Brightness From Projectors - Page 2 - Blu-ray Forum

jomari · 03-14-2008, 03:27 AM

these depend on the model, and how old they are. there are quite a few out there, with proper maintenance and care, would last even more than 4 years without a significant amount of bulb degredation.

i own the hd70, and kept in mind to buy a replacement bulb by the next month. always keep one in hand, just in case. i love it. and continue watching movies mostly, and of course the occasional games on there, from time to time...

owning a pj does have its perks, and of coures a few 'challenges'.
1. bulb replacement
2. once noticing brightness loss due to the lamps age, you have to calibrate it once again.
3. screen material, light control et al.

but the benifits?

lets just say a 120inch screen will always outweight a 42inch plasma/lcd with the awe factor.

but then again, thats MY opinion.

syncguy · 03-14-2008, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jomari

these depend on the model, and how old they are. there are quite a few out there, with proper maintenance and care, would last even more than 4 years without a significant amount of bulb degredation.

i own the hd70, and kept in mind to buy a replacement bulb by the next month. always keep one in hand, just in case. i love it. and continue watching movies mostly, and of course the occasional games on there, from time to time...

owning a pj does have its perks, and of coures a few 'challenges'.
1. bulb replacement
2. once noticing brightness loss due to the lamps age, you have to calibrate it once again.
3. screen material, light control et al.

but the benifits?

lets just say a 120inch screen will always outweight a 42inch plasma/lcd with the awe factor.

but then again, thats MY opinion.

Yes. Fully agree.

The question in my mind is whether there is significant value in the lamp replacement aspect of service plans. It is a good to have thing in case of bulb failure, however, there is a good chance that you may want a new bulb before it fails or the message appears in the projector to replace.

jomari · 03-14-2008, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syncguy

Yes. Fully agree.

The question in my mind is whether there is significant value in the lamp replacement aspect of service plans. It is a good to have thing in case of bulb failure, however, there is a good chance that you may want a new bulb before it fails or the message appears in the projector to replace.

thats why i bought one the same day i purchased my projector.

syncguy · 03-15-2008, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jomari

thats why i bought one the same day i purchased my projector.

good on ya.

Brain Sturgeon · 03-15-2008, 05:34 AM

To the OP:

A couple of easy formulas to help with the brightness issue.

Take the projector's lumen rating (although this is almost always inflated by the manufacturer) and divide it by your screen area in square footage. This will give you the illuminance of your setup. Then multiply this value by your screen gain. This will give you the luminance value of your setup in foot-Lamberts. This value is an estimate, as there are a number of other variables (throw length: the shorter the throw length, the brighter the picture, but at the expense of contrast; lamp age: the lamp dims with age; lamp and iris settings; etc...); but this puts you in the ballpark.

Most people watch movies on an FP setup in a dark room comfortably in the 14-17 fL range, although some people prefer it brighter (20 fL or so) and some, darker. In the CRT FP age, luminance less than 10 was not unheard of, yet some people still swear by their tube units (mainly for better blacks). Getting to the 25 to 30 fL range-- I think most people would find uncomfortably bright in the dark room; however, this bright a screen can be helpful if you have a lot of ambient light during viewing.

Hope this helps...

AlaskaDon · 03-15-2008, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syncguy

Yes. Fully agree.

The question in my mind is whether there is significant value in the lamp replacement aspect of service plans. It is a good to have thing in case of bulb failure, however, there is a good chance that you may want a new bulb before it fails or the message appears in the projector to replace.

I guess this would depend on how the service plan defines a lamp "failure". I know that with mine, all you have to do is say that you can percieve the difference and they will replace it. Being that the extended warranty ddn't cost much more than a single bulb replacement, I know that I will be "perceiving" a difference before my warranty period is up

I still think that the way to go with these is to buy a spare lamp at some point before you actually need the first replacement. Then you can exchange thru the serviice plan as you need to and always have a brand new spare around thru the life of the service plan without any downtime waiting for a replacement.

syncguy · 03-15-2008, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlaskaDon

I guess this would depend on how the service plan defines a lamp "failure". I know that with mine, all you have to do is say that you can percieve the difference and they will replace it. Being that the extended warranty ddn't cost much more than a single bulb replacement, I know that I will be "perceiving" a difference before my warranty period is up

This seems to be a real winner. Very good. What is this plan. Thanks.

syncguy · 03-15-2008, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brain Sturgeon

To the OP:

Most people watch movies on an FP setup in a dark room comfortably in the 14-17 fL range, although some people prefer it brighter (20 fL or so) and some, darker. In the CRT FP age, luminance less than 10 was not unheard of, yet some people still swear by their tube units (mainly for better blacks). Getting to the 25 to 30 fL range-- I think most people would find uncomfortably bright in the dark room; however, this bright a screen can be helpful if you have a lot of ambient light during viewing.

Hope this helps...

I have heard that commercial theaters are about 15 fL. Also, I have seen discussions that some people prefer about 12 fL in totally light controlled rooms. It is likely that most people would prefer 14-17 fL range (and this might allow some ambient light).

I have a totally light controlled room and I am happy with about 10 fL for movies. This seems to be personal to some extent.

Brain Sturgeon · 03-15-2008, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syncguy

This seems to be a real winner. Very good. What is this plan. Thanks.

I presume a Mack projector warranty, no?

gvortex7 · 03-15-2008, 06:04 PM

I've had my Mitsubishi HC3000 for almost 2 years now, and its projected image is as bright today as the day I got the unit. And in case the lamp does fail (it is inevitable) in the future, then the extended warranty will take care of its replacement.

P.S: I use it a lot.

syncguy · 03-15-2008, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gvortex7

I've had my Mitsubishi HC3000 for almost 2 years now, and its projected image is as bright today as the day I got the unit. And in case the lamp does fail (it is inevitable) in the future, then the extended warranty will take care of its replacement.

P.S: I use it a lot.

Okay. This is good news. Normally, lamp's brightness reduces with usage. When brightness is reduced to about less than half (perhaps one third) of the original brightness people used to replace as they feel the reduction.

AlaskaDon · 03-15-2008, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brain Sturgeon

I presume a Mack projector warranty, no?

No, actually this is good ole Best Buy if you can believe that

The problem is that if you buy your PJ from Best Buy, you've almost certainly paid more for it than you would have if you ordered from Projector People or other online retailers. I tend to go with Best Buy because of were I live. It can create real problems trying to ship anything that is the least bit delicate up to Alaska. Amazon for example won't even sell me a TV or projector.

Nothing wrong with the service plan at Best Buy though, and it does include lamp replacement. Someone else here thought it didn't so I actually went back and verified it. All they require is that you turn in the old lamp. They don't have replacement lamps in the stores so it takes up to a couple of weeks to get it back to you, therefore you need to keep a spare lamp around if you can't live with 2 weeks of downtime.

yellowblanket · 03-20-2008, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluhorizon

Yes, the VPL-VW100 is a 3-chipper. Even at $300-$400 a bulb, this is equivalent to a new PS3 for you guys every year!

My HD70 plan is only $110 and it's up to 3 years with 2 extra bulbs.
prolly the best investment i've made in a while.

syncguy · 03-24-2008, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellowblanket

My HD70 plan is only $110 and it's up to 3 years with 2 extra bulbs.
prolly the best investment i've made in a while.

This is good. What is this plan. Is it an international warranty?

Thanks.

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03-14-2008, 03:27 AM	#21
jomari Moderator Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Home Theater Gallery:18 Blu-ray reviews: 2 Trading Score:2	these depend on the model, and how old they are. there are quite a few out there, with proper maintenance and care, would last even more than 4 years without a significant amount of bulb degredation. i own the hd70, and kept in mind to buy a replacement bulb by the next month. always keep one in hand, just in case. i love it. and continue watching movies mostly, and of course the occasional games on there, from time to time... owning a pj does have its perks, and of coures a few 'challenges'. 1. bulb replacement 2. once noticing brightness loss due to the lamps age, you have to calibrate it once again. 3. screen material, light control et al. but the benifits? lets just say a 120inch screen will always outweight a 42inch plasma/lcd with the awe factor. but then again, thats MY opinion.

03-15-2008, 05:34 AM	#25
Brain Sturgeon Expert Member Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Sep 2007 Home Theater Gallery:39	To the OP: A couple of easy formulas to help with the brightness issue. Take the projector's lumen rating (although this is almost always inflated by the manufacturer) and divide it by your screen area in square footage. This will give you the illuminance of your setup. Then multiply this value by your screen gain. This will give you the luminance value of your setup in foot-Lamberts. This value is an estimate, as there are a number of other variables (throw length: the shorter the throw length, the brighter the picture, but at the expense of contrast; lamp age: the lamp dims with age; lamp and iris settings; etc...); but this puts you in the ballpark. Most people watch movies on an FP setup in a dark room comfortably in the 14-17 fL range, although some people prefer it brighter (20 fL or so) and some, darker. In the CRT FP age, luminance less than 10 was not unheard of, yet some people still swear by their tube units (mainly for better blacks). Getting to the 25 to 30 fL range-- I think most people would find uncomfortably bright in the dark room; however, this bright a screen can be helpful if you have a lot of ambient light during viewing. Hope this helps...

03-15-2008, 06:04 PM	#30
gvortex7 Blu-ray Champion Member since:Jan 2007 Location:Fort Lauderdale, FL Blu-ray reviews: 18 Trading Score:105	I've had my Mitsubishi HC3000 for almost 2 years now, and its projected image is as bright today as the day I got the unit. And in case the lamp does fail (it is inevitable) in the future, then the extended warranty will take care of its replacement. P.S: I use it a lot.

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