Looking at new big screen TVs. (55-60in) I see that the rear projection units need bulb replacement every now and then. What is involved in replacing the bulb and which model TVs have a good track record? I see some of the replacement bulbs get costly. Thanks
I'm assuming you're talking about a DLP or an LCOS. If the majority of your local programming is in hi def, then I guess it'd be worth the 250 to 600 dollars a year to keep it going, understanding that the bulbs don't really get 6000 hrs like the kid at Best Buy would have you believe. Around here, the programming is still mostly analog and will be for some time so, I recommend a rear projection CRT tv. They break too but, at least parts don't usually cost as much as the tv and they still look pretty good with analog as well as hi def. With the crap that manufacturers are pulling these days, this is the time that extended warranties are a good investment no matter what you buy. Just make sure the underwriter of the policy is reputable. Best Buy uses NEW which is a very good company to deal with. Circuit City sells their own extended warranty but, is unerwritten by GE, plus they have a '3 strikes' clause. If it fails 3 times under their warranty, they replace it with an equal, or greater value set. And no, I don't work for either place but, I do repair work as needed for each and so far, they've kept their word.
Replacing the bulb is easy, you open a little door in back, remove the old bulb and plug in a new one. It's the high cost that sucks, but they should last several years with normal use.
DanFXR wrote: > Looking at new big screen TVs. (55-60in) I see that the rear projection > units need bulb replacement every now and then. > What is involved in replacing the bulb and which model TVs have a good > track record? > I see some of the replacement bulbs get costly. > Thanks
I wrote this in the HDTV group Aug 26 this year
Leonard is Leonard Caillouet. The Samsung is a 50" unit with a 100 watt bulb. It's likely over 5300 hours by now.
GG
I like the Mitsubishi DLP products. They use the Osram lamps instead of the Philips and seem to be lasting longer in most cases than the rated 4000 hours.
Hard to beat the pix, too.
Leonard
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There are normally two sets of adjustments -- Screen and Drive. Broadly speaking, the Screen control adjust the darkest areas of the picture, the Drive the brightest. (There is usually no red Drive control, because the red phosphors are/were the least-efficient, and were run "at full blast".
Looking at a monochrome image (play "Casablanca"), you need to adjust these controls to get a neutral (colorless) image.
Try Googling "gray-scale tracking" + "crt".
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