Halogen/HID FACTS!!

[Rhino]

I'd love to do the comparison. Easy enough to find an abandoned road and swap out bulbs. Then just use a camera on a tripod. Comparing photos is best. The breadth of this issue is astounding. Your experience fits squarely into the gray area. To me, there's just no reason to go there again since halogen lights work so well. I just prefer to keep halogen bulbs in halogen lamps.

Unfortunately I have no pics to show, although I did do this exact same comparison (e-code vs DOT lenses) when I did a halogen swap into my Wrangler. I compared both road illumination and projection onto an unlit wall. The e-codes have a much more dramatic cut off on the wall, and project most of their light toward the road.
When using the same headlight aiming the lights are much less distracting when viewed from 100 yards out. This makes a huge difference in a lifted vehicle. I have not tried this with a car yet.



The reason for this difference in lens design is most European signs are self lit. Here in the US we rely mostly upon headlight illumination and light reflection for overhead signs.
From my research so far, E-code and DOT approved lenses are mutually exclusive.