Bulb Life in DLP (1 Viewer)

[Bonnie R]

Hello;
Just a quick question.I was told by the a local salesman at an electronics store that the average life of the bulb used in the Samsung DLP is 50,000 hours.Is their any truth in that? I was of the understanding that they generally last 3-5000 hrs at an average of 8hrs a day tv viewing.

 

[RAF]

My DLP projector has a rated life of 2,000 hours. Unless there has been a hardware breakthrough the 50,000 hour figure seems way over the top by a factor of 10 or even more. But some salespersons have been known to exagerrate to get a sale.


Incidentally, since this is really a HARDWARE Question I'm moving this thread to that area.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

The bulb rating floating around for RPTV digital displays ... like LCD / DLP / LCOS is up to 8000 hours or so.

You likely have to treat it a certain way to achieve this top end.

Reduce the on/off cycles ... leave the unit on for many more hours ... improve ventilation ...

Regards

 

[Kenneth Harden]

8,000?

I have heard 3,000 on the low end, and 4,000 max.

If it is really 8,000 hours, thats awesome! Our news Mits has all the air it needs and we usually turn it on and off no more than 1-2 times a day (albeit 7 days a week)

 

[Leo Kerr]

We have some Clarity WildCat video-wall cubes that claim 8000 hour lamp-life. Running 'em 8 hours/day, we're typically getting about 5000hours life.

Which reminds me - the filters need to be cleaned again.

Anyway, no, 50,000 hours isn't happening.

Now, for direct-view LCD, yes, you might be able to get 50,000 hour lamps.

Leo

 

[James Phung]

You never really know what you will get with a bulb. One user in another forum posted his X1 DLP projector bulb finally died after 7500 hours which really is unheard of. He ran it 18hrs a day.

 

[Ted Lee]

are we talking bulbs in a dlp tv or bulbs in a overhead projector?

i've been telling my customers around 40k for the tv bulbs. afaik, that's correct?

 

[Kenneth Harden]

Ted, I have heard 3,000 hours minimum, and maybe 6,000 hours if you are lucky.

I seriously doubt it is 40,000 hours.

I blame manufacturers for not talking about this.

 

[Ted Lee]

from plasmatvbuyingguide.com http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/dlpvsplasmatv.html

i dunno how accurate they are, but that really falls more in line with what i've heard. again, i'm talking specifically about rptv's ... not projectors. hell, i just want to make sure i'm telling my customers the right thing ... which i think i am. :b

 

[Leo Kerr]

an RPTV using three CRTs can run for seemingly forever - if it isn't abused.

A DLP, LCOS, or LCD RPTV is a completely different animal.

As is a direct-view LCD screen.

Without abuse, a CRT based RPTV (big box) should last as long as a conventional direct-view CRT - years and years and years of constant use. (We've got three with ~35,000 hours on 'em, each.)

But once you start talking about the UHP projection lamps, you're fantastically lucky if you can get one to run for 8,000 hours.

Looking over the life-span section of the above mentioned plasma buyer's guide, there are a couple of questionable bits. One is, maybe he misheard numbers, and the DLP panel itself is good for 80,000 hours. The other is the 60,000 hour 'life' and the 30,000 hour 'half-life' of the plasma panels. Generally, the quoted number is the half-life. Thus, I'd treat with caution that web-site. Maybe it's mostly accurate (haven't checked,) but two interesting 'interpretations' in one section makes me suspicious.

Leo

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I started a thread this past Saturday telling the terrible story of how the bulb in my X-1 exploded that same night. :frowning: It was rated for 4,000 hrs, but went bye bye just as I past the 3,000 mark.

I just ordered a new bulb today, I still find it hard to actually say the word's...I spent $300.00 on a light bulb LOL.

The guy at my local Theater Extreme store also told me a frightening tale of a guy who's bulb blew in his 4805 and his color wheel was blown clean in two!

I knew that did not occur with me because I had removed the bulb right after the explosion and my color wheel is A-Okay. In order for that sort of damage to happen, the debri from the bulb would have had to have been blasted through the small window on the bulb housing and into my color wheel, which didn't happen, the small window on the old bulb housing is 100% intact, nothing got out of the housing thank goodness.

From looking at the old housing, the bulb appears to have blown off the reflector at it's base, the tip was intact and the bulb now hangs by one of the thin wire connectors. I'm keeping it because it's a reminder...be prepared, and keep a bulb fund ready to go in my bank account at a moments notice.

Sorry for the semi-long post, just a little 'Anatomy of a blown projector bulb' story.

 

[BrianShort]

Can these bulbs be easily replaced? I'm thinking about getting a RPTV soon (after having considered projectors and plasma awhile back), and didn't realize the life on the bulbs was so low.

 

[Leo Kerr]

There is no physical reason why the bulb should be difficult to change.

In most FPs, it's generally 3-5 screws and pull the lamp cartridge out.

That, however, does not mean that the manufacturer won't design it in such a fashion that requires the special anti-Torx-security bit, size 1.185 with a fribulating gonkulator to remove the screws, just to add a $75 service call.

Check with specific models before you buy. Annoy the sales-people and make them show you how to remove the lamp as a condition of purchase. Annoy them even more; if they say it's so easy, get them to let you remove it in the store.

Leo Kerr

 

[Barry_B_B]

Leo, just curious; which brand did you go with and from where? I'm looking to buy CRT RPTV very soon (48-52"). As a big horror and Sci-Fi movie fan want the blackest of blacks possible with no "distractions". Leaning towards Mitsubishi.

 

[Leo Kerr]

The CRTs we've been burning for years now are antique Sony RPTVs. I don't have the model number handy right now, but they're about 48" 4:3s. They aren't great, but they're... robust. Off-angle isn't too good, but when you consider that we're running them ~9hrs/day every day of the year, well.. we do end up making some compromises.

Plus, when they were new, there wasn't a whole lot of competition...

Leo

 

[Barry_B_B]

Thanks Leo; my theater room is narrow and long (12'x23'with no side seating) so the viewing angle won't be much of a problem for me.

 

[Leo Kerr]

Do be aware; there's very likely a hardware generation issue; it will probably be somewhat for the better, and somewhat for the worse.

Our antique Sonys were purchased in, I believe, 1988 or there-abouts. I would hope that the internals of a set purchased this year would be... different than one 17 years later...

Leo

 

[Barry_B_B]

Noted. Will also be checking into DLP, I've been reading good things about the Mits lineup. Any recommendations for local stores? Noticed we're in the same area.

 

[Leo Kerr]

We are pretty close, yes... (Actually, I'm curious: where do yuo consider Hanover? Of course, I was initially mis-reading it as Harmons.)

Locally, I visit 'boring' places. Best Buy is usually entertaining for the wrong reasons. Tweeter usually has more 'adventerous' stuff than does BB.

Professionally, I go to the local semi-trade show at Professional Products (mid October, held at the Martin's Crosswinds in Greenbelt,) and to the NAB show in Vegas (toy city!)

I've got a seriously mixed opinion of Gramaphone out in Columbia - some of the people there are much more interested in selling a name than anything else; others seem human.

Based off of recommendations here, I got a Panasonic PT-LC75 LCD front projector. I did see one 'in the flesh' at Ritz AV down in Beltsville.

If you've got a tiny fortune, the Christie DS+25 is a fantastic little single-chip DLP FP unit - infinitely superior to the DS-30 - with excellent blacks. We've got one projecting onto a ~15' diagonal screen, and as long as you don't look at the crap source material, it's georgeous.

Leo

(PS: okay, you're really close. I take the train from Dorsey station most mornings (Rt 100 & US 1))

 

[Barry_B_B]

I drive past the station most mornings unless I take Rt 1 to DC (left REALLY early for work). Got a Hanover zipcode (Hanover Rd. and Old Washington) but seems to be right on the other side of Elkridge.

Sight unseen, I've narrowed my search to the Mits WS48515 or WD52525; with an open mind this could change. I was concerned with seating distance on a 52" display (8'- 9') but with better image this shouldn't be a big problem. Tweeter is the name that keeps popping up and the store I will check this weekend; may see if Best Buy will beat their price but not a major requirement. Not even a tiny fortune here but will travel over to Ritz and also see what they have available. Guess I should start looking for a progressive scan DVD player as well.