What are High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D. or HID) Xenon lighting systems or lamps?
High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) or metal halide gas discharge is a state-of-the-art lighting technology that may be used to replace standard incandescent lamps or halogen gas capsules that use a heated tungsten filament. H.I.D. lamps operate more like vapor filled streetlights (Mercury) or like an electronic flash. Instead of a filament they create light by zapping an arc between two electrodes within a quartz capsule. That arc excites a mixture of gasses, usually Xenon and metal halides (such as Sodium Iodine and Scandium Iodine). The light produced by an H.I.D. Xenon lighting system is greater than a standard halogen bulb and with less power consumption. H.I.D. Xenon lighting systems appear as a bright white beam which closely resembles daylight. The bright white beam offers much greater visibility with a five fold increase in light intensity compared to standard incandescent landing lights, or a three fold increase compared to halogen lamps. The light intensity is about 3200 lumen
