Static review: White wall & lux comparison: LED, H11 LL, H11+100, H9

Here is my static review (beam pattern, Lux measurement) of various headlight bulb options for the Mazda5, or any vehicle that uses the H11 bulb.

My dynamic review (driving) can be found HERE.

I will be reviewing DDM HID kit soon.


Here is the test setup that I used for this quick evaluation. Test surface is a bedsheet (I'm going to call it a screen) stretched over lumber, with a second thicker sheet behind, to reduce light bleeding through and confounding measurements. Distance from headlamp to screen is 2.1m (about 7ft, the max I can achieve in my garage, and I want to stay in the garage for easy and complete light control). The vehicle is confirmed level, and the lamps are aimed to horizontal using the pictured laser level shining across the optical center marked on the lamp lens, and onto the screen. Slightly below horizontal is preferred for driving on public streets, but horizontal is what I use for evaluation because it is simple to aim and achieve, so there is less room for aiming error putting one lamp at an advantage or disadvantage.


The camera is mounted in the center front of the vehicle and does not interfere with the beam pattern. The camera absolutely must switched to manual (settings below), otherwise the camera will try to achieve the same exposure and white balance for all shots, no matter how bright or dim the actual condition is, and all comparisons will be meaningless.


Each bulb was allowed to burn for 1 minute prior to taking pictures and measurements. The vehicle engine was running so that there would be no decreased battery voltage as the test progressed.


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Here is the screen shot with the garage lights on. The camera is set to manual and every shot of the screen is taken using the following settings: ISO200, 1/20s, f8.0, 5000K WB, tripod mounted, 2sec shutter delay so I can press the shutter and 1) not cause any blur due to button press and 2) not be in the beam.
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Here is the screen with all lights off.
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Here is the screen with parking lights only. There is enough light from the parking lights to move around the garage, but it's not really enough to show up on camera with these exposure settings.
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Here are the stock bulbs. H11 LL (long life). I measured a maximum luminous intensity of 4200 lux at the hotspot, and 100 lux above the cutoff line.
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Here are the Hellst LED headlight bulbs. I measured a maximum luminous intensity of 550 lux at the "hotspot", and 200 lux above the cutoff line. 550 is not a typo. I put "hotspot" in quotes because there really is no hotspot with these bulbs. The beam pattern is very abnormal in that there is no hotspot, and instead the beam intensity is even over a wide range (graphic below). When driving, this gives the impression that the bulbs are very bright immediately in front of the car (which they "kind of" are), but without the high intensity hotspot, the reach (distance) of the beam is not good. I will have more driving evaluation next week. The beam in the lower portion is very smooth. My initial impression was that there was a significant amount of light thrown above the cutoff, but really it's not much more than the other bulbs. It just looks like there is more light above the cutoff because the light below the cutoff is dimmer, relatively speaking. On a white wall, there are significant "rainbows". In real-world driving they aren't really noticeable to the driver of the LED-equipped car, but may be noticeable to oncoming traffic as flashes of various colors from the headlights as the cutoff moves through the driver's field of vision. The cutoff is well enough defined, though again it has an abnormal shape that does not match the standard shape for a VOR (or any) lamp system.
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Here are Philips H11 X-treme Vision +100 bulbs. They are H11 bulbs that meet all FMVSS requirements, they are just designed and manufactured to tighter tolerances and to the extreme high-end of the allowable (per FMVSS/SAE) output for H11 bulbs. I measured a maximum luminous intensity of 5350 lux at the hotspot, and 130 lux above the cutoff line. The tradeoff for increased output in this bulb is increased cost and reduced life compared to the H11 LL.
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Here is a popular bulb swap for H11 bulbs, the H9. This swap is technically not legal, though some debate the actual safety implications of the swap. The H9 has higher output and is not sheilded like the H11 is. In a reflector-type lamp, this will certainly cause uncomfortable glare for oncoming drivers and I would not recommend it. In the mazda5 projector housings, there is a bit more noticable glare, and the amount of light thrown above the cutoff is equal to the Hellst LED's as the most in the test. If that is an objectionable amount is debateable. It is certainly borderline, in my opinion. I measured a maximum luminous intensity of 6350 lux at the hotspot, and 200 lux above the cutoff line.
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Here is a comparison pic of the four bulbs.
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And a comparison chart. It is fair to note that this chart only indicates maximum hotspot brightness, which primarily correlates to beam reach. This chart does not reflect any other aspect of lamp performance.
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Here are the high beams as a reference. I measured a maximum luminous intensity of 14,600 lux at the hotspot.
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I will do a full drive evaluation of all bulbs later. I will evaluate beam intensity, reach, dispersion, evenness, and cuttoff in real-world driving. My qualifications include 1) being a nerd who likes automotive lighting and flashlights as a hobby, and 2) Before my current OEM QC job, I previously worked for the same major OEM as a design/evaluation engineer for Automotive lighting and did this exact type of thing on a regular basis as a part of my job (though admittedly only for about a year).

This is amazing info! Thanks for taking the time to post this!!!

Wow, very detailed, very cool info. Thumbs up!

This is the reason why I didn't get led. I have read of similar complaints. It spreads the light more. But is less peak bright at the hotspot.

Thanks for the detailed write up though

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Just to add that 550 lux is about as bright as a smartphone.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Can you do a HID install and give some opinions. I run them in my 5, and love the extra light on the road, and the design of the 5s projector keep all stray light in check. When HID is installed in the high beam You get a nice long wide beam, it takes a couple of seconds on initial fire up, but after that its no issue. I ran them for 5 years in my mazda now and have great results. I am installing a set of bosch driving lights inside the bottom grill with 55w HID for moose spotting duties. There are LOTS here and I rather avoid them then have a close call or hit one like I did using stupid blue lights that cut out all visability.

please don't forgot to add the roadside comparison pics! While they are not 100% consistent, it is still good to visualize each light in a real world environment.

Will do. I've been pretty busy, I'll get to the full review soon...

My initial impressions of the kit I got (DDM 55W 5000K)
1. Too bright (yes, there is such a thing, both legally and functionally)
2. Cheap - price is cheap, parts are cheap, no surprise there. BUT - I used cheap DDM HID's in a 24hr race car (LeMons) and didn't have any failures, so... who knows?
3. This is the "blue-est" 5000K I've ever seen.

FWIW, I took the HID's out and went back to the H11 +100 bulbs. I'll put the HID's back in to take measurements and get beamshots, but I'm going to ebay or CL them, I don't like them.

nice write up. Just wondering how you are measuring the beam intensity (lux)? How accurate do you think this measurement is?

Did you find too much glare with the HIDs? The "experts" say that the light emitting part of the HID arc is in a different place than the halogen filament, which leads to incorrect optics generating too much glare. Did you find this to be the case? Do you think a 35 watt HID would be better than the H9?

kw_da said:

nice write up. Just wondering how you are measuring the beam intensity (lux)? How accurate do you think this measurement is?
Did you find too much glare with the HIDs? The "experts" say that the light emitting part of the HID arc is in a different place than the halogen filament, which leads to incorrect optics generating too much glare. Did you find this to be the case? Do you think a 35 watt HID would be better than the H9?

Click to expand...

I am measuring with an inexpensive light meter I got several years ago when I worked with headlamps for my job. I wouldn't compare my measured values to someone else's lab-grade meter and claim they are equivalent and directly comparable to within +/-1%, for sure. But within my own testing, using the same controlled test setup and same meter (and engineering knowledge of what is and isn't a reliable, repeatable test setup), I think it is certainly consistent, and acceptably accurate to maybe +/-5% (?)

You are correct that the placement of the arc/filament is critical in lamp design. An ideal lamp would work best with a theoretical "point source" light, but barring that, the lamp (reflector/optic) is designed specifically for the bulb meant to be used. The HID bulb is certainly a better match than the LED bulbs, but it is still not the exact same as the halogen that the Mazda lamp is designed for.

That said, projectors are usually more tolerant of HID retrofits than reflector lamps, and some systems are better/worse for retrofitting than others. It is worth noting that there is NO such thing as a legal retrofit - headlamp systems are certified (FMVSS) as a system, for the bulb type that they were designed for. You can install various types of H11 bulbs and that is legal, but H9, HID, or LED are all unarguably not legal per FMVSS. (Whether they are unsafe is a totally separate discussion)

With the HID retrofit, you may get more streaking in the beam pattern, the hotspot may or may not be in the correct location, there may be glare for oncoming drivers (is this what you meant when you asked me if I found much glare with the HID's?), etc. In the case of this 55W kit, there is a LOT more light, and while they definitely do have better reach down-road, it comes at the expense of being blinded by all the light up close - on the ground in front of the car, reflecting off signage, etc. That's what I meant by "too much" light, functionally. And they are significantly above the legal limit for light output, I haven't measured it, but I can guaranty it based on my experience.

Would a 35W kit be better? Probably. How much better? I don't know. Better than the H11 +100 that I currently think are the best option I've tried so far? No clue, and it probably depends on your definition of "better". I'd like to try a high quality 35W kit (morimoto, TRS), but I'm not sure that will happen soon. The only reason I got the DDM 55W kit was because it was on a whim, and the kit was dirt cheap ($40).

sac02 said:

I am measuring with an inexpensive light meter I got several years ago when I worked with headlamps for my job. I wouldn't compare my measured values to someone else's lab-grade meter and claim they are equivalent and directly comparable to within +/-1%, for sure. But within my own testing, using the same controlled test setup and same meter (and engineering knowledge of what is and isn't a reliable, repeatable test setup), I think it is certainly consistent, and acceptably accurate to maybe +/-5% (?)

You are correct that the placement of the arc/filament is critical in lamp design. An ideal lamp would work best with a theoretical "point source" light, but barring that, the lamp (reflector/optic) is designed specifically for the bulb meant to be used. The HID bulb is certainly a better match than the LED bulbs, but it is still not the exact same as the halogen that the Mazda lamp is designed for.

That said, projectors are usually more tolerant of HID retrofits than reflector lamps, and some systems are better/worse for retrofitting than others. It is worth noting that there is NO such thing as a legal retrofit - headlamp systems are certified (FMVSS) as a system, for the bulb type that they were designed for. You can install various types of H11 bulbs and that is legal, but H9, HID, or LED are all unarguably not legal per FMVSS. (Whether they are unsafe is a totally separate discussion)

With the HID retrofit, you may get more streaking in the beam pattern, the hotspot may or may not be in the correct location, there may be glare for oncoming drivers (is this what you meant when you asked me if I found much glare with the HID's?), etc. In the case of this 55W kit, there is a LOT more light, and while they definitely do have better reach down-road, it comes at the expense of being blinded by all the light up close - on the ground in front of the car, reflecting off signage, etc. That's what I meant by "too much" light, functionally. And they are significantly above the legal limit for light output, I haven't measured it, but I can guaranty it based on my experience.

Would a 35W kit be better? Probably. How much better? I don't know. Better than the H11 +100 that I currently think are the best option I've tried so far? No clue, and it probably depends on your definition of "better". I'd like to try a high quality 35W kit (morimoto, TRS), but I'm not sure that will happen soon. The only reason I got the DDM 55W kit was because it was on a whim, and the kit was dirt cheap ($40).

Click to expand...

I just recently installed the morimoto with 4300k xb35 bulbs.



Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Looks good, what is your subjective judgement of the morimoto xb35?

Probably too late to ask, but did you take a "before" pic? (with the same camera settings?) I'd be very interested to see that difference.

Photography in general (to a large degree) is about the capture of light, but when light itself is the subject of the picture, it becomes that much more important to know the camera settings and have some sort of reference, since a change in ISO, aperture, or shutter speed can totally change the perception about how "bright" the light is.

sac02 said:

Looks good, what is your subjective judgement of the morimoto xb35?

Probably too late to ask, but did you take a "before" pic? (with the same camera settings?) I'd be very interested to see that difference.

Photography in general (to a large degree) is about the capture of light, but when light itself is the subject of the picture, it becomes that much more important to know the camera settings and have some sort of reference, since a change in ISO, aperture, or shutter speed can totally change the perception about how "bright" the light is.

Click to expand...

I will do hid on one side /stock on the other for comparison. It is hard to take the exact same shot, especially when taking with my phone. If you want a stock shot, I can do that too.

Subjectively, they look much brighter.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

sac02 said:

I am measuring with an inexpensive light meter I got several years ago when I worked with headlamps for my job. I wouldn't compare my measured values to someone else's lab-grade meter and claim they are equivalent and directly comparable to within +/-1%, for sure. But within my own testing, using the same controlled test setup and same meter (and engineering knowledge of what is and isn't a reliable, repeatable test setup), I think it is certainly consistent, and acceptably accurate to maybe +/-5% (?)

You are correct that the placement of the arc/filament is critical in lamp design. An ideal lamp would work best with a theoretical "point source" light, but barring that, the lamp (reflector/optic) is designed specifically for the bulb meant to be used. The HID bulb is certainly a better match than the LED bulbs, but it is still not the exact same as the halogen that the Mazda lamp is designed for.

That said, projectors are usually more tolerant of HID retrofits than reflector lamps, and some systems are better/worse for retrofitting than others. It is worth noting that there is NO such thing as a legal retrofit - headlamp systems are certified (FMVSS) as a system, for the bulb type that they were designed for. You can install various types of H11 bulbs and that is legal, but H9, HID, or LED are all unarguably not legal per FMVSS. (Whether they are unsafe is a totally separate discussion)

With the HID retrofit, you may get more streaking in the beam pattern, the hotspot may or may not be in the correct location, there may be glare for oncoming drivers (is this what you meant when you asked me if I found much glare with the HID's?), etc. In the case of this 55W kit, there is a LOT more light, and while they definitely do have better reach down-road, it comes at the expense of being blinded by all the light up close - on the ground in front of the car, reflecting off signage, etc. That's what I meant by "too much" light, functionally. And they are significantly above the legal limit for light output, I haven't measured it, but I can guaranty it based on my experience.

Would a 35W kit be better? Probably. How much better? I don't know. Better than the H11 +100 that I currently think are the best option I've tried so far? No clue, and it probably depends on your definition of "better". I'd like to try a high quality 35W kit (morimoto, TRS), but I'm not sure that will happen soon. The only reason I got the DDM 55W kit was because it was on a whim, and the kit was dirt cheap ($40).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I was worried about causing undue glare to other drivers. I've been blinded enough by other people's HID bulbs in halogen housings, so I "see" the problems. For our housings, it seems like the H9 alternative is the best for long distance lighting w/o causing glare to others. It's a halogen bulb, so the optics will be correct and will put more lumens down the road than the H11.

sac02 said:

I am measuring with an inexpensive light meter I got several years ago when I worked with headlamps for my job. I wouldn't compare my measured values to someone else's lab-grade meter and claim they are equivalent and directly comparable to within +/-1%, for sure. But within my own testing, using the same controlled test setup and same meter (and engineering knowledge of what is and isn't a reliable, repeatable test setup), I think it is certainly consistent, and acceptably accurate to maybe +/-5% (?)

You are correct that the placement of the arc/filament is critical in lamp design. An ideal lamp would work best with a theoretical "point source" light, but barring that, the lamp (reflector/optic) is designed specifically for the bulb meant to be used. The HID bulb is certainly a better match than the LED bulbs, but it is still not the exact same as the halogen that the Mazda lamp is designed for.

That said, projectors are usually more tolerant of HID retrofits than reflector lamps, and some systems are better/worse for retrofitting than others. It is worth noting that there is NO such thing as a legal retrofit - headlamp systems are certified (FMVSS) as a system, for the bulb type that they were designed for. You can install various types of H11 bulbs and that is legal, but H9, HID, or LED are all unarguably not legal per FMVSS. (Whether they are unsafe is a totally separate discussion)

With the HID retrofit, you may get more streaking in the beam pattern, the hotspot may or may not be in the correct location, there may be glare for oncoming drivers (is this what you meant when you asked me if I found much glare with the HID's?), etc. In the case of this 55W kit, there is a LOT more light, and while they definitely do have better reach down-road, it comes at the expense of being blinded by all the light up close - on the ground in front of the car, reflecting off signage, etc. That's what I meant by "too much" light, functionally. And they are significantly above the legal limit for light output, I haven't measured it, but I can guaranty it based on my experience.

Would a 35W kit be better? Probably. How much better? I don't know. Better than the H11 +100 that I currently think are the best option I've tried so far? No clue, and it probably depends on your definition of "better". I'd like to try a high quality 35W kit (morimoto, TRS), but I'm not sure that will happen soon. The only reason I got the DDM 55W kit was because it was on a whim, and the kit was dirt cheap ($40).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I was worried about causing undue glare to other drivers. I've been blinded enough by other people's HID bulbs in halogen housings, so I "see" the problems. For our housings, it seems like the H9 alternative is the best for long distance lighting w/o causing glare to others. It's a halogen bulb, so the optics will be correct and will put more lumens down the road than the H11.

Here is the hid vs stock comparison

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6330324

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

sac02, how many MT-G2 emitters are apart of each Hellst bulb?

There are two MTG2 emitters as part of each bulb.

Hellst advertises 3600 lumen from each bulb, which is 1800/emitter and not unreasonable, based on looking at the Cree spec sheet for the MTG2:
http://www.cree.com/LED-Components-...XLamp/Arrays-Directional/XLamp-MTG2-EasyWhite
For reference, the H11 bulb produces up to 1400 lumens, but Lumen rating is definitely NOT the whole story.

First, lumens at the bulb is not the same as lumens OTF (out the front), which is what translates to the candela used for FMVSS photometry judgements.

More importantly, the H11 filament is more compact than the MTG2 luminous die area. Based on some estimations (i.e. don't quote my numbers as fact), the luminous area of ONE MTG2 is about 40mm^2, and the luminous area of an H11 bulb is about 15mm^2. So the math says an H11 produces about 93lm/mm^2, compared to the MTG2's 45lm/mm^2.

The smaller, more concentrated "point source" of the halogen bulb filament (compared to the relatively large LED die) is what makes the halogen bulb have the correct beam pattern and higher candela. The lamp is specifically designed around not only the position of the filament, but its shape as well. While the LED bulb manufacturer can place the center of the LED unit at the same position as the halogen filament, the LED cannot duplicate the shape and luminous efficacy of the halogen.

That's what I figured as well when I looked at these LED systems. With HID, I find the color temp more annoying than actual beam scatter in vehicles comeing at me. 6000k with that horrible blue color and up is brutal coming at you even with properly designed units. Look at the new corolla. Its lights are down right horrible with their color coming at you. Toyota is trying to perceive luxury with blue colored lights. My Jeep patriot with 4300k in it never got flashed once. because the 4300k is not near as irritating to the eye as the horrible stupid blue color. Which does nothing except downgrade light output btw.