lights for astigmatism

Ls400

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I have astigmatism and seeing well while driving at night is difficult, even with hard contact lens (RGP).

I bought a Morimoto set from The Retrofit Supply complete with projectors and harnesses but after reading the information in this forum, that set is going back to the store. I'm not going to cut open my headlights to install cheap junk that isn't even legal.

What are my options for upgrading the lights on a 2015 RAV4? I know I can install some 9011s in place of the 9005 low beams, but I'm a little wary of that option. My wife has a 2018 RAV4, which has 9012 low beams. I bought the Volsa 9012 "+30" low beams to replace the factory 9012s, and after driving around a bit, I noticed only a tiny difference between the factory 9012s and the "+30" 9012s from the Candle Power store.

So, is there anything else I can do? Maybe install a pair of Hella Ralleye's? I will be driving on the road so I want to keep everything street legal.
 

Alaric Darconville

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With a refractive error like astigmatism, reducing blue light might*​ help, as well as wearing glasses instead of contact lenses. Your contact lenses, I presume, are of the type that correct for astigmatism, but a set of selective yellow prescription glasses**​ (with excellent fit and a quality grind and tinting) may help reduce blue light which presents special focusing problems and outperform your contact lenses at night. Remember, your pupils dilate in low-light conditions and they may dilate beyond the contact lenses' effective correct area. If you still want to wear the contact lenses, then get those glasses made without any correction (but still to the same standards as a proper set of corrective eyewear. There will be no "off the shelf" glasses that will suit this need.

The Vosla +30 bulbs still provide objectively better seeing than with the factory bulbs-- whether your subjectively *notice* or not.


* But proper cylindric correction through eyewear is imperative.​
** http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...llow-Night-Driving-Glasses-For-Winter-Weather
 
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-Virgil-

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I'm not aware of any research explicitly finding that cutting the blue light will assist with night vision as affected by astigmatism, but since astigmatism amplifies the effect of glare, it's a reasonable idea to try. See previous threads (with specifications and cautions) here and here.

I bought a Morimoto set from The Retrofit Supply complete with projectors and harnesses but after reading the information in this forum, that set is going back to the store. I'm not going to cut open my headlights to install cheap junk that isn't even legal.

Excellent decision.

What are my options for upgrading the lights on a 2015 RAV4? I know I can install some 9011s in place of the 9005 low beams, but I'm a little wary of that option

Because why? A good quality 9011 (HIR1) is the only legitimate upgrade for those headlamps. Also, new bulbs or not, put in whatever amount of effort it takes to find a shop (dealer or otherwise) that will aim the headlamps correctly using an optical aiming machine.

Maybe install a pair of Hella Ralleye's? I will be driving on the road so I want to keep everything street legal.

That is not a solution. "Driving lights" are auxiliary high beams. They may not be safely or legally used with low beams, or otherwise in traffic. Only on empty roads with high beams.
 

Ls400

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What is the best 9011?

I keep reading about the Toshiba 9011 from AC Delco/GM or Toyota and how it's the best 9011, but what about the Volsa 9011? The candle power store website contradicts the information given by posters on this forum.

What's the bottom line?
 
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-Virgil-

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What is the best 9011?

LOL, the one I linked for you. In bold, underlined typeface. Don't be afraid...go ahead and click it! ;-)

I keep reading

...a whole lot of ignorant poop about "real Toshiba" HIR bulbs versus "not really HIR" Philips, etc. It should come as no surprise to you that there is a large amount of misinformation on the internet. Some of it is put out by people who don't know what they're talking about, and some of it is put out by people whose objective and intent is to sell a particular item.

The candle power store website contradicts the information given by posters on this forum.

The Candlepower store website contains fairytales. They are trying to sell you what they "just happen to have" in stock. The people here aren't trying to sell you anything. Draw your own conclusions.

Well that makes me wonder because this thread from 2016 is unequivocal about the Toshiba 9011s being superior to the Philips 9011s. Has something changed since then?

It's not 2016 any more. Things change. Products go on and off the market, and up and down in quality. As Jefferson Starship put it, "Someone's always playing corporation games...who cares, they're always changing corporation names".

Yes, something has changed since then: the Toshiba bulbs practically no longer exist and the Philips bulbs are better than they were, largely in response to OEM demand.

You asked a valid question in 2018, and you got answers valid for use in 2018...go use them and see better at night.
 
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Ls400

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Thanks! I am still a little confused about why your reply to my post ended up as an edit of my post though. More pressingly, is there a way to tell whether I will receive the improved Philips bulbs? I note that your Amazon link explicitly tells customers that they might receive one of two different looking product boxes. I hope you understand my concern that I don't want to end up with an old product that's been sitting on the shelf when I could have received the new and improved HIRs.

Also, I did some more digging, and I found that the Philips HIRs don't have an infrared coating, but they are still considered HIRs, because the HIR spec doesn't require an IR coating. I get that part. I'm just curious as to how Philips managed to design a bulb that performs better than the Toshiba, which, to the best of my knowledge, seems to have the IR coating.
 

Alaric Darconville

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I note that your Amazon link explicitly tells customers that they might receive one of two different looking product boxes. I hope you understand my concern that I don't want to end up with an old product that's been sitting on the shelf when I could have received the new and improved HIRs.
There's no "sell by date" here; appearance of the package is unrelated to performance of the bulb. It's just to forestall people who get different packaging from complaining up a storm.

Also, I did some more digging, and I found that the Philips HIRs don't have an infrared coating, but they are still considered HIRs, because the HIR spec doesn't require an IR coating. I get that part. I'm just curious as to how Philips managed to design a bulb that performs better than the Toshiba, which, to the best of my knowledge, seems to have the IR coating.
The IR coating complicates production of the bulb, as it takes incredibly high manufacturing tolerances to produce the spherical section of the envelope where the HIR coating would reflect the IR back to the filament. A tiny tiny bit off and the IR misses the filament from one angle or another, ruining performance. This leads to quite a few rejects. The tolerances of the non-coated bulbs are still incredibly high (it's part of the spec); optimizations are to the filament and the super-precise positioning thereof.

They are "considered" HIR because they are legally defined as HIR. They meet the mechanical, electrical, and photometric requirements thereof.
 

-Virgil-

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ls400, you're loading a whole lot more worry and strife into your backpack than is worth lugging up the hill. It doesn't matter what the box looks like. The improvements to the Philips product happened long enough ago, and the sales volume on that bulb are high enough, that you'll get the good ones. And we're talking much, much finer degrees here than the difference between your original 9005 and (any) 9011, so just git 'er done and move on to the next thing, which should be headlamp aim -- that is where you should spend your time/effort/worry on getting it just right and not accepting "good enough".
 
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