Automotive lighting is at its most transformational stage since the U.S. government deregulated rectangular and round sealed-beam units in the mid-?80s. By 2019, two major safety-testing agencies (NHTSA and IIHS) will factor headlamp performance into their overall ratings of new cars, and award honors to the most effective. What now is a smattering of signature jewelry and elaborate reflectors is likely to get brighter, smarter, and cheaper, and we visited Osram Sylvania, a Tier 2 supplier and the only automotive lighting manufacturer left in the U.S., at its New Hampshire plant to find out what?s on the horizon.

Halogen

High-intensity-discharge (HID) headlights, in which xenon gas is used to create a precisely focused, bluish-white arc of light at a fraction of the wattage required by incandescent bulbs, are pricey enough that they remain optional even in the premium segment. It?s been more than 20 years since BMW fitted the first HID headlights to the E32 7-series and the 1996 Lincoln Mark VIII became the first American car with HIDs, yet halogen bulbs are so inexpensive and effective that mainstream automakers can?t fully abandon them. About 80 percent of the market relies on these little pressurized tungsten-filament bulbs. Their unit cost is roughly $5 compared to $30 to $40 for LEDs (HID runs somewhere in between), but they?re not all that inferior, says Osram Sylvania. Today?s halogen bulbs are manufactured under extremely tight tolerances. Cameras at each sta...