Just saw this video. A general rule for LED bulbs is use a colored bulb behind a colored lens, such as red led behind red lens. That's what emergency equipment installers do. It give you the best output of brightness/intensity. Keep up the good work.

Seriously dude, thank you so much for spending your money to find out what works best. You the real mvp!

My oem "Made in Japan" 1157 and 1156 bulbs are still kicking after 30 years in the Supra. Great quality bulbs back then.

I sometimes use UL rated aluminum tape as reflectors. It’s my secret tip. They can withstand high temps and reflects light perfectly

The lens will filter all light except red spectrum, so you lose brightness with a white bulb. Also white will look pink

People like you make life easier. Thank you 👍

A lot of LED manufacturers suggest using red lights with red lenses. Because the white tends to look more pinkish because of the brighter white color. But thank you for showing the differences in quality LEDs to cheap LEDs

I don't know if it's already been mentioned in one of the comments, but all the Sylvania LEDs were noticeably quicker to light than the incandescent. That's a big plus for a brake light. The other LEDs were not as quick as the Sylvanias (to my eyes), but were still quicker to light than the incandescent. And I agree that you want the brightness of the brake lights to be discernably different from the regular running lights. Great video! Glad I came across while search Amazon for LEDs. It's made a huge difference in what I'll buy.

Thanks for this video. I bought the Sylvania 1157r to swap out the all the stop light and running lights on the rear end of my car (2018 Hyundai) The fast response of the brake light and how Sylvania handled the lower light output is what sold me.

Put aluminum tape in the housings.

Man thank you... The ones I got from a well known online LED supplier did not have significant difference in brightness either and I almost got rear ended by an elderly woman with a lead foot. I just ordered mine.. Thanks for putting your cash into figuring this out for the rest of us. ..A grateful FB owner.

Found this while researching switching my 62 to LED.... this made me decide to stay with normal 1157s... even the reds don't look better than the left side in the video to me. Thanks for posting this.

I had the EXACT same problem with choosing LED bulbs from the auto shop and getting disappointing results from the best brands. I'm glad I got to your video!

Thank you that saves me money the cheap stock bulb performs the best.

White led are composite rgb chips, while red is just red. So you get more intensity with just red. Also as mentioned earlier the tail light housing acts as a filter letting only red go through

Thanks for making this video . I was searching for a while to get more info on switching to a led and the brightness difference , and didn't find much . Your video showed things I hadn't even thought about . You saved me money , I think I might try those amber 1157 led Sylvania bulbs

My old RV has 3 tail lights on each side and I tried the cheap amazon LEDs and had the problem with the difference in brightness from running light to stop light not being very different. I'm glad I found your video. Thanks!

I had the exact same problem with a pair of led globes i bought on ebay. No difference between brake & tail lights. Dangerous for night time driving. Went back to standard globes. Thanks for the great advice, results are awesome. I'll try again. Cheers.

Solid review. Im currently bulb shopping for my 2018 f-150. I had no idea they even made red l.e.d. bulbs for brake lights and this was a real eye opener for me. I definitely agree with your overall choice. Good work 👍✋👍✋

A couple of things - first up, I *think* the second set of bulbs you tested are "handed" LED bulbs. One pin goes through a voltage regulator, giving dim light for sidelights, the other pin goes straight to the LED array and has no voltage regulator. If you look at the test footage at 5:30, one bulb is brighter than the other. The dimmer bulb gets brighter when the brake is pressed, while the other bulb stays the same. If you had rotated the brighter bulb 180 degrees and tried again, you might have found they work better. You might want to re-test them? I could be dead wrong, but I've had LED brake bulbs do this for me, and it confusilated me for a while. The other thing is - the white bulbs probably are brighter (or equally bright) but your tail light glass is red. It filters out everything except red light. The rest of the light energy is wasted as heat within the plastic (they'll get a fraction of a degree hotter) when the light goes through the red coloured plastic. This happens with incandescent bulbs as well as LED's. Red LED's only emit wavelengths of light in the red portion of the visible electromagnetic spectrum, which will mostly pass through the red plastic without being wasted as heat. Third - if you've got a paper laminator, cut out circular pieces of aluminium foil with a hole in the middle just big enough to get the bulb through, then laminate them. Cut them out, but be careful to make sure there's no aluminium exposed at the edges (which could cause a short). The whole thing should be covered in lamination plastic. Put them on the bulbs, then put the bulbs in the sockets. Hey presto, reflectors for cheap. I did it for some trailer lights and it improved the light output by about 25%.

I swapped back to my OEM units as certain led elements started to flicker as they started to fail. Just something to keep an eye out after awhile. Some vehicles will want a resistor if the lighting system is sensitive to voltages. It's been a couple years now, and perhaps the ones on the market are better hopefully. I've also been waiting to replace my interior lighting to LED just in case I have one of those "DOH!" moments of leaving them on all night. Which is why I have chosen not to do a review as of yet on my own personal channel. But great to see someone else providing their insights and product introduction to the various 1157's. Thank you. :) Cheers

Go to 3:14. That is the absolute best part when someone off camera says "I can't find it" when referring to the brake pedal. So cute. Thanks for making this video, very helpful.

Dude! Awesome video - great comparison and incredibly helpful when trying to select the proper bulb for a given reflector.

Finally!! Your the video I've been looking for! An actual in the lens housing comparison of LEDS.Thank you for your time and money spent.

Yeah, about that housing. I tested red LED bulbs in my Harley which has a chrome reflector surface. The LEDs each produce a point light source with parallel beams of light. When these beams reflect off of the chrome surface it's still a point of light that's been reflected. So I created a white reflective surface by installing self adhesive vinyl sheet. This was more effective as a reflector because it diffused the beams as it reflected them into the lens, thereby lighting up the entire lens, not just a single point on it. The lens then directs the light to the desired target. They're now a lot more visible. Also, I installed a unit that flashes the brake lights causing an attention getter.

This is exactly the type of video I was looking for. That change between tail light and brake light makes all the difference. That will make or break that mod for me.

Thank you so much for posting this test of the different 1157 LED bulbs...I wasn't sure what to purchase until I saw your video. Sorry you spent all that money to do this test but it paid off in the end. And I'm sure you made a lot of people happy at your expense, saving them time and money and you may have saved someone from buying the ones your friend purchased, because I don't believe they are very safe either!! Now I'm going to get me the Sylvania 1157 Red bulbs. God bless you for sharing this...

I've got a 1974 Jensen Healey that is sorely lacking in the illumination department. You just helped me nail down the brake and marker light choices...next up...finding the best choice for 7" round LED headlights !!

Just bought some Sylvania's for my Toyota Starlet Glanza yesterday without doing research and i'm glad of the results because i ordered them all RED and AMBER. I'll have to change the reverse/license plate lights later on. Thanks a lot for the video!

I'm very impressed with your effort. Thank you!

Thank you.I bought 1156 for my lawntractor headlights,and even as many leds that are on them,it's a whiter light,just not bright enough.The yellow light coming from the standard bulb goes about 4 ft, further.I'll look at the Sylvania options.

That's what I was looking for. simple comparison, get to the point and very helpful. these videos need to be supported. Thank you for the video and for your time.

Really wish I had seen this vid before purchasing new LEDs for my '13 Corolla. I'm not sure now if the bulbs I ordered will have the same lighting issues as the first two tests. There was a lot of thought and planning (and money) was put into this video. Glad you found the right bulb in the end.

This is a great video. Thanks. I was looking for this

You always match the bulb color to the lens color, it's how they're designed. Awesome video and thanks for making this! Always difficult when buying LED bulbs that aren't 194's

Thanks for the info, I’ll pick those up for my Supra.

Good info. Thank you. Merry Christmas!

Dude, youve answered many questions for me! Great video!

Thanks for making this, always wondered, but you did the legwork!! Okay, so I keep most of my yodas stock ish, but when the next taillight bulb goes out, I’ll invest in these. 30 years old and I’ve only replaced 1 bulb in the rear! Uhh, taillight housing.

6:58 was expected. It would appear that the Sylvania LED bulbs were designed with the idea that most cars use a reflector behind the bulbs, which would then reflect the light towards the red lens.

Thank you for a great comparison, your time and expense is much appreciated.

Tony, thank you for your enlightening research. Well done my friend! Comparing the incandescent beside the various LED you tested, I was disappointed as well. Honestly, with the best Sylvania Red vs the standard OEM incandescent, I did not see enough difference in brightness to justify the extra expense. But again thank you for your great work!...well done and very objective!

Freddy, the Supra is not dumb... There should be a reflector behind each tail light bulb. They're just missing on yours. I remember seeing them when I had mine and had to replace a bulb. Look it up and try to get them, they'll make a big difference with those Sylvanias.

Thanks for buying all these bulbs. They’re so expensive for what they are. You’re awesome

Wow. I went down this rabbit hole about 10 years ago with my Datsun 240z, and then a few years back again for my Nissan 300ZX. LED bulbs have come a long way in ten years. Another difficult task was to find an amber front turn LED bulb that was equivalent to the incandescent. I did find them, but, like you, went through several bulbs in the process. But the end result, especially in the decrease of amperage load on the system, is well worth it.Thanks for sharing!

Helped me a whole bunch! Thank you! Got a 1965 Galaxie and a 1963 Fairlane Ranch wagon that will be getting LED upgrades.

This is so dope, thanks for doing such a detailed and comprehensive breakdown of each bulb - taking one for the rest of us!

Another thanks for the post- I was having the exact same problem on a trailer I built. Showed exactly what the problem was, and the fixes. BTW, here in 2021, the bulbs you recommend are not on Amazon anymore- just the design from Sylvania that didn't work for your Supra. All of the links go to that model. But seeing what the issue was, and the great explanation was very helpful.

I also bought a very similar LED bulb for my front turning lights. I took it out as I noticed that there is little difference between when I use the turning signals. Took them out and replaced them with a more expensive but amazing LED bulbs from VLED.

You're correct. The parking lights should standout when braking IMO. I was also surprised that the red bulbs were btighter than the white leds.

That was amazing, thank you for this post.

Thanks for the video, LED blub are hard to choose since they are so many of them out there.

Thanks for the video & test you a true legend 🙏🏽

Most excellent video! Two thumbs up. I think I'll stay with the good 'ol incandescent.

I'll go with the red Sylvania you have recommended. Thanks.

Thank you for the time effort and money spent.

Thank you for this video. It was awesome and I agree with you 100%. I have a 1988 Toyota Corolla GTS and it has the same design in the back and I was wondering what to get. Now I know.

Well done buddy, very informative video. Was having the same issue as your mate with not enough difference between normal rear running lights and brake lights, when pedal was pressed. Will look at these bulbs myself now. Cheers from down-under!

Thanks man ! Great video I was trying to explain this to someone now I have a video to just make him watch

Thank you for doing this type of testing !

I got red LEDs a few years back and they were supper dim. This blew my mind at the end.

Thank you for making this video. This really helps on choosing led bulbs for my car!

Thanks for sharing, and spending on our behalf lol. Good though, cool playin around with all the options even if its the the right one right off the mark, no fun in that. Also jealous of the size of your garage 😂

A man of practical science. I salute you!

Well done. Thanks for using the scientific process and being thorough. This was very helpful.

I like the red one to. Thank for doing all the work, I have been trying to decide which LED for my tail lights on my MX5 MK3 NC.

This was a long review, but yet so helpful! Thanks a ton

I’m glad you did this too. Thanks

What a great product review, one of the best on you-who tube and I love my power probe also!!

I like them for the visual as much as the brightness, probably more

I had a travel trailer with dim tail/brake incadesent lights due to no reflectors. I glued a few cents worth tin foil behind the bulbs, being careful not to let the foil have any contact with bare wires etc. What a difference....way brighter...best 5 cents I've ever spent!

Just subscribed and liked. Thank you brother for sharing !

Thanks for all the good info

Many thanks. Definitely the best testing I've seen.

You need to get a roll of heavy Aluminum Foil from the Grocery Store and make some Parabolic Reflectors by hand. All you need is a pair of scissors and some clear tape to make it hold it's shape. Works great, I've done it 3 or 4 times. Sometimes the stock reflectors are only silver, or white, "colored" plastic, with no actual chrome, which can be improved with Aluminum Foil and some glue. Sometimes crinkling-up the Aluminum Foil to give it some texture will actually improve light output over a smooth surface. Experiment, Aluminum Foil is super cheap, and you get a ton of it on each roll. .

Very helpful video, thank you for posting.

Fantastic video. You set up the tests beautifully! Great job, PMM!!! Product specifcations and quality DO matter. God bless!

Nice video man. I agree with your hypothesis in terms of the different between idle and break light! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thank you sir, this info helps me a lot. Nothing better than side by side comparison.

Thanks for spending money and time to make this. Also, thank you in the comments that clarified some details. In Canada the Sylvania bulbs are $50 plus 13% tax. LED has some benefits but it’s not worth 20x the price for me.

@ 14:23 - “ Which one would you pick? I know which one I would pick.” I would pick the incandescents, because it doesn’t look like any of the LEDs you tested were any brighter, in taillight or brake light mode, than the standard incandescent bulbs. The LED reaction time from taillight to brake light is a little quicker, but if the LEDs aren’t brighter, why bother?

Never would have thought, another great video

Fantastic video! We learned that LED's with side projecting diodes, are designed for housings with chrome reflectors. Chrome paint is NOT chrome! LOL. RED LED's work better than white ones. The cheap-O LED's don't have much light change from running to brake. THAT is a big issue. I've been to that party myself. I don't know what it is, but nearly all those Chinese "bulbs" do that. Sylvania nailed it by wiring them up so more light up when brake is pressed. The cheapies, just use a dropping resister inside the bulb. I recently got a lot of 10 LED 1157's from eBay for $9.00 incl shipping! They are intended for boat and utility trailers with those round or square bolt-on housings. Since these housing usually do NOT have a reflector, these LED's have only a monolithic disc array all facing directly back with NO side emission. They are also the defacto bluish white color. Now....Since I learned my lesson on that little difference between running and brake light issue, I first tested one out by using a socket from an old car and my bench 12 volt supply. Yep! going from running to brake was hardly noticeable! When I powered up just one wire at a time, I noticed that the running light was actually brighter than the brake! Hmm. So, I reversed the supply lead and powered up the "brake" wire, then connected the "running" wire. OMG, now there was a significant change from running to brake! Concluded that the idiots wired the bulbs backwards! I filed a complaint and they finally admitted to a problem and issued me a full refund. So, what did I do? I carefully took each lamp apart, turned the wafer disc 180º, resoldered and bingo! They now work fine in my trailers! Yes, there is a decent difference from running to brake light now!

Great experiment! With your last test between the red vs white I think the white could have won if you didn't spray the housing on the right chrome/silver.

Great review, thanks!

Very helpful video. Thanks a lot for this interesting test!

The issue with bulbs that share the same chips for parking and brake light is that often they interfere with the cruise control when the parking lights are on. That's because the chips are shared and there is voltage in the brake light circuit, tricking the computer into "thinking" that you're pressing the brakes. Found that out the hard way on my Elantra. I wonder if those sylvania bulbs would have the same issue? I wouldn't think so, but maybe you have a shot showing only the other two chips light up when you press the brake (while the parking lights are off)? That would show for sure whether or not any chips are shared.

Thanks for making this video and using your hard earned money to test the different LED bulbs. The incandescent bulb projects the brightest beam inside the tail light housing and this is because the tail light housing was designed based on the specs of the incandescent bulb. Sure the LED bulb outputs a brighter beam in comparison to the incandescent bulb outside of the tail light housing but the LED bulb performs poorly inside the tail light housing. Even when using the red LED bulb, the incandescent bulb is brighter. Since the chrome spray didn't help much, try using flat white spray paint. I respect you for thinking about your safety and the safety of others and choosing a LED bulb that properly simulates the brightness difference when stepping on the brake pedal. Most car owners just focus on looks and install the incorrect brake LED bulb without thinking about safety at all. I recently ordered two sets of different brake 7440 red LED bulbs for my 2017 Accord, maybe i will post a video comparing the 7440 incandescent bulb with the red 7440 LED bulb. i am curious to find out if the LED bulbs will perform as good or better than the incandescent bulb.

Yo poorman, high five ✋ to you sir! Thank you for doing a great video, straight to the point no annoying things to sit through. Please make more of these styled videos... Cheers

Use the brake light LEDs from vLEDs. The V6 versions are very expensive, but they are worth it. They are incredibly bright. They have lifetime warranties and are reliable. They are definitely different in terms of brake light vs. driving light brightness. They are the only ones I use.

What a great video! Thank you so much.

to the people planning on spraying chrome cause their housing don't have reflectors, make sure you use mirror chrome spray not normal chrome spray

I had a set of those white Sylvanias (the last pair you reviewed) in a trailer. They were pretty much useless and you had to be really paying attention to see any difference between tail and brake. The trailer light housings had no reflectors and were just black. So I did the chrome paint thing. The difference was so minuscule. Either way, all that was visible was a faint, hollow 6-point-star pattern due to the Fresnel type taillight lenses. After a year, half of the led chips in one bulb were dead. I swapped over to a regular LED trailer light kit. Now, I have good bright taillights and brilliant brake lights.

Your video is very good and helpful. Thank you for the effort to help others decide on what L.E.D.s to choose as a replacement of incandescent bulbs. 🙂

I agree that is playing with fire having the first and second bulb. But I would add some custom made reflector. The white ones are not brighter because the red lens filtered the white light reducing the amount of light visible while the red bulb had a red filter that did not filter any light making it brighter.

You can still use the white ones, just put them in the reverse lamps. Then look for Amber ones for the turn signals and add an LED compatible flasher relay to counter hyper blinking.

Thank you so much for the video!

Thanks for testing out the various led’s! I was concerned on the brightness difference when brake light came on and obviously only one worked in your experiment

Thank you so much for making this video!!!!

Good info. Important note - ''your results may vary''. Always get out and decide for yourself! Some of the science behind choosing is - the Color spectrum. The lenses only allow (filter) a part of the spectrum to get through. The white LED does not have a consistently uniform Color spectrum. I'm not sure, but it's likely that lenses vary also. It's important to match the bulb to the lens. How? - Get out and observe! .... Also, white paint might have been better than chrome because white 'reflects' (subjective term) a large portion of the spectrum. Of course, the closer you get to a 'polished mirror' finish, the better.