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So i have this question about my DLP television

OcculusOcculus Registered User regular
I got my Samsung 50" DLP set almost two years ago, and I'm finding that the lamp (it's the old style non-LED lamp) is starting to become more and more sensitive to "high" temperatures. I put high in quotes, because it's only 72 degrees Fahrenheit in here, and my TV just shut itself down due to heat while I was reading a webpage.

Yes, I use my television as my monitor for my PC. With that much desktop real estate, I just cannot resist. Gaming is golden on this thing!

My questions are:

- Does this behavior indicate that the lamp is about to die on me?

- Did Samsung ever make LED lamps for their earlier non-LED sets?

- Is the second question even possible?

- Where can I get a lamp that doesn't cost $DOOM?

and finally

- Will viewing pages in reverse color schemes help, or does that reflected light still affect the interior temperature, regardless of whether it hits the screen? Should i mod the TV case, to add in big, powerful fans to evacuate the excess heat? How would I get power to those? Also, is the color of the light hitting the screen representative of its temperature (is blue light "cooler" than red light)?

I love this TV, but damn, its shutting off when it gets "hot" is getting annoying, and I think getting a solution sooner rather than later is a Good Idea.

What say you, PAers? How do I solve this issue? I have gone Googling, but I'd kind of like your input. This is rather important to me, and I want to get the right solution.

Coming here, I know I'll get it right. :D

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Occulus on

Posts

  • ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Lamp is probably about to die. I'm not sure what type of bulb is in a DLP lamp, but most high output bulbs turn themselves off when they are starting to go. What's the lamp life counter on the TV say?

    I cannot find an LED "bulb" for old bulb sets. The LED DLP TVs use an entirely different structure (no color wheel) than the bulb versions, so it's not just a switchover you can make that I know of.

    I did a Google search for Samsung DLP lamp and found a few places that have lamps for what appears to be $120-200, which doesn't seem too bad for a few more years of use.
    www.dlplampxpress.com
    www.DLPLampSource.com/Samsung
    www.PurelandSupply.com

    And I have no idea if reversed colors would help. I doubt it as most of the heat is just going to be generated by the bulb, not the light bouncing around inside the set.

    ArcSyn on
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  • OcculusOcculus Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    ArcSyn wrote: »
    Lamp is probably about to die. I'm not sure what type of bulb is in a DLP lamp, but most high output bulbs turn themselves off when they are starting to go. What's the lamp life counter on the TV say?

    I cannot find an LED "bulb" for old bulb sets. The LED DLP TVs use an entirely different structure (no color wheel) than the bulb versions, so it's not just a switchover you can make that I know of.

    I did a Google search for Samsung DLP lamp and found a few places that have lamps for what appears to be $120-200, which doesn't seem too bad for a few more years of use.
    www.dlplampxpress.com
    www.DLPLampSource.com/Samsung
    www.PurelandSupply.com

    And I have no idea if reversed colors would help. I doubt it as most of the heat is just going to be generated by the bulb, not the light bouncing around inside the set.

    I can't look at the counter without shutting the TV off and starting it in maint mode, and I want to keep startups/shutdowns to a minimum at this point, so I can't give an exact number, but it's almost certainly beyond the rated lifetime. I use it as my primary monitor, and after having had it thus this long, I just cannot go back to even a 22" monitor. This TV spoiled the shit out of me, and besides, I actually need the real estate when I run Blender.

    I figured I couldn't swap in an LED lamp. It really kind of sucks that they didn't take that into consideration, but oh well. Maybe I'll spring for one or two of them when I get my tax return, but damn, I really don't want to spend the money...

    Occulus on
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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited January 2009
    Welcome to the downside of DLP/LCoS technology. It sounds like you're really using the hell out of that thing, and if you're finding that you need to swap out the bulb every two years at $200+ a pop, you may find it cheaper in the long run to just buy yourself a modest LCD HDTV for use as a monitor. You can probably find a decent 37" or so that would let you save money overall.

    Otherwise, just get used to dropping $200 bi-annually on lamps.

    ElJeffe on
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  • OcculusOcculus Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    Welcome to the downside of DLP/LCoS technology. It sounds like you're really using the hell out of that thing, and if you're finding that you need to swap out the bulb every two years at $200+ a pop, you may find it cheaper in the long run to just buy yourself a modest LCD HDTV for use as a monitor. You can probably find a decent 37" or so that would let you save money overall.

    Otherwise, just get used to dropping $200 bi-annually on lamps.


    Not really the downside... I was just stupid enough to buy one that used a lamp instead of an LED array.

    I work for USPS, and we use a similar LED array in our DBCS machines, only higher powered. They flicker on and off per letter, and as far as I know, they're rarely replaced.

    Of course, that's industrial design, but still. LEDs last longer. Sure wish I could use one.

    I'm going to keep this TV, though, because the contrast ratio is more than high enough for me, and I can't even see the individual pixels from where I sit. I know newer TVs are (obviously) better than this one, but hey. I spent the cash, so I'm kind of "stuck" with it for years to come.

    And yeah, I'm using the shit out of it. I'm frankly surprised the lamp has lasted as long as it has. I think keeping the power ups/power downs to a minimum has helped with the life of the lamp. It's usually on more than half the day, and actually being used for that- not for background noise, either.

    I just altered the brightness and contrast settings. We'll see if that helps or not.

    By the way, the TV only seems to shut itself off when I'm viewing pages with a white background. It hasn't ever shut off when I'm in the middle of reading this site, for example.

    Occulus on
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  • bigwahbigwah Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    See if its still under warranty, or if Samsung extended the warranty for your paticular model. My Mits 52" has had the lamp replaced 3 times for free (the last one was because of an extended warranty from a manufacturing defect that caused the lamps to die prematurely). I didnt even know they had extended the warranty because of the issue until I went to purchase another lamp and found it on their site.

    bigwah on
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  • digitarddigitard I walked up hill BOTH ways AZRegistered User regular
    edited January 2009
    If you do some searching you can normally find the bulb for under 130.

    I have a 50" DLP myself, and after 3yrs, and a ton of use, the bulb went while I was playing Rockband. The bulb in general came to around 230 from the company, but that was due to the fact that most DLP replacements include the enclosure as well so you don't touch the bulb (oily fingerprint = exploding bulb).

    I found a site that sell's just the bulb itself, and I mounted it into the enclosure for 115 shipped. Took 2 days to ge tto me, and I kid you not, 15mins to pull out the existing enclosure, undo 4 screws, mount the new bulb carefully, and put it back in my TV and it was good to go.

    D.

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  • jefe414jefe414 "My Other Drill Hole is a Teleporter" Mechagodzilla is Best GodzillaRegistered User regular
    edited January 2009
    I used DLPlampsource when I had to replace mine. No muss, no fuss. Easy to replace, you ship the old one back for disposal.

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