Automotive lighting bulbs for projectors are becoming increasingly crucial and an inevitable trend for customers. Nowadays, many people attempt to install LED headlight bulbs in projector housing, the most common and worthy alternative.
As the benefits of LED headlights become more prominent, they have already overtaken halogens and HIDs to become the most popular type of car projector headlight housing. However, some people are still hesitating to replace to LED bulbs because they are not sure if they will work well in projector headlights.
In fact, you have nothing to worry about. In contrast, it is necessary for you to explore why most people prefer using LED bulbs in their projector headlights.
In this blog, let’s dig into the question of why LED headlights bulbs are favorable for projector headlights.
What Are Projector Headlights?
The projector headlight consists of light set inside a metal bowl, mirrored reflectors, a shutter, and a lens. The main difference between projector and reflector headlights is the design of using a lens and a shutter, and reflectors don’t have those.
The shutter is used to cut off haphazard beams so that the light is only direct at the road. While the lens is round so that it can reinforce the beam of light, this focused light helps to further down the road to increase the distance you can see.
That means projector headlights are specialized for focusing light into a tightly controlled beam that provides well-organized light distribution.
Do LED Bulbs Work Well with Projector Headlights?
The answer is always “YES.” Installing LED headlight bulbs in projector housing will provide you with excellent performance for nighttime driving. Why? To sum up, LED bulbs are preferred in projector headlights for the following reasons:
#1. Energy-Efficient and Focused
LED light bulbs are high energy-saving consumption bulbs. They consume less power to produce super bright light. Then with the help of the shutter and lens in the headlight housing, LED bulbs finally deliver a focus and standard cutoff light for better visibility.
#2. Precise Beam Patterns
LED light bulbs are made up of several small LED beads, so that they can be arrayed in any shape. Therefore, the light beam pattern of the LED headlight bulb can be designed perfectly. Although LED headlight bulbs are no match for HID in terms of brightness, they provide a more distinct light rather than diffuse light when installed in the projector housing.
#3. Durable and Cost-Effective
LED bulbs are preferred to be used in projector headlights for their long lifespan. Most LED headlight bulbs are waterproof and are manufactured with high-quality materials like aluminum and high-speed. They are high durability and require few maintenance costs. Fixing LED bulbs in your projector headlights is an advisable way to save your money.
Key Factors To Consider When Choose LED Bulb For Your Projector Headlight
Light-Emitting Space
One of the most important aspects is selecting an LED bulb with a thin light-emitting space. A smaller lighting space closely mimics the lighting filament of halogen and HID bulbs, which is essential for producing a standard light beam pattern similar to your original bulb. This ensures that the LED bulb delivers focused, precise illumination without causing scattered or uneven lighting.
Concentrated Beam Pattern
Another important factor is opting for LED bulbs with a reflective-cup design, such as the NAOEVO GT6 LED headlight. These bulbs excel in delivering a focused and uniform beam pattern, even in the absence of a projector.
Enough Installation Space
Buying LED bulbs for your projector headlights, the space of your headlight housing is a prior consideration. LED bulbs might require broad space under the hood for the air circulation. If your projector housing has a small hole, installing LED bulbs that carry with the driver could be difficult.
Road Legal
While thinking of upgrading LED bulbs into your projector headlight. Due to intense light, the bulbs might blind opposite drivers. It would be better to look for LED bulbs that certificated with DOT approval.
Several Types of Car Headlight Housing
1. Projector-Reflector Integrated headlights
Some vehicles have headlights which are a projector-reflector hybrid. It applies a projector for the low beam, and the reflector is for the high beam; this only comes to vehicles with independent high and low beams. (Single-beam headlight system) For this hybrid headlight assembly, matching LED in your projector headlight is perfectly great and will give you the best overall results compared to halogen for your beams.
Low Beam: Projector
High Beam: Reflector
2. Dual-beam projector headlights
This headlight assembly requires one bulb for both high beam and low beam functions. From the below picture, you can see that there’s only a project lens. It switches high beam between low beam functions by raising and lowering the shutter in the lens. Installing LED headlight bulbs in dual beam projector headlights, will also get a perfect beam pattern without blind other drivers.
Low Beam: Projector
High Beam: Projector
3. Reflector Headlights
For this headlight, the high beam and low beam carry without any projector; This headlight is called a reflector headlight system. Reflector headlights are the most commonly used type of headlight unit for your vehicles. The bowl-like compartment is made of a glass mirror that reflects the light generated onto the road.
However, the low beam and high beam are equipped with different reflector bowls. For the low beam, the reflector bowl is big and round, whereas the reflector of high beam is small and sharp. Different designs of the reflector bowls determined different light beam patterns.
Low Beam: Reflector
High Beam: Reflector
Suggestions for Installing LED in Projector
For Projector-Reflector integrated headlights
If your vehicle’s headlights contain a projector for low beam and a reflector for high beam. It is unnecessary to add a lens to your headlights. Choosing quality LED headlights can produce a perfect light beam pattern through the projector headlight housing. You have better choose LED bulbs with these features:
▪ Thin gap between two light beads
▪ Same lighting position as halogen headlights
▪ Come with a 360 degree adjustable holder
For Dual-beam projector headlights
In this headlight housing, you will see the high beam and low beam share the same projector headlight housing. If your vehicle has a projector headlight, it is highly recommended that you upgrade to LED bulbs, and you also no need to buy an optical lens. But you may ask: Can LED bulbs be entirely installed in projector headlight housing? LED headlight brand like NAOEVO, they design the LED bulbs as compact as halogens, so as to be installed into projector headlight housing easily. Easy installation LED bulbs come with these features:
▪ All-in-one design
▪ Same collar holder as halogen
▪ LED bulbs with reasonable driver size
For Reflector headlights
The above mention headlight systems all obtain a projector housing. However, for this type of headlight unit, neither the high beam nor the low beam has projector lenses, called reflector headlights. If there’s no lens inside the housing, will the light emitted be diffused? You don’t need to worry about this problem.
Some Volkswagen vehicles are manufactured with two reflector bowls for high and low beams. Why the light emitted from the reflector bowl still have a clear cutoff line?
When producing car headlights, designers have made the reflector bowl large and round to achieve a distinct cutoff line through the careful arrangement of the reflector plates.
Even so, LED headlight bulbs vary from halogen lights. You should pay attention to the following considerations when choosing LED bulbs for your projector headlight.
▪ Same lighting position as halogen bulbs
▪ Slim lighting space
▪ With cutoff light for low beam and concentrated light for high beam
What Brightness Is Best For Projector Headlights?
| Halogen | HID | LED | |
| Best Lumens | 1300 | 3000 | 4000-5000 |
| Color temperature | 3200K | 4500K | 6000-6500K |
What Color Temperature Is Best For Projector?
The best color temperature for an LED headlight bulb in a projector headlight can vary depending on personal preference and driving conditions. However, in general, a color temperature of around 5000K to 6500K is recommended for projector headlights.
At this color temperature range, the light output appears to be bright and white, without being too blue or too yellow. It also provides good visibility, color rendering, and contrast, which can improve your ability to see the road ahead and any obstacles.
Install LED In Projector: Why Dark Spots Appear?
Dark spots often occur when the LED headlight bulb you install doesn’t match your original bulb’s specifications. Many LED bulbs have a thick light-emitting space or are too long or large, which disrupts the precise beam pattern required by the projector. This mismatch causes diffused or uneven lighting, resulting in dark spots.
Another common cause is improper installation. Misalignment or incorrect positioning of the LED bulb within the projector can distort the beam pattern, leading to poor light output and visible dark areas.
You can click here to learn more our previous explaination about why installing LED in projector cause dark spots.
Best LED bulb for projector headlights In 2025
NAOEVO Max3 LED bulb 13,000 LM
Do you want to install LED bulbs in your projector headlights with the highest lighting performance? We highly recommend NAOEVO Max3 LED headlight bulbs for your projector headlight housing. To get the best bulb, let’s see the outstanding features of Max3 LED bulbs on brightness, longevity, and installation.
Whether you want to use the bulb in projector or reflector headlight setting, it will also offer a breathtaking lighting performance with a mammoth power of 6500LM for a bright and clear vision in almost any light condition. Despite producing high lumen output, it only consumes 60-watt, which is a high energy-efficiency LED bulb.
Outstanding Features：
◾Perfect light beam pattern (distinct cutoff light and centralized light)
◾Extraordinarily bright and white light
◾Easy installation
◾Excellent heat dissipation
◾2-year warranty
Max3 LED Headlight Bulb Testing
Beam Pattern Tested in Projector
The array of Max3 LED chips contributes to produce a broader and even brightness. For the low beam, you can see there’s a sharp and clear cutoff line without any glare on the wall. Putting Max3 in projector headlight will deliver excellent brightness down towards the road, which won’t blind oncoming drivers. Setup Max3 LED bulbs in your projector headlight will have a better result than HID and halogen.
For the high beam, the Max3 LED bulb delivers super concentrated light through the reflector headlight bowl to see further distance.
Light Effect Tested In Projector
Another splendid feature of Max3 LED bulb is the stable power operation. Some LED bulbs from other manufactures are likely to come with a striking lumens rating at 10,000 t0 20,000. However, as temperature goes up, the lumen output of LED will decrease. A LED headlight claimed 60 wattage could be had 50 wattage.
NAOEVO have made the power of Max3 as stable as possible. Here is the lighting effect of Max3 LED headlight bulbs, after being used for a long time, these bulbs still remain 85% increased brightness. Installing these Max3 LED bulb in projector, you will enjoy a wide and focus light beam pattern without glaring others.
NAOEVO GT6 LED Headlight Bulb
The NAOEVO GT6 LED headlight bulbs are designed to deliver unmatched performance when installed in your projector headlights. Their innovative chip arrangement—featuring 4 beads in the center and 2 on the top and bottom—ensures concentrated brightness with a wide, uniform beam pattern. Whether you have a reflector or projector headlight, the GT6 guarantees a sharp cutoff line with no glare, providing safe and precise illumination for your journey.
Powered by six high-intensity 55mil flip chips, each GT6 bulb delivers a powerful 55W and 6600 lumens. This exceptional brightness penetrates through your projector, allowing you to see farther and react faster on the road. With the NAOEVO GT6, you get brilliant performance and safety in one sleek package.
Beam Pattern Tested in Projector
FAQ
#1. What kind of headlamp provides the most effective brightness for the headlight projector?
LED bulbs will be the most suitable choice for projector headlights to provide the best brightness for nighttime driving. Unlike halogen and HID bulbs, LED headlights do not require complicated collection light. The main purpose of LED is only to shine brighter and wider. Thus, it is worth upgrading your conventional headlight bulbs to high illumination LED bulbs.
#2. Are LED bulbs bright enough to be used in projector headlights?
LED headlight bulbs consume less energy to produce maximum power. They are more energy-efficiency than HID and halogen headlights. LED headlights are up to 300% brighter than halogen headlights and around the same level as HID bulb. Therefore, the LED headlight bulb is absolutely bright enough to be seen on the headlights of the projector.
#3. How does the projector headlight work?
Projector headlights are designed to enhance valuable brightness rather than consuming excessive power. Unlike reflector headlights, projector headlights are equipped with round lenses that can magnify the intensity of the light beam. Moreover, projector headlights are also coming with a cut-off shield; this allows the light beam to be directed down towards the road. The shield is responsible for the sharper cutoff light.
Good day, I have retrofitted projectors and noticed the opening at the back to accommodate bulbs are smaller than those of stock projectors, are there any LED bulbs made specifically for those retrofitted projectors with the small opening? I’ve been searching quite sometime now and can’t seem to come across any, are there any suggestions?
Hi Martin,
Yes, we have tiny size led bulbs. What’s the bulb size of your car? We will help to check. You can mail us at support@naoevo.com with more details.
Thank you,
NAOEVO Team