Probably important to note that natural sunlight ranges from 2000k in the morning and afternoon to 6500k at midday roughly. We naturally start to get tired when exposed to warmer light and start to feel more awake and alert when exposed to cooler light closer to natural sunlight.

Very good explanation on driving lighting. Thank you for sharing.

This was good. I learnt something and it explains why I don’t like my current ‘bright’ lights setup … it’s the reflective almost bluish bright light that comes back at me from road signs. Looks like I’ll be going shopping.

@MadMatt 4WD, GREAT comparison and very detailed explanation. For the last 18+ years, I use only amber lights on the front (and rear) of my trucks. 1. Amber Headlights - Low & Hi-beam 2. Amber Fog Lights 3. Amber Driving Lights 3. Amber Off-Road Lightbars 4. Amber Rear Chase Lights 5. Amber Side Lights for Trail and Camp Illumination Where I live in the mountains with extended months of winter and abundant wildlife of large herbivores, amber light: 1. Doesn't reflect off the snow 2. Illuminates wildlife sooner (than white) which makes it better to see them earlier so you're able to avoid a collision 1. Reflects animal eye shine far superior to white (for early detection) 2. Reflects faded road lines much better on dry and wet pavement 3. Reflects road signs for easier viewing, even faded road signs 4. Cuts through rain and the glare it produces on the road 5. Does not blind on-coming drivers, even on hi-beams Here in America, amber headlights are Federal D.O.T. (Dept of Transportation) approved, as long as the light bulbs are D.O.T. approved. The bulbs I use are made by Hella.

Thanks for this content. It reminded me of another comprehensive, high tech explanation of headlights (halogen vs led, etc) on tacomaworld.

If you add yellow covers to your driving lights it fixes so many issues Like snow goggles are yellow to add better definition

I prefer 4500k and love the high/low feature

A another great video Matt and I got to learn a little about the driving light on the front of my vehicle, I always went for the largest or most powerful one I could find without going much into it , please keep up the good work

actually learnt, and considering the Ultravision 4600 ones. thanks.

Matt, back in the day I ran 8" SEV-Marchal spots with 100w halogen bulbs. At the time halogen headlights with replaceable bulbs were illegal in the 'States for cars, but OK for motorcycles. Of course we swapped them in. I used either Marchal or Cibié 7" headlamps. These days, all I've done is put yellow led's in my factory fog lamps (no off-road vehicle currently).

I like an amber light, feels less straining on my eyes and does a lot better in the dust or rainy/foggy weather

Thank you for this video. Even though I already know about lights in general, but still learnt something new. The Hi-Lo setting is interesting. Other things I have read about advantages of low Kelvin light is it can penetrate fog better than high Kelvin light. High Kelvin can reflect the fog back and makes it even harder to see the road. And people have found driving at night with low Kelvin light is more comfortable and less fatigue to their eyes.

I remember driving home from Orange one rainy night in my Brother's Subaru, he had a set of 6500k LED's in the headlights, it was honestly terryfying, felt like driving without lights at all, except for reflective surfaces, which glared like the sun. I'm happy with the light colour of my Stedi lights that I run now, but I still throw on a set of yellow filters for a long drive, it's just so much easier on the eyes. I have upgraded headlights so the dip to low beam isn't as drastic a change. Honestly it was the filter options that sold me on the Stedi's, as I have the yellow option, as well as a diffused option for driving tight tracks, as it turns them into a bright floodlight, rather than long range driving which is useless on tight tracks.

Great video Matt!

Great content Matt. A lot of people I know buy spotties buy price. I’ve learned a lot about spotlights. It’s a great comparison. I’ve got light forces on the 80. They have saved my bacon a few Times. They are getting a bit long in the tooth so these lights will make an awesome Mother’s Day present. Keep up the great work Matt. 👏👏👏

Matt the reason they don't flash you is they think you are already on low beam but have poorly adjusted lights and flashing you again won't help. It does not mean that they are not having trouble being blinded by your lights.

Yellow covers also stop bugs flying towards the car

One great light there and Aussie made too. I'd like to try these or a 4500 kelvin. I drove 10 hours at night (4-5 short breaks) with 6000k and wasn't fatigued but the glare off the road signs was annoying.

But everyone selects the highest color temp they can find because that cold piercing white/blue crap “looks cool”. Then when there’s bad weather they can’t see anything and neither can you. I lucked out my f600 has 7” round incandescent headlights that you can’t get anymore. They aren’t very bright but the beam goes really far down the road and the 2700k temp is easy on the eyes in bad weather. I’ll cry when one goes out and I have to switch to halogen

Soo exicited to see someone doing a video like this as Ive always been aware of this comming from classic halogen spotties (hella rally2000s) sometimes if im driving home at night ill just have my high beams on as its a buzy road, i feel i know the know well enough ahaha, one thing ive always wonderd is how our eyes change when we age (I know your not a dr mate ahaha)

I have to totally agree!! I went with some new LED's a few years ago (a very bright white light) & guess what?? I had trouble seeing any detail & the wildlife to the point of not seeing a roo until the last minute &I cleaning it up! While I have encountered plenty of wildlife living in the country, I was surprised that the colour spectrum didn't actually suit my driving. The same can be said for a light bar on the roof. Even after painting my bonnet black, the back of my alloy bullbar & anything else reflective) I still had heaps of glare ! never again! I think this time around I have found a good combo in some small light bars built into my bullbar on the angle out for the slow bush tracks at night & some good warm lights for spot lights for other times. I've always been very conscious of my lighting & often dip too early be I have been the receiver of "A" holes who leave it too late! My honest opinion is just finding what works for you & your needs (like most things) & settle on that, sometimes going big or too bright can be a mistake especially if you deal with lots of wildlife like we do!

Great video. I have the 140 widr, which I believe are 4000k (couple of years old now) on a 200 series Landcruiser. Love the lights, but I do find the different colour to the factory headlights an issue. Just something to consider. Thinking of transferring the 140’s to my 79 series as the old halogen candles will suit. Then put the new 180 widr on the wagon, just not sure if 4500 will blend in with the factory headlights.

Some interesting comments you may appreciate : a) Road sign reflective technology is getting better and cheaper. Spotlights aren't getting commensurately better. b) Mixing colour temperatures makes for tired eyes and tired drivers are not as safe. All your lights should be the same colour temperature. No one ever mentions this. We have tourists coming out here and it's really annoying having dissimilar colour lights, especially on quads and SxS vehicles. c) Driving around in the bush at night with low beam scares kangaroos a lot less. When high beam and spotlights are used the light goes a long way and reflects off the surrounding trees and environment and it startles the roos and so they jump out. Roos are used to the sound of vehicles going by and on low beam they just sit there. When they are scared by the light they tend to sit there and jump out when you get to them. This is an observation, not a recommendation. d) I'm not a 4wdriver and I'm not into 4wdriving. I live on a pastoral property in SW Qld. Out here we just use Hella halogen lights. Mostly spread beams. It's easier to see roos, sheep and cattle with yellow lights. Pencil beams are good for roo shooting mostly.

Thanks for this, yeah the lower K is much more preferable for me.

Probably the worst analogy i could deduce is this 1) high kelvin is like horsepower 2) Low kelvin is like torque What's better to drive with in the real world?

There are light sources that have a CRI below 0. CRI on LPS lamps is -44

Here in the UK there are a few different lighting regs, so things are slightly different. Honestly the best lights I've had were Elta blue H4 bulbs, I bought them with a car and they lived in the next 3 as they were so good. I know one failed and found the other one the other day, they are still made! Bonus! So will be getting some more at some point. So I will be running H4 standard 7" headlights (Wypac Crystal headlights) and Hella Comet 550 square spots (H3 bulbs) They give the Defender a great look, and work well. I find the blue tinged light from the main lamps great for seeing a little clearer at night as we have some different hazards we encounter. We have one of the largest Deer parks locally and so there are a lot of wild Deer. Good lights are necessary to spot them as they leap out of the undergrowth onto the road...

My one bias is low beam driving lights should be a warm white. And High beam do what you want.

LEDs are naturally very high in the blue spectrum. While this ''looks'' brighter, it really isn't. Also, blue light doesn't penetrate as well as red light, so fog and haze will cripple a bluer light. It is critical to test lights by shining them far away and seeing which shows more objects, never look at the source to determine how bright they are. Halogen lights are closer to sunlight and will allow you to see more detail (higher rendering index), red light will penetrate better and allow you to see farther in adverse conditions and at night. Of course red lights cannot face forward, so wearing red lense shooting glasses works best. Yellow or amber aren't great and tend to flatten texture & contours, but they are legal, so many use them.

The colour temperature explanation was very useful for me Matt - I kind of knew, lower temperatures achieved better vision, but all I've heard is opinion rather than fact and demonstration based. I have no doubts about your commitment to your viewers over commercial aspects. This is what makes your channel actually useful to us punters. I'm about to head off to your website and check out these lights. I see they have light-bars with the same colour temperatures and hi/lo options. One thing that baffles me with driving lights are features that seem eminently doable like reducing the intensity of the lights when a lot of light is being reflected back just isn't done. Another, but harder thing to do, is to look for vehicles lights in the distance and similarly dim then drop the beams automatically (if you haven't manually done that already).

Excellent review 👍👍

I know on winter plow truck the PIAA yellow were fantastic! Much better than any other color.

Excellent content - in particular the 4500K vs 5700K comparison. I struggle with flashback as well and am looking for a light that reduces that.

I have had the 5700 but found them to “white”. Expensive compared to others but could easily see the quality. Have been using Narvas since. Thinking of giving the 4500 ago wish I could see them in person first. But great review. Would love a few minutes driving video of both to see the different.

Looks like light force beast copied them got some htx were great lights until the led went yellow. Change to led low beam high beam they blend in to the led spot floods looks like daylight though in front and sides. God bless

Wattage ? , amp draw ? , good honest review Matt thanks as always , Kim .

I would have thought the High/Low beam feature would be wired so that they come on (switchable on/off(if on coming traffic will be close)) when you dip to low beam.

Im into motorcycles and we have LED lights that will go into a lower output on low beam. You wire a trigger feed back to high beam. So you end up with 1 switch to turn them on with the high beam and an adjuster to tune to your preference on low beam. This week I will be fitting a set to my jeep.

Lovely Vid, What happened to Lumens measurement with Leds,. I am not fan of really bright lights I just run one 60cm twin row Led light bar on the front of my old 80 series, great light buggerall flash back and draws not a lot of power, and not hard on your eyes,

The irony is that color temperature is opposite to how we label light; "cool" lights are hotter, "warm" light is cooler. I prefer lower light levels at night because it preserves my night vision. Turning the lights off doesn't leave you quite so blind, and your vision adapts sooner. That is probably why you prefer the "warmer" light. In North America, the animals you can encounter range from moose and grizzly, to deer, loose cattle, and an occasional horse. I like a good angular spread on my light beams. Animal eyes will flash, letting you know there are critters off to the sides of the road, and you can act accordingly.

You're lucky to get such nice soft options. In India we get only dazzling glaring blue 6000 or 7000k

Just looked at the Ultravision lights and they certainly cost a lot more than even the Stedi's. They have the dimming feature which is cool, but....

The more I research driving lights, the more I am convinced that a lower kelvin temperature is the way to go.....i find the extra glare from higher temperature lights the main problem....

My favourite cct is 4000k

I prefer lower Kelvin lights especially when it’s raining. The higher the kelvin on road makes it difficult for me to see road markers and lines.

I never mess around with my low beam lights. High beams however can melt a racoon at 200M

Just buy a halogen light of 3000k, it will be 100CRI which is the best, but isn't trendy or good for the LED industry but the science is behind halogen lights. If 2 halogens isn't enough put 4 on instead that's what I did.

Perhaps something else to consider is the Kelvin of the OME lights on the car. I have found having a big jump between car lights and driving lights K, leads to some really uncomfortable transition blindness moments. I run the Stedi x pro which I love off road, but when on road and have to step down from driving beam to the traditional 100 series 2 candle lights, really leave me blind. I have also been looking at lights with power level transition ability to make it more comfortable on my eyes when you go from drive to high to low beams.

I have the Narva 215s they are very high kelvin (and falling apart after 2 years). I have the Ultra Vison on my D-Max in the Nitro Max 180 in 5700k and Bought the Raptors in 4500K for my partners cruiser...... suffice to say. I ordered another pair of Nitromaxx in 4500K for my cruiser. These are brilliant lights. The Hi/Lo function is a great feature without any unnesessary gymicy stuff that other lights are coming with now. Definitely put that switch in a easy to reach location as Matt said as I experience the same battle in my D-Max. The company stands behind this product feircely too which is more than can be said for basically all other manufacturers with whom I have had no help or support in the past. Buy once, cry once, support Australian Manufacturing.

You should sell Velcro patches on your website. Would be cool if there was a cheaper way to support your channel

Hi Matt, what lights are in the F250 replacing the factory H4s?

Yeah idk why people want to be able to see so far ahead of themselves. Peripheral vision is more important to me. I have a 79 with halogen bulbs and just a 20” single row light bar. I can see crystal clear out to 100m and the peripheral vision is amazing. I don’t want anything more.

And there we have it, "low beam" light quality and width is far more important than high beam and massive lights out on highways where oncoming traffic is common and we are constantly flicking between H and L. The transition from the massive lights on high down to low is the absolute "danger zone" for a few seconds whilst eyes adjust. This adjustment for low light takes up to 3-4 seconds which is a few hundred metres travelled. This is amply indicated on one of Matt's lights as the low beam is total crap. Out on the busy highways a fantastic spotlight is one where a wide beam is best with a lower power 'dial down' intensity so signs dont blind you and you can hang on to high beam for a little longer, also the transition to low beam is safer at speed. Then when off onto the tracks dial the intensity up to max. My advice is to 'work on' the quality of low beam before the massive lights are bolted on. There are many ways to do this from complete headlight change to looking into various led/halogen/xenon bulbs. Xenon low beam quality on an once owned 100series was so good with brilliant lens cutoff design I hardly needed high beams on regular runs down the Monaro Hwy. to snowfields many many times.

Do you know brand the bar is on the effy?🤣

My spotties melt the rear bumpers on the car in front.

Does not matter what light .just have to train the monkeys to adjust their light properly. The amount of twits who load the back of their ute which changes the balance of the car then on low beam they are high then blind humans. Aren't monkeys smart

This chanal startet as a informativ chanal. Now it is just a selling canal like so meny else.👎