Daniel Stern Lighting is the exclusive source for Cibie's new Complex-Surface Reflector 5¾” headlamp optics. These use up-to-date complex-surface (nonparabolic) reflector technology combined with shallow-prism lens optics to create stunning beam performance from standard-wattage bulbs.

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• What makes these lamps better?
  
• How can I compare these to other lamps?
  
• Beam isocandela diagrams
  
• Lamp and beam pattern photos
  
• Can I get similar performance with high-watt H4s?
  
• Can I use high-watt bulbs in the CSR lamps?
  
• How do I wire these lamps into my vehicle?
  
• What are these CSR lamps made out of?
  
• Do these lamps come in other size formats beside 5¾” round?
  
• Can these lamps be put in housings for use as auxiliary lights?
  
• Can I install HID bulbs in the CSR lamps?
  
• How do I buy these lamps?

How and why are they better than H4 lamps?

These new lamps are vastly more efficient than conventional headlamps because they use a complex-surface reflector: Instead of a simple parabola, the reflector is comprised of over 50,000 computer-calculated points on the surface of the reflector to take maximum advantage of the light produced by the filament.

Conventional H4 and H1 headlamps with parabolic reflectors achieve the low beam cutoff with a shield on the low beam filament to physically block the light from reaching the lower 45% of the reflector. If the lamp is a large one, this 45% loss still leaves sufficient active optical area to collect and focus enough light for a robust beam pattern. But the 5.75” lamp format isn't large, it's small, so using only 55% of the reflector and lens area to create the low beam makes for an inefficient system and not a very strong beam.

The CSR headlamp creates a highly effective beam pattern without any part of the reflector blocked off from the filament. The computer-calculated optics are focused to use the edge of the glowing filament to form the light/dark cutoff line at the top of the beam pattern. 100% of the reflector and lens are used for the low beam, not just 55% as in less advanced headlamp systems, yielding an 81.8% efficiency improvement (100 ÷ 55) even without considering that a complex-surface reflector, or any part of it, is more efficient than a parabolic reflector at gathering and distributing light.

As much of an upgrade as conventional E-codes are over sealed beams, these new premium CSR lamps are even more of an upgrade over conventional E-codes. On low beam, a carefully-engineered concentration of light just to the right of the cutoff elbow gives tremendous seeing distance down the road, while a wide, even spread of foreground light helps you stay in lane and see safely on curving roads, and reveals potholes and critters (of the 2- or 4-legged variety) about to step into the road. The beam upsweep to the right shows road signs well down the road. All of this remains when you switch to high beam, which also adds extremely intense down-the-road beams.
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How can I compare these lamps to others?
Can I see photos of the beams?

Yes, but not just yet. Photographs of beam patterns can be very misleading even if the photographer has the best of intentions, because pixels and film work in a fundamentally different way than human eyes. First, let's look at more objective comparisons of different headlamps' beam performance. The way to do that is with isocandela diagrams, which are generated by a machine called a photogoniometer that measures the intensity of light produced by the headlamp through a large range of vertical and horizontal angles. are just like topographical (elevation) maps, except the squiggles and lines represent amounts of light, instead of elevation above sea level. The beam pattern is correctly aimed as it would be on a car on the road, and each differently-colored line represents the threshold of a particular intensity level. Each diagram is plotted on a chart calibrated in degrees. Straight ahead is represented by (0,0), that is, zero degrees up-down and zero degrees left-right.

To get a mental approximation of the units and amounts under discussion here:

Parking lamp:
About 60 to 100 candela

Front turn signal:
About 500 candela

Glaring high-beam Daytime Running Lamps (e.g. Saturn):
About 8000 cd.

The parameters to pay attention to are the luminous flux (total amount of light within the beam), the maximum intensity ("hot spot") and its location within the beam relative to the 0,0 straight-ahead point (the less downward/rightward offset, the longer the seeing distance), stray light outside the beam pattern, and effective beam width contained within the dark-turquoise 500 candela contour line. All headlamps used for the diagrams you're about to view were brand new, tested on the same equipment at the same voltage with standard bulbs as applicable. These are very wide diagrams, so you may have to widen your browser window to see them. For each pair, the low beam is first, and you can scroll down to see the high beam diagram.

Let's look at the diagrams!
(links will open in a new window)

These first two diagrams are standard halogen sealed beams, low and high. These beams provide acceptable down-the-road illumination from a "hot spot" that is sufficiently intense and well placed, but that's about all there is to recommend them. We see the narrow, tunnel-shaped beam, almost no light on the road surface, very little lateral spread to pick up pedestrians and animals, and a great deal of upward light that causes backdazzle, making it difficult for you to see your way through fog, snow, or rain. The high beam is almost identical to the low beam, just shifted slightly upward and to the left.

The next two diagrams are the best available (Cibié) H4 lamps on low and high beam. These give a wider and deeper beam pattern than the sealed beams, but the "hot spot" is not very intense and is located far off to the right, giving a short seeing distance. The equivalent lamps from Hella are similar, but with slightly lower total flux, peak intensity and beam width, and the "hot spot" is farther over to the right. We can also see that upward stray light is still a problem with this low beam, despite the sharp cutoff. Upward stray light reflects back into your eyes off of rain, snow, and fog, which makes it difficult to drive in bad weather. The high beam is reasonably well focused and has good intensity straight ahead of the vehicle.

These last two diagrams are the Cibie CSRs. The low beam contains several hundred more lumens than that of the H4, and nearly triple that of the sealed beam. The hot spot is large, well placed for long distance seeing, and with an ordinary 55w bulb it's nearly triple the intensity of the hot spot from an H4 lamp, and 50% more intense than the hot spot from a sealed beam.

The beam is very wide and has broad, even road surface illumination, with plenty of spillover onto the road shoulders to pick up animals, pedestrians, and side streets. There's virtually no stray light to cause backdazzle in bad weather, and there's adequate but carefully-controlled uplight for seeing overhead road signs. The sharp cutoff prevents oncoming traffic being dazzled by glare.

The CSR high beam is an extremely intense fireball with a reflective range of several miles down the road; the hot spot is about three times the intensity of the sealed beam's high beam setting.
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So, now can I see those beam photos?

Yep! You may read more about the CSR lamps and view more pictures here. The linked site will open in a new window, and belongs to an individual who has installed CSR lamps in his BMW. Be advised that the extensive rewiring he describes was done because the previous owner of the vehicle had hacked the wiring, not because the CSR lamps require such extensive rewiring to work correctly.
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Can't I get about the same performance from an H4 lamp with a high-wattage bulb?

Good thought, but the answer is no. Putting a more intense bulb in a lamp does not change the lamp's fundamental beam distribution. There's more light, but the hot spot stays where the lamp's optics put it. The optically-determined geometric limits on seeing distance remain. Also, if there's significant upward stray light with a standard-power bulb, there'll be significantly more of it with a higher-power bulb. Putting in a higher-power bulb doesn't change the basic efficiency of the lamp. For example, replacing the 60/55w bulb in the Cibie 5.75" H4 lamp with a 100/90w bulb increases the hot spot intensity from 11,265cd to 16,898cd, still only 57.3% of the hot spot intensity from a CSR lamp with a standard 55w bulb. There are also other issues to be addressed if high-wattage bulbs are being considered.
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Can I put high-wattage bulbs in the CSR lamps?

You wouldn't want to do that. The CSR lamps are so efficient that using a high-wattage bulb in them actually produces too much light! Road signs are so brightly lit that they "burn out" and become unreadable. This can be fun, but even if you're a lighting geek, the novelty wears off after about 10 minutes. The CSR lamps come with standard 55w bulbs. You can have a significant improvement over the already-excellent performance these bulbs give by installing
high- or ultra-high efficacy 55w bulbs
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What about wiring? Do these lamps hook up any differently than regular ones?

Yes, slightly differently. Ordinary sealed beam or H4 high/low beam headlamps have two filaments inside: One for low beam, and one for high beam. There are three electrical terminals on the back of such lamps. One to feed the low filament, one to feed the high filament, and one to ground both filaments. The CSR lamps are single-filament lamps, and so there are two electrical terminals instead of three (one to feed the filament, and one to ground it). Also, the terminals on a sealed beam or H4 lamp are 3/8" (9.5mm) wide, while those on the CSR lamps are standard 1/4" (6.3mm) spade terminals.

The CSR lamps are meant to be hooked up so that the lows remain illuminated whenever the headlamps are switched on, and the high beams are added or subtracted according to the position of the beam selector ("dimmer") switch. In high beam mode, the low beam lamps provide width and fill light, while the high beam lamps provide the distance reach. Keeping the lows on with the highs is accomplished using one of several different methods, depending on the type of vehicle you're working with. See this page for instructions.
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How do the materials and construction of these lamps differ from others?

Conventional H4 and H1 headlamp reflectors are made out of stamped steel. During manufacture, when the stamp is released, the metal springs back and tries to return to its original shape, creating a reflector form not quite what was desired. The resultant inaccuracy must be cleaned up with lens optics, which reduces the efficiency of the lamp. A similar inefficiency exists in sealed beams, which are made out of glass: When the mould stamp is released, the glass tends to stick to it, which distorts the reflector surface and reduces efficiency and focus. The highly precise Cibie CSR reflectors are made of thermally stable compression-moulded glass-filled thermoset phenolic polymer, so no such distortion losses exist.

The Cibie CSR 5.75" lamps have flat-face optic lenses made of optical-grade borosilicate glass. Both low and high beam units take an H1 bulb. The low beam unit incorporates a city light (internal European-style parking lamp) arranged such that no extra clearance notches are needed in the headlamp bucket.
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Do these lamps come in other formats beside 5¾” round?

There are lamps employing similar technology for certain specific vehicle makes and models, but there are no CSR lamps available in other standard round or rectangular formats. If you're working with a vehicle that won't accept 5.75" round lamps, please check with me for options applicable to your system.

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Can the CSR lamps be mounted in standalone housings for use as auxiliary lamps?

Yes! You can use a Grote #64011 (silver painted) or #64021 (chrome) housing to mount a CSR low or high beam unit on or under your vehicle's bumper, atop the roof of your off-road vehicle, etc. The low beam units make excellent auxiliary low beams for vehicles unavoidably equipped with poorly-performing factory headlamps, and the high beam units make high-performance driving lamps. Grote housings are widely available through numerous suppliers of lighting equipment for heavy-duty trucks and buses.
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Can I install HID bulbs in these lamps?

No, you cannot safely, legally, or effectively install HID bulbs in any headlamp originally designed to take halogen bulbs.
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I'm convinced! How do I buy them?

These lamps are $111/ea, high or low beam, including standard 55w H1 bulb. Low beams also include the city light bulb.
To order, please contact me.
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