A headlamp is a lamp attached to the entrance of a car to illuminate the highway ahead. Headlamps are also often referred to as headlights, EcoLight solutions however in probably the most precise utilization, headlamp is the time period for the machine itself and headlight is the time period for the beam of gentle produced and distributed by the system. Headlamp performance has steadily improved all through the car age, spurred by the good disparity between daytime and nighttime site visitors fatalities: EcoLight smart bulbs the US Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration states that almost half of all traffic-related fatalities happen in the dead of night, despite solely 25% of traffic travelling during darkness. Other automobiles, corresponding to trains and aircraft, are required to have headlamps. Bicycle headlamps are sometimes used on bicycles, and are required in some jurisdictions. They are often powered by a battery or a small generator like a bottle or hub dynamo. The first horseless carriages used carriage lamps, which proved unsuitable for travel at velocity.

The earliest lights used candles as the commonest type of gasoline. The earliest headlamps, EcoLight lighting fuelled by combustible fuel such as acetylene gasoline or oil, operated from the late 1880s. Acetylene gasoline lamps were in style in 1900s because the flame is resistant to wind and rain. Thick concave mirrors mixed with magnifying lenses projected the acetylene flame gentle. A lot of automobile manufacturers offered Prest-O-Lite calcium carbide acetylene gasoline generator cylinder with gas feed pipes for lights as standard equipment for 1904 automobiles. The primary electric headlamps were introduced in 1898 on the Columbia Electric Car from the Electric Vehicle Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and had been optional. Two components restricted the widespread use of electric headlamps: the short life of filaments in the harsh automotive environment, and the issue of producing dynamos small enough, EcoLight outdoor yet highly effective enough to supply ample present. Peerless made electric headlamps standard in 1908. A Birmingham, England firm known as Pockley Vehicle Electric Lighting Syndicate marketed the world's first electric car-lights as a whole set in 1908, which consisted of headlamps, sidelamps, and EcoLight tail lights that were powered by an eight-volt battery.

In 1912 Cadillac built-in their automobile's Delco electrical ignition and lighting system, forming the fashionable automobile electrical system. The Guide Lamp Company introduced "dipping" (low-beam) headlamps in 1915, EcoLight however the 1917 Cadillac system allowed the sunshine to be dipped using a lever contained in the automobile slightly than requiring the driver to cease and get out. The 1924 Bilux bulb was the primary modern unit, having the light for each low (dipped) and excessive (foremost) beams of a headlamp emitting from a single bulb. An identical design was launched in 1925 by Guide Lamp known as the "Duplo". In 1927 the foot-operated dimmer change or dip swap was introduced and grew to become customary for a lot of the century. 1933-1934 Packards featured tri-beam headlamps, EcoLight the bulbs having three filaments. From highest to lowest, EcoLight the beams have been referred to as "country passing", "nation driving" and "city driving". The 1934 Nash also used a 3-beam system, although in this case with bulbs of the conventional two-filament type, EcoLight and the intermediate beam combined low beam on the driver's side with excessive beam on the passenger's facet, in order to maximise the view of the roadside whereas minimizing glare towards oncoming traffic.

1952 "Autronic Eye" system automated the number of excessive and low beams. Directional lighting, using a switch and electromagnetically shifted reflector to illuminate the curbside solely, was launched within the rare, one-yr-only 1935 Tatra. Steering-linked lighting was featured on the 1947 Tucker Torpedo's middle-mounted headlight and was later popularized by the Citroën DS. This made it possible to turn the sunshine in the direction of journey when the steering wheel turned. The standardized 7-inch (178 mm) spherical sealed-beam headlamp, EcoLight one per aspect, was required for all automobiles bought within the United States from 1940, virtually freezing usable lighting know-how in place till the 1970s for Americans. In 1957 the regulation modified to allow smaller 5.75-inch (146 mm) spherical sealed beams, two per facet of the vehicle, and in 1974 rectangular sealed beams had been permitted as well. Britain, Australia, and some other Commonwealth nations, EcoLight solar bulbs as well as Japan and Sweden, also made in depth use of 7-inch sealed beams, although they weren't mandated as they were within the United States.