Audi Head-Light Honda Civic 2017-2020

Audi Head-Light Honda Civic 2017-2020

Projector headlights are high-performance headlights that were originally only available in luxury vehicles. They are capable of using extremely bright high-intensity discharge (HID) and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs that would be unsafe to use with traditional reflector headlights.

Due to the way projector headlights are designed, they are capable of illuminating more road surface, at greater distances, than traditional reflector headlights. They project a more focused beam of light than reflector headlights, which means more light is cast directly ahead, where it’s needed, and less spills out to the sides where it isn’t.

How Do Projector Headlights Work?

Audi Head-Light Honda Civic 2017-2020

Projector headlights consist of a headlight assembly with a replaceable bulb, just like reflector headlights. They also include a reflector component, but that’s where the similarities end.

The overall design of projector headlights is based around the idea of focusing light with a specially-shaped reflector, then using a shutter to project it on the road with a beam pattern that is evenly-distributed and tightly-organized.

Every projector headlight includes these basic components:

Audi Head-Light Honda Civic 2017-2020

• Bulb: Every headlight needs a bulb, and projector headlights can use halogen, HID, and LED bulbs as the light source. The bulbs in projector headlights can be much brighter than the bulbs in reflector headlights.
• Reflector: Like classic reflector headlights, projector headlights actually include a component called a reflector. The difference is that they use an elliptical-shaped reflector instead of a parabolic-shaped one. The difference in shape causes the light emitted from the bulb in a projector headlight to focus on a narrow point near the front of the reflector, where it meets a shutter.
• Shutter: The shutter is one of the most important components in a projector headlight, and it’s something that classic reflector headlight housings just don’t have. This component is inserted into the light beam from below, which causes a sharp cutoff and effectively aims the light at the road instead of allowing it to blind other drivers. In some vehicles, the shutter can be raised and lowered to switch between high and low beams.
• Lens: This is the final component found in projector headlights, and it’s designed to evenly distribute the beam of light that has already been shaped and aimed by the elliptical reflector and the shutter. Some projector headlight lenses also have a feature that softens the cutoff line between light and dark when the headlights shine on the road.