Clear glass headlights
As Headlights refers vehicle headlamp in which not the glass of the headlight cover as a diffuser acts. Such headlights were made possible by the use of so-called free - form reflectors , in which the reflector does not have a regular ( parabolic ) shape and takes on the function of the diffuser.
The main advantage of the clear glass headlight is that the losses caused by the lens are eliminated. The light cone, which should be asymmetrically and sharply delimited , especially with dipped headlights , is determined by the corresponding shape of the reflector in clear-glass headlights.
The problem with some clear glass headlights is when they have to be switched from right -hand to left-hand traffic for the duration of a stay abroad , as there are no orientation points for the areas to be masked on the headlight glass. In the simplest case, the headlight can be switched by turning a lever, in the most complex case the headlights have to be replaced.
The Lada Niva is one of the few vehicles that are still new to buy in 2016 without clear-glass headlights .
Clear glass means a transparent material, flat or curved, in any case with an approximately constant thickness, therefore without lens effect and which can be made of mineral glass or plastic. Today, the large-area element is made of plastic, which typically has half the density of mineral glass, which saves weight. Clear glass allows the headlights to be externally redesigned in the course of a model change without the optical properties of the overall luminaire significantly changing. Plastic is sometimes more impact-resistant than glass, but it is prone to becoming cloudy due to aging, cleaning agents or abrasion. Some plastics also tend to crack.