WEBVTT - Why are headlights so bright? 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.720 Hey, this is Devin. I just want to thank all 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:05.360 the new listeners. We've got a huge influxcept our search 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:07.920 engine collab and we're to mouth over the last couple 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:11.520 of weeks, so welcome. Make sure you're actually following us, 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:13.560 so hit the follow button wherever you're listening so that 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:17.959 you can get notifications for new episodes. They drop on Tuesdays. 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.360 And please give us a five star rating. It really 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:23.760 truly is just me, Manny and now are working on this. 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:27.840 So every post, every TikTok cut, every interview, every email 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:29.840 is being sent from us. If we don't have a 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:34.640 studio backing us, so any beta support really really makes 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:37.840 a huge difference to us. All right, let's get into 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.640 this week's episode. I'm Manny, I'm Noah, this is Devin, 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:44.879 and this is no such thing the show where we 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:48.559 settle our dumb arguments and yours by actually doing the research. 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:53.680 On today's episode, why are headlights so motherfucking bright? And 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:57.480 can Biden's infrastructure bill actually be the thing that saves us? 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:18.880 There's no such thing, no such thing, such thing. 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:18.480 Touch So the other day, it's about seven o'clock at night, 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.319 I was I was out on long Island visiting the family, 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:25.119 and I was driving back to Brooklyn, and this time 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:30.240 of year gets start pretty early, which is fine for 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:34.360 most of the driving until I live by this expressway 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.400 we called the Jackie Robinson. It is notoriously a difficult 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:43.640 road to drive on. The lanes are more narrow, and 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:48.680 it's really windy, so and there's a lot of okay, 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:50.840 you got to go from your far right to your 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.480 far left to your far right because the exit's over here, 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.120 and then you need to exit on the right. So, 0:01:56.320 --> 0:02:00.000 especially for someone who's inexperience, it is a difficult express 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:04.560 to be driving through. But what makes it even harder nowadays, 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:10.960 especially at night, is that everybody has the fucking brightest 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.800 lights you have ever seen in your entire life. So 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:17.960 you got people behind you whose lights are so bright 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.280 they're reflecting off your rear view mirror, and going in 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.280 your eyes, got people to the rid of you their 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.680 lights are so bright it's shine in the mirror in 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:28.960 your eyes. And then you got people on the opposite 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:33.200 Saturday Expressway coming towards you, and it looks like everyone 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.639 just has their high beams on. It's also a road 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:38.280 where you just gotta go or you'll get in an 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:40.000 accident if you go too slow. Based but you just 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:43.320 gotta drive fast, even if you don't feel comfortable driving fast. 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.400 There's so many times where, especially this time I'm driving 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.040 on it, I'm like, I can only see the car 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.800 in front of me. My visibility is about ten feet. 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:55.480 I don't know where the road is going outside of that. 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.200 Luckily enough, I've done this drive enough times that I 0:02:58.240 --> 0:02:58.920 sort of know. 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:00.240 The direction that's gonna go. 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.440 But in my mind, I'm like, this feels so unsafe, 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:06.320 and I'm like, is this something I know? 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:07.480 I'm getting a little bit older. 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.280 I turned thirty two and last year I'm like, is 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:12.919 my eyesight. 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:13.639 Just so bad? 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.200 Or is is this just like a thing that everybody's 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.760 lights are just way too bright nowadays? It's making it 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:20.680 really hard to see. 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:25.240 No I have that. I've had so many similar experiences. 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.560 There are a lot of roads in Ohio that don't 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.800 have street lights. You're only relying on your headlights. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:33.200 It's like when you're driving upstate. 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:37.400 Yeah, yeah, it's not just unique to Ohio, I suppose. 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:43.920 But I also have a stigmatism is very common. You 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.880 have it as well. Noah's been blessed with great genetics. 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.000 I think I bad eyesip, but not that way. 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.640 And uh, you know, at night time when I'm driving, 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:58.800 I so often I can't fucking see and I feel 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:02.800 a little crazy. I don't know if this is true, 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:08.520 but it feels like it's gotten worse over the past 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:12.720 like ten fifteen years. I've been driving since age seventeen, 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:14.880 and I don't remember it being this bad. 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.520 I don't either, and that's why I'm like, is my 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:20.200 eyesight getting worse or the light's getting brighter? 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:20.520 Yeah? 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:21.640 Right, because I. 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:26.360 Used to remember my parents complaining about driving at night, right, like, yeah, you. 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:27.280 Know, driving and that's hard. 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:28.680 And I used to be like, what are you talking about, 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:29.760 Like it it's a little bit darker. 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.040 Yeah, it's darker. It's harder than the day. 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.960 Yeah, time it's fine and you can see. Yeah, And 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.039 now I'm like, oh, I get it. Yeah, like I 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:39.080 don't like driving it, like I only drive at night 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:40.160 when I absolutely have to. 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:44.200 Yeah, my mom my mom My mom says she won't 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:46.320 drive at night anymore at all, Like. 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:50.479 I expect it, yeah, because like I'm when I'm driving 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.000 at night, it is just sort of like hoe I 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:54.000 don't crash. 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.400 Yeah, fully putting your life at risk. 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:58.080 Yeah, it's like I cannot see. 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.719 And it's not just people with their highb on, no, 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.080 you know where it's like that's a whole other issues 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.360 exactly too bad. But it's like, all right, those are 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.719 people being inconsiderate. Yeah, the whole other issue. This is 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:10.200 just regular lights. 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.040 Regular issues, regular headlights. 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:16.480 Now it seems like everyone's headlights now are like those 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:18.920 really bright lights you would see when we first started 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.000 driving on like those pickup trucks that you'd be like, 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:25.520 what type of who is this like for like off 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:28.240 roading that they would be using on like you know, 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:30.159 like a normal street. It's like this is too much. 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.560 Now it feels like everyone that camera has those lights now. 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:33.800 Yeah. 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:34.440 Yeah. 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:38.839 And then sometimes I'm like, you know, when I'm driving 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:42.480 my mom's car is kind of nudes a few years old. 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:46.520 Am I contributing to this? I don't even know how her. 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:48.960 That's the funny thing, right, because I like to say 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:52.680 what y'all doing? Yeah, but I never I've neveryone else 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:54.279 is this moment and not think. 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:58.120 It could be the case that like like no one 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:00.919 thinks it's them, yeah, of course, but or it's like 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.160 it's great, Like, wow, these lights look fantastic for. 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:07.960 Me, like being able to see so yeah, like oh 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.599 am I blinding everybody, But I'm wondering, you know. It's 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:13.400 like I guess it's great when you're driving when there 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:17.360 are no other cars, right, yeah, because that is true, 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.720 Like on I have experienced that on like when you're 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.320 driving a newer car versus an older car on like uh, 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.160 like you know streets like Ohio or upstate somewhere where 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:27.000 there's no street, like you. 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.719 Hit the high beings and it's just exactly yeah. 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:33.080 It's like I can see the entire road, but then 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.760 you don't think about, oh yeah, what are the other 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:41.240 people who are seeing me coming at them? See, especially 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:43.600 like we're saying we're not even talking about hypings, we're 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.400 just talking about regular highway driving. 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:52.039 Yeah, we've all accepted the facts that we're just temporarily 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.840 blinding each other when we pass each other on the roads, 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:56.200 and that feels bad. 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.200 That's something that's like it's everyone like I can't I 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.200 have no idea where I'm going and I'm just following 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:03.239 the person in front of me and hopefully I don't crash, 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:06.960 and like we're all just like I'm like at first, 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:09.520 I was like, Oh, it's just me being anxious, you know, 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.880 like it's chill out like everyone else obviously can see 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:14.520 they're driving. 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.560 Yeah, not hundreds of accidents around me. I don't know. 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:22.280 I feel like a conspiracy, Like what does this concerted 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:24.119 effort to do brighter lights? 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:24.360 Where? 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:24.720 Why? 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.280 And then Yeah, I'm also wondering what like the danger 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:30.800 levels are, like the risk? 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:32.160 Have people been. 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:34.120 Hurt by this? 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:34.400 Yeah? 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:36.480 And I'm curious to know if this is a US 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:40.400 issue or world wid like are we the only ones 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:44.000 suffering through this or in you know, in Europe and Asia? 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.360 What's it like over there because we're driving you know, 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:50.600 Japanese cars, Yeah exactly? Or are they making them different 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.200 for us versus over there? 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:52.480 Right? 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:54.040 Is this legal? 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:55.000 Yes? 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.239 How is this legal? How is this legal? Is this legal? 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:00.640 Or are people like it? Are we dealing? 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:04.480 Like is the brightness of the lights just stock at 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:04.960 this point? 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:06.920 Or is everyone? Is it? 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:08.800 Like I'm not a car guy at all, So is 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:12.400 everyone just changing their headlights and making them super bright? 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.040 And I'm just not yeah like getting the upgrade? Yeah 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:16.120 exactly brightness? 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.720 Yeah, Like I'm I'm gonna go buy some lights off 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:20.760 Amazon and you know, take it to the shop, Like 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:22.920 are people doing that or is this just like out 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:23.440 the box? 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.240 This is what the cars are coming with now. 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:32.160 Such after the break, we talked to someone who's been 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.240 obsessed with car lighting ever since he was seven years old. 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:41.400 Okay, we're back. 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:43.959 I'm Noah Devin. 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:48.200 So we're trying to figure out why the hell headlights 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.760 seem to be so bright and why is there so 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.480 much glare when we're driving on the roads at night. 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:58.360 So I spoke with one of the industries leading car 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:03.040 lighting experts. So can I have you just start by 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:03.959 introducing yourself. 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:08.200 I'm Daniel Stern. I am the chief editor of Driving 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:13.040 Vision News, which is the global vehicle lighting world's technical 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:14.320 and trade journal of record. 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.440 He first realized his fascination with headlights when he was 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:19.160 seven years. 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.480 Old and my father was driving me somewhere after dark. 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.959 I think it was maybe like a like a musical presentation, 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:29.320 was in first or second grade, and he showed me 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:31.600 how there was a low beam for when there were 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:33.920 other cars around, and high beam for when the road 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:35.080 was clear, when it was empty. 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:37.360 So that was the root of it. 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.160 And then many years later I went off to school 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:44.520 in dark rainy Oregon at the University of Oregon, and 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.000 it seemed to me that I really could not see 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:48.800 as well as I thought I should be able to 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.240 when I was driving after dark, and so I started 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.000 sort of poking around into how headlamps work and you know, 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:56.959 maybe how they don't work. Around that time, I made 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.240 my first trip to Europe and I saw that they 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.600 did a whole lot of things differently with car lighting, 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:05.719 and so the interest took hold, and I transferred to 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:09.160 the University of Michigan, where at that time, the University 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:14.360 of Michigan Transportation Research Institute had a terrific library full 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:17.320 of decades worth of research, not only about lighting, but 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.000 lighting was a lot of what they did, and so 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:25.040 I would spend hours in this library just systematically devouring 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.480 these decades worth of research, and then i'd take the 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.440 elevator up to the second or third floor and ask 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:32.760 questions of the researchers who were working up there. They 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.160 were very patient with me, and so that was sort 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.439 of my three year long independent study on vehicle lighting 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:42.119 right at one of the world's foremost research institutes. 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:47.240 For it, to be honest, I thought the solution air 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:49.920 would be pretty simple, just like turn down the LED 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.080 lights and then you'll get rid of glare. But after 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:55.440 talking to Daniel over the last couple of weeks, it 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.360 turns out this issue is way more complicated than any 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:01.760 of us anticipated in and wide so complicated. You have 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:03.880 to know some of the recent advancements we've made of 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:05.239 car aliding technology. 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:09.079 Starting in nineteen forty, all vehicles in the United States 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:11.640 had what are called sealed beam headlamps. 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.880 There for our purposes, we'll fast forward to the nineties. 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:19.240 In the mid nineties, high intensity discharged headlamps came along. 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.560 Now you can have three times more light within the 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:25.280 headlight beam, and the light color was it had a 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.800 radical shift from sort of a warm white to a 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.480 cold white, a bluish white, and that started that There 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.800 was a spike in glare complaints when that happened, and 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.800 the official response was, yeah, you'll get used to it. 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:39.319 You're only noticing it because they look different. Just look 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:40.120 away from the glare. 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:44.520 And then in the early to mid two thousands, LEDs 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.920 advanced to the point where we could use them for headlamps, 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:54.280 and so headlamps once again grew brighter and bluer, and 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.520 the glare complaints spiked, and the same response sort of 0:11:57.559 --> 0:11:59.400 came down. Yeah, you'll get used to it. It's not 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.960 really hurting out, you know, it's just just look away 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:03.520 from the glare. 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.440 And today our most headlamps led. 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.200 Yeah, and new cars are pretty much all designed new 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.920 cars trucks as these new road going vehicles are pretty 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.720 much all designed with LED headlamps right from the start. 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.640 All right, So for our question, why is headlight glayer 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:26.840 so bad? The first culprit LEDs. So the first question 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.760 I had for him is our LED lights just brighter? 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:32.720 Right? Is that the issue? The lights are just brighter? 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:36.319 So this may be, you know, a dumb and obvious question, 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:40.360 but our LED headlamps technically brighter. 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:41.480 Well, it's a little. 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.920 Difficult to answer that question has asked because this isn't 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:46.800 really when you say brighter and you think of it 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:48.520 in terms like you're in your dining room and you 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.320 turn the dimmer up or down to make the dining 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.360 table brighter or dimmer, this is a lot more complex 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:57.000 than that. A headlight beam isn't just a floodlight or 0:12:57.040 --> 0:12:59.600 a spotlight that you know that is brighter or dimmer. 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:04.520 It's actually a very complex pattern of light with areas 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:07.959 defined by what are called test points. A test point 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:12.559 might have a minimum required intensity, a maximum required intensity, 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:16.000 or both, and a low beam in particular is super 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.520 complex because you need to have high intensity for the 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.520 driver to see far enough down the road right next 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.520 to low intensity to protect other drivers on the road 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:25.040 from glare. 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:27.760 So I'm actually gonna share this video if you guess 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:32.719 that'll sort of exemplify what he's saying. 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:34.559 Here, Great, because that didn't make any sense to me. 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:37.880 Or yeah, when it's shining on the wall to a 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.600 little bit before, just like pause it on that, Okay, 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:42.280 I mean trying to break in this down because I 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.600 know this is kind of hard to visualize, especially for 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.960 a podcast. But imagine you're shining your headlights in a 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:52.160 garage on a wall. You're probably thinking of something similar 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:55.760 to a flashlight, right, like pretty even light, maybe a 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.880 little bit more oval or rectangular, because these are headlamps 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.800 versus a flashlight. But that's not really the case. So 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:07.480 what do they actually look like? All right, So let's 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.960 imagine for a second and stick with me that you're 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:16.520 some abstract artists and you're painting Luigi Manngioni's latest mugshot. 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.080 Because you're an abstract artist, you're not just gonna draw 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:23.200 straight lines and fill on the eyebrows completely. Instead, you're 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.640 gonna put maybe a blob of paint here, maybe no 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.280 paint on this area of the eyebrow, maybe a little 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:31.440 bit of paint down below. And that's how the headlight 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.760 beam operates as well. There are parts in the beam 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:37.360 that have really intense light, and there are parts within 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.960 the beam that have almost no light at all. And 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:45.320 his varying degree of light intensity is really purposeful. The 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:49.240 headlight is designed so that the person driving has maximum 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.800 visibility but limiting the amount of light that's being thrown 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.960 to other people from oncoming traffic. 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.640 Oh okay, so the gradient is like you're on one 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.160 side of the highway driving north, the other side of 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:07.200 the highways driving south, and the gradient is blocking people 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:09.600 who are going south from like being blinded by your 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:10.400 light exactly. 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.640 Yeah, because if it was all that intensity, it would 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:14.560 be really impossible to see. 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:16.000 So it's really very complex. 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:21.320 That said. Yes, in a word, yes, today's headlamps are 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:24.320 their higher intensity, They put a lot more light out, 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:26.520 They put out much wider beams. 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.240 For our purposes, we'll say they're brighter, although technically, you know, 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:31.040 I don't want I don't I don't want Daniel to 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:31.480 yell at me. 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.080 Yeah, it's not so simple. 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:34.960 They're more intense. 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:36.800 Is that a good yes, Yeah, we'll say intense. 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.200 I don't know if people be okay with that. And then 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:43.480 there's another reason why they appear so bright. You talk 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:48.120 about how with led lights it's more intensity from a 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.960 smaller I don't know with the technical term for it, 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.000 but like a smaller opening, right, it's coming from a 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:53.720 smaller space. 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:54.000 Yeah. 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:59.240 The technical term is luminance, and in real simple words, 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:03.440 it means how right something looks. You can also think 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:05.880 of it as light density. If you have a certain 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:10.440 amount of light coming from a small area, uh, it's 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.320 going to look brighter than that very same amount of 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:18.000 light coming from a large area because that given amount 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.240 of light with a large area, it's spread over a 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:25.440 over a big surface, whereas with a small area it's 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:30.440 sort of condensed into a point instead of a large surface. 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:32.880 You can sort of you can think of it as 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.720 you say, you're putting a certain amount of water through 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:37.200 a hose. 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:38.080 If you have a. 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:40.000 Tiny little hole at the end of the nozzle you're 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:41.520 going to have like a jet stream. 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:43.760 You can you can powerwash. 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.920 Your driveway if if you have a big sort of 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.240 a big watering looks like the end of a watering can, 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:52.920 sprinkling end of a watering can, well you'll have a 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:55.360 nice sort of gentle rain shower, same amount of water, 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.520 but it's but it's behaving very differently and light does 0:16:58.560 --> 0:16:59.200 the same thing. 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.480 It's a really good visual way of thinking about it, 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:05.399 all right. So that's the second reason why LED's a 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:06.919 pair rider is because the light. 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:08.080 Is coming from a smaller opening. 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:15.080 And then the last culprit is the color blue. 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:17.720 This is really interesting, actually, there's a lot of really 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.360 sturdy science showing that for any given intensity white light 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:26.040 that contains more blue creates much greater discomfort clayer than 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:28.480 light that has less blue. So with that on the table, 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:32.800 it's been found that just to put rough numbers on it, 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:37.720 if you have two headlamps that measure say a thousand candela, 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:39.040 the candela. 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.760 Being the measurement unit for intensity. 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.960 Two headlamps putting a thousand candela towards an oncoming driver's eyes. 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:47.520 One of the headlamps is a halogen lamp and it 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:50.520 has sort of a yellowish white, warm white light color. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.400 The other headlamp is an LED. It has a cold white, 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.000 a bluish white light color. In order for those two 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:58.840 headlamps to feel the same to the oncoming driver in 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.280 terms of how they experience the glare, the halogen headlamp 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.920 would have to be producing at least sixteen hundred candela 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:10.000 to match the feeling of glare created by the LED headlamp. 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.040 And the kicker of that is the sort of the punchline, 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:15.560 maybe it's a punch in the gut or a punch 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:19.560 in the eyes, is that you don't get sixty percent 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.600 better seeing with the bluer light. You don't get any 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.639 better seeing with the bluer light. You just get you 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.360 do have a sort of a feeling as though it's brighter, 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:33.679 and you have this much greater sensation of glare caused 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:34.480 by the bluer light. 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:39.720 This was really crazy to me, right, because our eyes 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.080 are more sensitive to blue light, so it appears brighter 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.760 to us, but it actually doesn't help us see any better, 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:48.159 and then it just causes more glare when we're on 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:48.520 the road. 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:54.080 Well, so then why why do we have them? 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:55.160 Because it looks cool. 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:57.240 Okay, yeah, that's true. 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.639 So let's recap for LEDs. Yes, they're more powerful than 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.880 previous headlamps. They are here to be brighter because they're 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:12.040 coming from smaller openings. 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:12.800 Uh. 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:16.000 And then we got blue, which creates more glayer. And 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.239 it also brings us to our second culprit, which is 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:20.800 called headlight. 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:23.359 Aim hhmm you know what that is. 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:26.120 You don't want to be headlight aim. 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:27.760 I can guess if you want. 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:28.680 And yeah, I guess. 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:34.080 I've noticed some headlights have like lids on them, all right. 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.840 Is it like the direct spot where it's most intense 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:39.400 closer closer. 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:43.560 Yeah, you guys didn't do the research. 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.560 What I looked like a car lighting specialist, all right. 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:51.080 So we talked about blue. We talked about how people 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:52.880 like the look of the blue lights. 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:53.080 Right. 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.800