Rooftop lighting
Posted by Beneficial-Ad2867@reddit | overlanding | View on Reddit | 6 comments
Hey all, I’ve been planning on getting a roof mounted light bar for a while, and I’m getting to a point where I will actually be making a purchase. The one thing I have noticed in my research is that typically amber/yellow lamps have been more expensive than clear LED/white. Is there a reason for this? Also for those who have used both, what do you prefer?
Kerensky97@reddit
Amber Lights are the hype right now. It's like charging more for something with "overlanding" in the name.
mister_monque@reddit
high mounted area lighting is very beneficial as long as you manage hood glare. a si.ple glare shield can make a big difference with a long range tight focus beam.
color is a tricky thing, depends on the conditions and what you are trying to achieve. Clear white is for maximum illumination, high CRI and fine details.
French or Selective Yellow removes the blue component and reduces scatter, aiding with glare back off of airborne moisture and particles, the benefit being increased contrast with the cost being reduced detail and depth.
Amber/Orange takes this even further and can be a benefit for long duration night driving in weather but you give up a lot of range and the world becomes very flat.
Blue weaponizes the pupil response to appear "brighter" and there are rumors that blue light combined with nitrogen backscatter helps reduce the visual impact of fog, rain and snow in the beam. I am not convinced though a lot of marine spot and search lamps are very blue and I've seen them throw some serious light with clarity.
"Red" light as a thing doesn't scatter as readily in the atmosphere and doesn't hinder low light vision. This unfortunately leads to black shadows with a very sharp cutoff.
"Blue" light scatters readily and doesn't prompt the pupils response, good bye night vision. But, because it scatters, it a "fill" an area with soft light & greatly reduces the intensity and contrast of shadows. AFVs and military aircraft used it heavily until the modern era of night vision because you could light a cabin with a small amount of light energy and it wouldn't travel far. Now they use a lot of green.
"Green" light is the sweet spot of human color vision, we can discern the largest amount of color and differentiate to a much finer degree in the green spectrum. It however is a dog shit smoothy for vehicle lighting, it "upsets" us, think every modern horror movie like Saw and the green wash they use to make us feel uncomfortable.
Now, the good news. I pray at the church of u/Lamin-X and their films let me chose lens tints that match my conditions. The only word of warning being if the LEDs you are filtering are on the blue side the yellow film gives a light color I can only describe as "pommelo", a very ick color. Looks great when off but all the bads when lit.
IdRatherBeDriving@reddit
Just don’t mount it over the A pillar because then it lights your hood, dash and dirty windscreen. We mounted ours over the B pillar after taking a bunch of measurements to ensure no light hits the hood. Our bar can change colors between white and amber. White for high speed and amber for low speed is my general preference, but it depends on dust and rain and terrain.
DeafHeretic@reddit
I agree in general with regards to roof lights - my main reason is undesirable reflection from the hood (bonnet for you Brits).
I do intend to have roof rack mounted lights on my Hilux build - but my hood will be dark ODG matte bedliner, the lights (spot) will be aimed for far distance with the sides being floods, and not often used - primary lighting will be the stock-ish (aftermarket LED projectors) replacing the stock sealed beams, and amber/yellow fog/snow/dust lights and others on the tube bumper.
AnonymousSpelunking@reddit
I'm against any lights above eye level, just my preference but I know a few people who got them long enough to realize they hated them.
Yellow gives more contrast to everything and is easier on the eyes. It also gives less glare back off dust, rain and fog.
I like yellow down low and wide and then white higher up for distance.
CalifOregonia@reddit
Your roof is the last place to mount lighting after you have exhausted all options below the hood. There are reasonably affordable brands out there that do Amber. If you’re only finding brands that do white avoids them. There is a time and a place for each, but Amber is way better if there is dust, snow, or fog involved.