Photos are taken by a camera and no camera can represent what the human eye sees accurately. However if go to MTBR for 2012 and look at all the pictures taken, again it's a camera but the camera is set at the same light level, same aperture, and same speed so that all the lights would be represented equally. As you look at those pictures it becomes very obvious that the shaped beam optics, which the Philips at the time is the only one with that feature, is far brighter on the grass (or road if you were travelling on one) then all but the most powerful/expensive lights. See: 2012 Bike Lights Shootout ? Backyard Beam Pattern Photos - Mtbr.com I can tell that in person the Philips looks different then the picture looks, mine looks more pear shape with a very wide beam close to me and then slowly tapering to a dull (dull like in a dull point, not dim) point, maybe if the fence wasn't there that could have been noticed. Anyway the point is that shaped optics is slowly becoming more common because they can offer a much greater level of brightness where you need it...on the road, and because this can be done with less power the battery will last longer, which is why most dynamo lights, like the ones you have, can emit a very intense beam onto the road yet do so without the very dim lights of the old round beam which wasted a lot of light energy that a dynamo system could not afford to lose, but up until shaped optics they had no choice which is why dynamo systems didn't sell very well.