I found myself with a little extra time after lunch just now, so I called up PIAA USA in Oregon and asked them some questions. Here is a transcript:
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Me> Hi, I'm just wondering, I'm looking at your bulbs, trying to decide which ones to buy; it looks like you have Plasma Ion Yellow, Night-Tech, Intense White, Xtreme White Plus, and Super Plasma GT-X, all with different amounts of blue tint to the bulb glass except the Plasma Ion Yellow is yellow, right?
PIAA> Yes, that's correct.
Me> So I'm wondering, the blue ones, do they actually produce more light than a regular bulb?
PIAA> Yes, they do. They produce the equality of double the light output.
Me> I'm not sure I understand what "the equality of double the light" means. Does that mean they actually put out twice the light?
PIAA> Yes, they put out twice the light. So for example you have a 55-watt bulb, it puts out the equality of light from a 110-watt bulb.
Me> OK, but your website says they're DOT approved, and I've got the DOT Federal headlight bulb regulation on screen in front of me, and it looks like each bulb type, 9004, 9006, H7, whatever, they all have a specified light output maximum, like they specify an output and give a tolerance of, like, plus or minus ten or twelve or fifteen percent. So how is it possible to have a bulb that puts out double the light and still be DOT approved?
PIAA> They're DOT approved because if you aim them right they don't bother other drivers.
Me> Good, OK, I'm sure I'm just not seeing the obvious, but it looks like the DOT regulates not only the headlight beam in terms of does it bother other drivers and how is it aimed, but also the actual raw output of the headlight bulb, so I don't understand how a bulb that puts out twice the light specified for its type is DOT-approved. Can you help me understand?
PIAA> Yes, go ahead, did you have more questions?
Me> No, just that last one.
PIAA> Hello? Hello? Are you still there?
Me> I'm still here.
PIAA> Hello? *click*
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I'm trying to figure out how to describe PIAA's attitude here. The word won't come to mind. "Professional" isn't it, but I can't quite remember the word I'm looking for. (OK, I was playing dumb, but it looks to me like they were playing fraudulent. HEY! THAT'S IT! FRAUDULENT!)