LED technology has widespread applications which range from the electric torch, household LED lights to street lights, which are now taking over the automobile world. The application of LED lights has greatly improved visibility at night. They are widely employed in the car, including brake lights, turn lights, and headlight bulbs.

From once being used in top-of-the-line car models, LED headlights can now be found as a standard option in base-model and mid-variant vehicles.

Despite the popularity of LED headlight bulbs, there’s a great number of people that have no idea what is a good LED headlight brand or how LED bulbs are even manufactured in the first place. This blog is a quick investigation of what LED headlight technology is, the factors that affect it, and how manufacturers produce high-performance LED automotive lights. If you have always been curious about the manufacturing process of LED headlight bulbs, our previous blog will give you a full overview.

LED headlights technology explain

In the days of primitive incandescent and halogen headlights, illuminating the way ahead of your car has literally become a brilliant science. Among the many technologies available in the modern cars of today, LED headlights appeal to auto lighting manufacturers and customers because they are brighter than halogens and offer a wider pattern, besides they are energy-efficient, last longer, and have a whiter light than halogens and incandescent bulbs.

What are the main compositions of LED headlights?

There are more and more LED headlight options available with uneven quality on the market. To better clarify the quality of LED bulbs, let’s take a look at the anatomy of a LED headlight bulb.

LED headlight bulbs mainly consist of four components which are LED chip, lamp body, circuit board, and heat sink. Let’s dig out deeper into their functions.

1. LED chips - the chip is a core component of a LED bulb. Its main functions are directly converting electrical energy into light. There are several types of chips that are generally used in LED headlights bulbs.

Here you may throw out a question “What are the best chips for LED headlights?” The above chart shows that the usage of flip-chip provides the most value for money. As a leading automotive lighting manufacturer, NAOEVO thinks what our customers think. We produce LED bulbs with newly upgraded flip-chip to meet the requirement for quality and high brightness LED bulbs while keeping a lower cost!

2. lamp body - The lamp body not only highlight the aesthetic of the LED bulbs but also play a role in heat dissipation. The difference in the lamp body is clarified by the material, thickness, and the area of heat dissipation.

Different materials will affect the performance of LED headlights. The better the heat dissipation, the longer the lifespan, and the better the stability and safety of LED headlamps. LED headlights with better cooling management should be extruded aluminum alloy 6063. Besides, LED bulbs that combined with several cooling methods can maximize the heat dissipation capacity.

So, how to clarify a good heat dissipation of a lamp body?

a. The weight of the same volume of the lamp body, the heavier the weight, the greater the density, and the better the heat dissipation.

b. The thickness of the lamp body, the better the heat dissipation.

c. The area and design. The larger the area, the better the heat dissipation, optimized heat sink design will accelerate the flow of air so that better cooling is achieved.

3. Circuit board/driver - Printed Circuit Boards are crucial to the operation of the LED headlamp. They prevent LED damage from voltage variation in order to optimize heat protection. The main components on the circuit board are transformers, capacitors, inductors, resistors, etc. There are many complicated electronic components inside the PCB, which should be placed accurately. A reliable headlight bulb supplier like NAOEVO, uses advanced machines to ensure accurate welding, accuracy, cleanliness, and quality. 

4. Heat sink - There are three types of heat dissipation of LED headlights: fan cooling, copper tape cooling, and pure aluminum cooling.

Both pure aluminum cooling and copper tape cooling limit the performance of cooling. For pure aluminum cooling, the volume of the heat sink should be designed as big as possible, but the installation will be a problem. As copper tape heat sink, the wings cannot be squeezed together, otherwise, the cooling capacity will drop a lot.

Installing a fan inside the heat sink is the most effective cooling method. They are the optimum choice for conduction, convection, and radiation.

What tests need to be done before production?

Before LED bulbs putting into mass production, we will do a series of research and tests for the LED bulbs, such as light output testing, light beam pattern testing, waterproof and dust proof testing, corrosion testing, and temperature testing. Here is part of our research and development equipment and facilities.

Integrating sphere: Integrating sphere: Integrating sphere is frequently used for certain optical measurements. In this equipment, a bulb is positioned in the sphere, and the light given off the by the bulb inside the integrating sphere and evenly distributed at 360 angles. In this case, the total lumen of LED bulbs can be accurately measured since light can be captured from all angles in the sphere.

High-temperature chamber: High-temperature chamber creates various levels of heat to simulate the different atmospheres. This facility test the prolonged effects of a varied range of temperatures to examine the quality of LED bulbs. Usually, the LED bulb will be installed in the whole headlight assembly and put into the chamber tested at over 105℃, which is higher than normal temperature.

X-Ray Inspection: X-Ray Inspection is developed to reveal hidden defects in a variety of solid materials, including metal, plastic, composites, and other components.

Waterproof testing: Waterproof testing ensures all the LED bulbs meet IP standards. NAOEVO provide quality LED headlight bulbs with an IP67 rating, we ensure they perform well in all conditions.

Why do LED headlight bulbs need aging testing?

Aging testing is a crucial part of contributing to high performance and reducing the risk. In this stage, we will test LED bulbs for 72 hours without interruption before packaging. We make sure all of our products comply with regulatory standards and have a long lifespan to ensure safe driving.

How do headlight bulb manufacturer develop a good light beam pattern?

When finding an automotive LED lighting factory, you have to know the light beam pattern of their LED bulbs, because they are related to safety and road regulations. Good headlight beam patterns have very sharp and defined upper cut-off that prevent oncoming drivers from being blinded. A perfect headlight beam pattern includes a step around the center of the output to put more light on the right. (If your country is right-hand side driving)

As a LED headlight bulb manufacturer, NAOEVO is committed to producing LED headlights with standard and perfect light beam patterns. We have an in-house R&D center and light beam pattern testing room where we can accurately record the light spread, shape, and lux on the wall and ground. With our latest optical testing equipment and professional engineers, we can improve the light beam pattern for better performance. We produce LED bulbs that have passed CE, DOT, E-Mark, and RoHs certifications.

How do LED headlight manufacturers ensure product quality?

NAOEVO is synonymous with high-quality LED headlight bulbs. We designed and developed following a strict quality control process from raw material to finished goods. Each stage will have a different standard to ensure they meet strict requirements. We will make four inspections as below:

Incoming quality control - It is the process of controlling the quality of materials for manufacturing before production begins. Different materials will have different requirements.

In-process control - We make production inspections before the manufacturing process is completed. This step gives the manufacturer security that the finished product fulfills all quality requirements.

Final quality control - In this step, we inspect LED headlight bulbs comprehensively and test the quality of the products before they are put into storage.

Conclusion

LED headlights should be a pretty recent technological breakthrough. They not only produce brighter and purer white lighting, but they are extremely energy-efficient with a longer lifespan than conventional halogen headlights. If you are looking to get into the LED headlight bulb business, then check out our website at any time of the day, and have all your question answered by our professional team.