3 ms·

IMHO it's not the brightness, it's the contrast --- a diffuse field of light at the same brightness wouldn't be quite as uncomfortable as the sharp contrast bet

IMHO it's not the brightness, it's the contrast --- a diffuse field of light at the same brightness wouldn't be quite as uncomfortable as the sharp contrast between light and dark they create, and this goes for the one whose car has the headlights and the one being shone at. In my experience, newer brighter lights also means a sharper cutoff so there's a very bright area immediately in front of the vehicle followed by a very dark and invisible one, while the old incandescent style headlights tended to be dimmer overall and fade out gradually, so it seemed like visibility was actually better despite the lower brightness. I wonder if ECE vs SAE patterns also have something to do with it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp#Construction,_performance,_and_aim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp#Construction,_perform...

Dalewyn 3y ago
>IMHO it's not the brightness, it's the contrast Joe can tell you something is too god damn bright, Joe can't tell you something is too... much? contrast? Yeah. As another driver: They're too god damn bright, and I don't feel their increased brightness improves my visibility either.
usrusr 3y ago
But it's also brightness: legal limits for brightness above the horizon were set in an age when light designers weren't able to do very detailed control of light distribution and the dimmed area was always a mix of some bright spots and on a much darker average. The legal brightness limits were selected under the assumption that the highest allowed was an exceptional peak that would only occasionally hit an observer for a short time before returning to the lower background. Now headlight engineers have perfect control over the brightness distribution and they blanket the entire cone with what was intended as an exceptional maximum. And it's a full on arms race, because for the driver behind the wheel it's certainly awesome, one of the very few ways cars can differentiate from others (olders!) in terms of the quality of actual day to day driving.
- userbinator 3y ago
  because for the driver behind the wheel it's certainly awesome I disagree --- I have been in a newer car with bright LED headlights, and while visibility in the bright area is certainly great, it makes it much harder to see anything beyond that, because the eyes are adapted to that brightness. The effect of having things "pop" into view as they cross that threshold was actually quite disconcerting.
  - lttlrck 3y ago
    Same reason why using fog lights when it's not foggy is a bad idea.
IshKebab 3y ago
I think it's a combination of brightness (light output), glare (the light is emitted from a smaller area), and contrast (the difference in brightness above/below the beam). I've also noticed that these can make it worse for the driver. The road appears so bright in the beam that outside it is pitch black. Whereas with older lights you could see stuff a bit.

Dalewyn 3y ago

>IMHO it's not the brightness, it's the contrast Joe can tell you something is too god damn bright, Joe can't tell you something is too... much? contrast? Yeah. As another driver: They're too god damn bright, and I don't feel their increased brightness improves my visibility either.

usrusr 3y ago

But it's also brightness: legal limits for brightness above the horizon were set in an age when light designers weren't able to do very detailed control of light distribution and the dimmed area was always a mix of some bright spots and on a much darker average. The legal brightness limits were selected under the assumption that the highest allowed was an exceptional peak that would only occasionally hit an observer for a short time before returning to the lower background. Now headlight engineers have perfect control over the brightness distribution and they blanket the entire cone with what was intended as an exceptional maximum. And it's a full on arms race, because for the driver behind the wheel it's certainly awesome, one of the very few ways cars can differentiate from others (olders!) in terms of the quality of actual day to day driving.

userbinator 3y ago
because for the driver behind the wheel it's certainly awesome I disagree --- I have been in a newer car with bright LED headlights, and while visibility in the bright area is certainly great, it makes it much harder to see anything beyond that, because the eyes are adapted to that brightness. The effect of having things "pop" into view as they cross that threshold was actually quite disconcerting.
- lttlrck 3y ago
  Same reason why using fog lights when it's not foggy is a bad idea.

IshKebab 3y ago

I think it's a combination of brightness (light output), glare (the light is emitted from a smaller area), and contrast (the difference in brightness above/below the beam). I've also noticed that these can make it worse for the driver. The road appears so bright in the beam that outside it is pitch black. Whereas with older lights you could see stuff a bit.