulb last night, WHOA, thats white. It was like when you see an incandescent bulb next to a fluorescent light. Drove around for a half hour or so and I noticed the change.

On the Sylvania site, it tags the SilverStars as "High Performance Halogen - Whitest, Brightest, Sharpest" and "up to 20% greater than other halogens" (which halogens I don't know) and the Xtravisions merely as "Up to 20% brighter than standard."

Here's a link to the Sylvania info on SilverStars http://www.sylvania.com/auto/silverstar.htm and on Xtravisions http://www.sylvania.com/auto/xtra.htm.

I hadn't been able to find the SilverStars in the local auto stores or on two of the store links on the bottom of their web page, so I emailed Osram Sylvania and whined about it. Got a return email that said gee, don't know why you're having problems, but in any case you can buy them through us (some special to coincide with the LA carshow). $49.98 total for 2 with FedEx 2nd day shipping. If you go with the SilverStars, you might want to try to see if you can get that deal.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I have heard that the life on the Silver Stars was about 30% less than the Xtravision. But maybe thats not a big deal. How often do you change headlamps anyway. I'll see if I can get the deal.

 

Hey guys,

I was just comparing the Cool Blue to the Silver Star as far as specs. Both of them have the same brightness or lumens. Both are 1000,1350 lumens. The only difference I see is in the color temperature Cool Blue 3500K and Silver Star 4000K. I have GE Super Blues in my F150 and they match the same specs as the Cool Blue. How can they say that the Silver Star is brighter than other Halogens. Seems to me you would have to go to a higher wattage bulb to get more light on the road. Maybe the color difference from a standard halogen to the bright white light of the Silver Star makes you think they are brighter when they really are not. Just throwing this out there for discussion. I am still trying to find some bulbs that I will be happy with. I want the blue tint look oh HIDs but not the cost.

 

BRIANWOL

I agree with you. If the bulbs have the same wattage, they will physically put out around the same amount of light. Electrical energy goes in and an equal amount of light and heat energy have to come out. If the filaments have similar mass and have similar temperatures, the amount light output must be similar as well.

The brightness thing has to be our perception (both light outputs are physically the same, 1000/1350 lumens). I know we can see light in one portion of the spectrum much more easily than we see it elsewhere in the spectrum (I think we see the turquoise-green area the best) and my guess is the cool blues are closer to that area than stock lights and the SilverStars even more so. Therefore, the same amount of light appears brighter, because our eyes are more sensitive to those wavelengths of light.

Anyone who knows about light, the human eye, and color sensitivity, please feel free to correct me.

 

I can tell you about the color temp numbers. These numbers are in degrees Kelvin. They are basically referencing the temperatur of the sun as observed from earth at different angles. If you look at a rising sun at dusk or dawn, it has the yellow hue throughout the whole sky. This is about K2800. If you you at the sky on a bright sunny day you get that very bright but light blue, this is about K6500. Something that is 'white' in appearance is right around K4100. So a bulb at 3500 is very close to white but not as white as a 4100. If bulbs start going over 5000 they take on the blue hue.

Lumens are the measure of light energy. Not every bulb of equal wattage puts out the same lumens. Point in case is that incadesants, and halogen are both a filiment based bulb. But the halogen can produce about 15% more light than the incadescent. Plus, you are only measuring the light quanity leaving the bulb (or rather the assembly) so the higher quality the reflector the more light is projected out into the area being measured. This is why flourescent light bulbs are getting smaller in diameter, T12 to T10 to T8 and now T5. The wider the diameter of the bulb, the more reflected light is blocked, and the less the efficiency of the assembly.

This is actually the wealth of research, to get a bulb that produces more lumens for the same energy.

There are also studies underway to investigate the lumen measurement being used for light. Lumens are really the indication of light energy hitting a photo cell and measuring the amount of voltage produced. But this would include all light in the visible spectrum. Some profess that the lumen method is not accurate, because it does not take into account the human factor. As animals, our eyes do not process all light throughout the spectrum with the same degree of efficiency. For example. You are in a parking lot with low pressure sodium light, K2300, a rich yellow. You have 200 lumens on the ground. There are those who claim that if you put the same 200 lumens at K4100 that your ability to see is improved and everything 'appears' brighter. The lumens are the same, but your eye processes more efficiently the light in the middle of the K range.

I am not sure I believe this, but many do and it is gaining support in the industry.

 

Do you mean 2800 K to 6500 K? If so, that would mean the most efficient light color, lumen for lumen, would be one around 4600 K to 4700 K as we would perceive it as a brighter light.

 

As you go throught the color sprectrum, each color of light has a different wavelength. The Red, is the longest and blue is the shortest. On the very low side below the yellow is the infared, and on the very high above the blue is the ultra-violet. So it goes kind of red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue. 2800K is a tint of yellow, the classic incadescent, and 6500K is a noticible blue. There is no color 'white' as it is a blend of all colors. All these bulbs, from 2800K to 6500K have components of the full sprectrum, they just are not in equal ratios. When you get to the 'white' color, which is around 4100K midpoint - you are starting to get an equal ratio of the colors - hence the 'neutrality' of the color, and the white appearance.

I am not stating that 'white' is the best color for illumination for the human eye, but there is a group of professional in the country that are making that claim. Its actually a battle between builder of flourescent lites and Sodium Lites. The sodiums give about 20% more lumens per watt than the flourescents. But the flourescent people save that if the lumens are produced from the range of 3500K - 4500K, that the human eye needs 20% lumens to see the same. Of course these guys are trying to sell lite fixtures.

I believe there is some advantage for the human eye to judege with white versus yellow light. But I don't know if it is 20%

An interesting fact, if I say have a office with 4100K flourescent lites on a dimmer, and a lumen meter on the floor, and I ask you to tell me everytime you think the light intensity has changed - you would be seeing a change after an approximate increase or decrease of lumens by 30%. Thats about as accurate humans eye in terms of sensing lumen changes. But the actual number of lumens is a lot.

 

Hey ZAB,

How are the Silverstars performing? I was reading some messages on the F150World site and some of the guys there are getting pulled over because of the blue headlights that give you the HID look. Cops saying it imitates the color of emergency vehicles. Plus some of them say you loose some brightness on the road due to the blue tint on the bulb. I want all the light I can get, but have white light on the road. Just wanted to know if you are happy with them and are they worth the $25 each.