I've had a Mits 73" for four years now, the 1st bulb that went out seemed to produce a "gassy" picture for about a day and half before failing completely. The brightness was reduced (although not much) but there was sort of a fog on bright colored objects.
The second bulb didn't do that but there was a hint something was going wrong for a couple weeks, it tended to have a light strobe effect in the background, very noticable when the set was first turned on.
The 3rd bulb didn't show any symptoms, just didn't work anymore.
If you have a Mits and are getting that halo effect (sort a ring around bright colored object) it's probably the light engine. I've had that replaced also.
Hasn't been the most reliable set by a long shot. Next failure besides the lamp it's getting shit canned.
Interesting. Mine is a Sagem 45" rear projector, and the symptoms are ghosting on movement and a weird lack of detail especially on black and white films. Faces especially. It's most noticeable on terrestrial digital. HD from satellite seems much better. Trying the same STB into an LCD set doesn't show these artifacts. The actual lamp is over 5 years old - so doesn't owe me anything. But being quite expensive don't want to change it if it's something else.
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*See no evil, Hear no evil, Date no evil.
Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
The 'halo effect' cause and cure has been well documented (including pictures) on AVSforum.com. Curing it is not for the inept, but anyone with basic mechanical skills, some alcohol, and q-tips can fix it.
The place we bought it from (abt electronics) had a deal with the extended warranty I couldn't pass up, and I'm one to normally poo-poo those things.
For $199 we got a 4 year, parts/labor with one free lamp replacement. No long waits with the service calls either, usually within 2-3 days.
No joke, except for the cabinet and hard drive (it has a built in DVR), everything else has been replaced. Main chassis, light engine, some other optical assembly. All no charge and no problems.
That ABT is great, Mits not so much, last tv I'd buy with their name on it.
One comment about this repair, if this is the one...
I'm finding it hard to believe it's a catch-all solution for that halo problem.
The reason I say that is, the halo problem I had just wasn't there all the time. Never within the first hour or so of use and some nights it didn't seem to be present at all, like it just went away. Even the wife remarked maybe the set fixed itself.
It's just that although I can see some kind of film forming on the lens (for whatever reason it forms) that can cause the problem, seems like it would always be there, maybe to different degrees depending on the iris action, but still be there.
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