Projector Lamp Life (1 Viewer)

[EdR]

I recently entered the world of HDTV by getting an NEC LT260 projector. I'm curious about ways to maximize lamp life. Here's a situation where my question comes from:

A few times, I've been using the projector, and the time comes to have dinner...which might take 30 minutes to finish. Is it better for the projector to leave it on during a time-span like that, or is it better to turn it off when it's not going to be used for 30 minutes or so, and then fire it back up?

My temptation is to turn it off, but I know that the lamp runs hot and turning it off probably stresses the bulb as it cools back down, so why not leave it on so that it only goes through a heating-cooling cycle once, instead of twice.

Or does this reasoning underestimate the ability of the bulb to withstand heat-cool cycles...will the bulb simply last a fixed number of hours (depending on whether it's in Eco or Normal mode) regardless of how many heat-cool cycles it goes through?

Any thoughts?

EDIT: Aye...I posted this in the wrong topic! Can a Mod please move it to "Display Devices"

 

[Doug_B]

I don't know if different projector bulbs act differently, but I've read on the AVS forum for at least 1 bulb type that each firing up of the bulb reduces life expectancy. Also, for at least one projector's bulb, an engineer of the company stated that it is better to fire up the bulb after a cool-down period. This last comment was in response to a query concerning what to do after a power outage.

Doug

 

[Neil Joseph]

You can increase bulb usage by reducing the light output of the projector. Some projectors may have a "cinema mode" that slightly reduces the brightness and can actually double the lifespan of the bulb.

Like any bulb, turning on and places stress on it and reduces the lifespan. A hard power off is the absolute worst thing for a bulb and can lead to a bulb exploding and causing other damage.

BTW, I am moving this to Displays/TV's/Projectors.

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

You are correct, with something like a 30 minute break, you might as well leave it on for longer bulb life.