Projection lamps, replacements for projection lamps

Life span of projection lamps

Projection lamps have a life span between 1000-8000 hours. After that, the lamps will get cloudy and the picture become yellowish and darker. High rate of switch on/switch off frequence, not proper working fans or an installation which does not guarantees enough air flow could influence the life span. Not taking care of these factors could reduce it by more than 50%. As a selfcontrole, most of the LCD- and DLP-projectors have an electronical clock which counts the running hours of the projector lamp.

Cost of projector lamps

Most of the projectors require a specific type of lamp. Depending on the lamp type, the cost for replacement varies between 250 to 1200 Euro. Halogen lamps are less expensive and cost between 10 to 70 Euro.

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LED-projection bulbs

Now it is for the first time possible to build mini projectors based on LED lamp. They require less ventilation and the lamp runs for over 30.000 hours.
Lamina Ceramics presented an LED source of light with 28.000 lumens, which by their size and power absorption are probably not used by 1.400 Watts for projectors. As an example the LED Lamina Light Engines are the brightest LED arrays and have the smallest footprints available onthe market. This industry-leading performance is achieved by combining high brightness LEDs with Lamina's proprietary packaging technology. Long life, reliability and performance are enhanced by optimal thermal management.

Halogen bulbs

In old projectors (i.e. dia-projectors, Super-8 projectors) normally halogen bulbs are used. Theses modells have a reduced brigthness and the illumination is rather low.

Metal-vapor bulbs

The metal-vapor lamp hat nicht wie jede normale Lampe einen Wendel aus Widerstandsdraht, sonder zwei angespitzte Wolframelektroden die sich in einer Atmosphäre aus Edelgas befinden. Dieses Gas wird durch ein Zündgerät per Endladung in gang gesetzt. Erst wenn die extra Zutaten verdampft sind kommt die Lampe zum Leuchten. Erst nach ein bis zwei Minuten hat die Metalldampflampe die volle Helligkeit erreicht. Sehr oft bei älteren Projektoren zu finden.

Xenon high-pressure bulbs

Are only used with high-professional projectors such as D-ILA or in cinemas. Xenon-high-pressure lamps have the big advantage of a realistic and constant color reproduction. The lamp span is around 1000 hours.

UHP, UHE, P-VIP, SHP-bulbs

UHP (Ultra High Performance) is a technology developped by Philips. The UHE (Ultra High Energy) has been developed by Panasonic. P-VIP lamps come from Osram. All of them require only 50% less energy. The life span of UHP- and UHE-projection lamps are as high as 8000 hours.

High End professional bulbs

There is a limitation with UHP, UHE, VIP and NSH lamps. In order to generate within a high end LCD- or DLP-projector an illumination higher than 5000 Ansi-Lumen, several lamps in parallel have to be put in place. The light will be bundled with the help of mirrors an a integration lens.