Lasers don’t hurt anyone unless you shine them directly into someone’s eyeholes. Modern LEDs and their housings are designed to point at the road, not your eyes. Diffusing them would move more of that light into your eyes.
@ArcaneSlime@Ulrich They are not pointed directly at your eyes, it would be much worse. But they are significantly brighter than previous headlight technologies, and often have smaller reflectors, or lenses, resulting in a smaller (and even brighter) apparent light source. This concentrated apparent source of light more easily causes glare on windshields, glasses or simply our eyes transparents parts. It is awful and very poor design. Not mentionning blue/cold light scatters MUCH more anyway.
@ArcaneSlime@Ulrich (Blue light scattering in everything is why the sky is blue)
Also, the worst part imho (thankfully less common) is the use of random LED drop-ins in old housings absolutely not made for their light source shape, position or brightness, scattering light in every direction, without even throwing light farther than stock halogen bulbs.
They don’t point directly at your eyes. A small portion will reach your eyes because your eyes are at the same level as the road ahead so there needs to be some spill.
The most modern headlights can actually turn off just the portion that’s pointed at you, but it’s been a legal hellscape trying to get those approved for road use in the US for some reason. I actually have them in my car but they only work in Europe.
This condition is greatly exacerbated by the soccer Mom Tonka trucks with headlights 6 feet in the fucking air.
Sadly, here in the USA, most newer trucks and SUVs have hoods so tall and headlights so high up that they’re basically eye level with an average standing grown adult, and stupid bright no less. I don’t know why they even allow such large passenger vehicles or such unnecessarily bright lights on the road here, but they do.
Now that might be okay if everyone was driving around an 8 foot tall tank, but try driving around in my mom’s barely 4 foot tall sedan. Even those ‘properly’ adjusted headlights are still way too high up and shining right in your eyes.
I agree but none of that has to do with LEDs or diffusion. Diffusion won’t make a truck’s headlights lower to the ground, it will just cause more light to go into your eyes, like I said.
No, you’re misunderstanding the concept of proper diffusion for the application. Rather than have most of the light coming from the centralized source, spread it backwards towards a diffused reflector. Of course design things at appropriate angles and stuff though.
Same amount of light, but spread out much more evenly and not burning a hole in people’s retinas. Just as a simple hypothetical test example (obviously a quick hack test, not suitable for actual road use)…
Have someone stand in front of a vehicle with the headlights on. They’ll be basically and rather quickly blinded and have to close their eyes or turn their head.
Now do the same test, but with a piece of white paper covering the lens. Now that will diffuse the light, and the person observing won’t be staring directly at the bulb, but will effectively see the same amount of light, just spread out more evenly.
Now design the diffusion principle into the reflector behind the bulb, make it where nobody has to directly see the bulb itself, but the controlled and directed diffused lighting from the back reflection.
There’s no reason that oncoming drivers have to directly see the core center of the bulb when we’ve had light spreading technology for ages. Spread that light out to more effectively use the full surface area of the front face of the whole headlight assembly.
And no the light doesn’t have to go everywhere, I get that. That’s why I mean for the back reflector surface of the headlight to do the diffusion, so as to control and spread out the emitted light more smoothly.
Or, ya know, make the headlights at a standardized height at sensible brightness and appropriate angles. I say headlights (and the hood itself) should generally be no higher than half the average standing adult height. Sigh, that ship done sailed though, the roads are slap full of vehicles way taller than they need to be…
Rather than have most of the light coming from the centralized source, spread it backwards towards a diffused reflector.
It doesn’t matter which direction it goes.
Same amount of light, but spread out much more evenly
You don’t want your light to be spread out. You want it concentrated to where it needs to be and redirected away from where it doesn’t need to be (including people’s eyeholes).
Have someone stand in front of a vehicle with the headlights on. They’ll be…blinded
If you have this problem then your headlights are not adjusted properly. That should not happen.
Now do the same test, but with a piece of white paper covering the lens. Now that will diffuse the light
You’re not talking about diffusion, you’re talking about obstruction. Do that and now the driver can’t see shit and ya might as well just not have them.
There’s no reason that oncoming drivers have to directly see the core center of the bulb
They don’t.
headlights…should generally be no higher than half the average standing adult height.
They shouldn’t even be that high. But once again, that’s a separate problem.
Note that on the second video, about 18 seconds or so in, they show what I mean about staring into the core center of the bulb, they reflect the light through a fairly small magnifying lens, not much bigger than a postit note.
Why oh why reduce the surface area of the source of light emission so small, when the front of the headlight has so much more practical surface area to distribute the light more evenly? That only exasperates the problem by using a magnifying lens like that.
Also, putting white paper in front of the lens isn’t the perfect example, which I already said is a quick hack demo anyways. I get that would be a partial obstruction, but that also reflects a lot of the light back in randomly, which gets reflected back out randomly.
Kinda similar, but reverse, of how true lasers work. Back and forth reflection, eventually most of the light escapes, just in my hack test example it scatters everywhere, rather than in one direction.
There’s plenty enough knowledge and technology in illumination that there should be no reason for such large headlight assemblies to be shooting out all that light from something about the size of a postit…
Lasers don’t hurt anyone unless you shine them directly into someone’s eyeholes. Modern LEDs and their housings are designed to point at the road, not your eyes. Diffusing them would move more of that light into your eyes.
Ahh shit what was the key to doubt again?
Ah here it is X
If that’s the case why do 90% of them point directly in my eyes? Is “modern” like '24+?
@ArcaneSlime @Ulrich They are not pointed directly at your eyes, it would be much worse. But they are significantly brighter than previous headlight technologies, and often have smaller reflectors, or lenses, resulting in a smaller (and even brighter) apparent light source. This concentrated apparent source of light more easily causes glare on windshields, glasses or simply our eyes transparents parts. It is awful and very poor design. Not mentionning blue/cold light scatters MUCH more anyway.
@ArcaneSlime @Ulrich (Blue light scattering in everything is why the sky is blue)
Also, the worst part imho (thankfully less common) is the use of random LED drop-ins in old housings absolutely not made for their light source shape, position or brightness, scattering light in every direction, without even throwing light farther than stock halogen bulbs.
@Ulrich
I’ll just reply to both of you at once: Well no matter what it is, the IRL effect is light pointing directly in my eyes.
@ArcaneSlime Well, everything you see is light directly pointing in your eyes.
…aight that’s fair lmao
They don’t point directly at your eyes. A small portion will reach your eyes because your eyes are at the same level as the road ahead so there needs to be some spill.
The most modern headlights can actually turn off just the portion that’s pointed at you, but it’s been a legal hellscape trying to get those approved for road use in the US for some reason. I actually have them in my car but they only work in Europe.
This condition is greatly exacerbated by the soccer Mom Tonka trucks with headlights 6 feet in the fucking air.
I gather you have absolutely no experience driving at night then.
Ah yes, more insults and no arguments. Goodbye.
Sadly, here in the USA, most newer trucks and SUVs have hoods so tall and headlights so high up that they’re basically eye level with an average standing grown adult, and stupid bright no less. I don’t know why they even allow such large passenger vehicles or such unnecessarily bright lights on the road here, but they do.
Now that might be okay if everyone was driving around an 8 foot tall tank, but try driving around in my mom’s barely 4 foot tall sedan. Even those ‘properly’ adjusted headlights are still way too high up and shining right in your eyes.
And it’s become a big problem in the USA…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=w0nBlZwUT3s
I agree but none of that has to do with LEDs or diffusion. Diffusion won’t make a truck’s headlights lower to the ground, it will just cause more light to go into your eyes, like I said.
No, you’re misunderstanding the concept of proper diffusion for the application. Rather than have most of the light coming from the centralized source, spread it backwards towards a diffused reflector. Of course design things at appropriate angles and stuff though.
Same amount of light, but spread out much more evenly and not burning a hole in people’s retinas. Just as a simple hypothetical test example (obviously a quick hack test, not suitable for actual road use)…
Have someone stand in front of a vehicle with the headlights on. They’ll be basically and rather quickly blinded and have to close their eyes or turn their head.
Now do the same test, but with a piece of white paper covering the lens. Now that will diffuse the light, and the person observing won’t be staring directly at the bulb, but will effectively see the same amount of light, just spread out more evenly.
Now design the diffusion principle into the reflector behind the bulb, make it where nobody has to directly see the bulb itself, but the controlled and directed diffused lighting from the back reflection.
There’s no reason that oncoming drivers have to directly see the core center of the bulb when we’ve had light spreading technology for ages. Spread that light out to more effectively use the full surface area of the front face of the whole headlight assembly.
And no the light doesn’t have to go everywhere, I get that. That’s why I mean for the back reflector surface of the headlight to do the diffusion, so as to control and spread out the emitted light more smoothly.
Or, ya know, make the headlights at a standardized height at sensible brightness and appropriate angles. I say headlights (and the hood itself) should generally be no higher than half the average standing adult height. Sigh, that ship done sailed though, the roads are slap full of vehicles way taller than they need to be…
It doesn’t matter which direction it goes.
You don’t want your light to be spread out. You want it concentrated to where it needs to be and redirected away from where it doesn’t need to be (including people’s eyeholes).
If you have this problem then your headlights are not adjusted properly. That should not happen.
You’re not talking about diffusion, you’re talking about obstruction. Do that and now the driver can’t see shit and ya might as well just not have them.
They don’t.
They shouldn’t even be that high. But once again, that’s a separate problem.
Okay, then have someone sit in front of the vehicle…
Guess what position people drive in? Sitting!
Anyways, I found these very relevant videos…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKhRA0q-ZUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBWi0k_271I
Note that on the second video, about 18 seconds or so in, they show what I mean about staring into the core center of the bulb, they reflect the light through a fairly small magnifying lens, not much bigger than a postit note.
Why oh why reduce the surface area of the source of light emission so small, when the front of the headlight has so much more practical surface area to distribute the light more evenly? That only exasperates the problem by using a magnifying lens like that.
Also, putting white paper in front of the lens isn’t the perfect example, which I already said is a quick hack demo anyways. I get that would be a partial obstruction, but that also reflects a lot of the light back in randomly, which gets reflected back out randomly.
Kinda similar, but reverse, of how true lasers work. Back and forth reflection, eventually most of the light escapes, just in my hack test example it scatters everywhere, rather than in one direction.
There’s plenty enough knowledge and technology in illumination that there should be no reason for such large headlight assemblies to be shooting out all that light from something about the size of a postit…