The H14 no-shield double-filament bulb, developed by Ichikoh seven years ago, offers a significant efficiency improvement over the 36-year-old H4. The H14 is usable worldwide, type-approved to ECE regulations, is physically and electrically compatible with existing packaging and sockets, and produces higher-performance beams from headlamps of any given size. Despite all these advantages, this first-ever internationally-approved bulb design from Japan has met with indifference by European and American lighting producers and automakers. As yet, no international vehicle has been equipped with H14 headlamps. Toshiba’s Halogen Infrared Reflective (HIR) single-filament low- and high-beam bulbs, which offer extremely high output and efficacy with long life, have met with only lukewarm acceptance. Nissan and GM have equipped some of their US models with the HIR bulbs, but most other automakers have disregarded them. The slow acceptance of higher-efficacy halogen bulbs stands in sharp contrast to industrywide acknowledgement that halogen headlamps will retain the largest share of the market for many years to come.
Hector Fratty
Hector Fratty, DrivingVisionNews President and Founder has been for his entire career in automotive lighting. From 1995 to 2006, he was Valeo Lighting Systems’ chief of R&D, managing a staff of 650 engineers and technicians and a budget of over €70m. He holds 20 patents worldwide. In 2008, after 2 years’ consultancy, he initiated the launch of Driving Vision News, a news pipeline dedicated to keeping the lighting and driver assistance community informed of the latest progress and development in the industry. Hector Fratty presides over the highly‐regarded biennial VISION Congress international automotive lighting and driver assistance symposium. Hector Fratty is also a member of the ISAL steering committees.
