I`m offered a BG1209S with about 10000 hours. Probably used for only a couple of 100ed hours, the rest in standby/left on without a signal. I know cathode material is consumed in standby, but these tubes is said to still have good light emission and focus. For how many hours can I expect these tubes to last?

Gunnar (who has ben confused and spent some time on the grey side..)

If they have good light emission and focus well the standby hours shouldn't matter.

Welcome back Gunnar,

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate at jumping on a good deal on a projector with that description.
Otherwise I might have something for you. =)

I`ll probably have a look at it this weekend.

Mrking,
Is there still a market for used CRTs in Sweden? Do you by chance have one of Johns BG-DVI interfaces for sale?

I`ll let you know if I need anything. If the 1209S doesn`t work out I might get a cheap 801s as a temporary solution. Then I`ll need the convergence driver/output cards.

Gunnar

Gunnar: Yes and yes. =) As long as you get people to come and see what they have been missing.
That's why I have a showroom with optimal conditions for demoing CRT. =)

Sure, don't be a stranger.

What grey matter was it that kept you from the dark side for a while and what made you change your mind?

I got tired of the tweeking, and deceided to try a Benq PE8720. Nice projector, and in many ways it was very good. Sharp all over the screen without any effort.. good greyscale, good shadow detail, near silent on a shelf in the back of the room. BUT the first thing I noticed when put into operation was some background noise (dithering?) that I didn`t see with the CRT. I didn`t like that. And from 3m distance and about 2,2m wide screen I could see SDE in bright scenes. Didn`t like that either, and of course I missed the black level and depth of the CRT. Also the CRT looked much better with DVD than the BenQ. Don`t know why, but on low res sources I saw artifacts that was almost not visible with the CRT. I`ve not watched much of the new 1080P generation projectors, but I`m a little hesitant to get a LCD. I`m afraid I will not be satisfied with the blacks. There are others like DLP or Lcos, but they are still over my budget.

Gunnar

Hehe what? Tired of tweaking but that's the best part! *irony*

Yeah I've seen the BenQ 8720 and coming from a 1209 like you did I can definately see a problem with staying happy with that one.

Glad to have you back on the dark (right? good?) side.

Barcos do not have a standby. The hour meter runs only if the PJ is on. Basically, the marquee "standby" on a Barco is video pause (or mute if you prefer).

I have a Zenith Pro 1200 X (Cine 8 Onyx) from 2001. It was a demo machine in a high end theater store. It spent most of its life running but much of it on video mute.

When I got it, it had over 17,000 hours on it. All three tubes were original but with no sign of wear other than a small burned logo on the green, so I swapped that tube for a new (not rebuilt) green. The machine now has over 18,000 hours. The red and the blue focus great and this things still looks better than any 8" Marquee or G70 I've seen.

Basically, a long way of saying, by my real world experience, just do what was suggested, check the light output and focusing and be happy if you get a great deal.

Dave

The light output of a Barco Projector goes as follows....

Everyone I have sold and worked on the tube emissions are always the same when I test the tubes. Even if the tube face is perfect the cathodes all get weaker and weaker as time goes on. Standby is the same as being on.

Barco Reduction Scale

30,000 75%-95 reduction (totally shot)
20,000 50% reduction of the original light output (Have to replace)
13-15,000 30-35% (Typically the sweet spot to replace) (Weak)
10,000 25-30% reduction (Good but getting week)
5,000 10-15 % Reduction (Good Tubes)

This scale is typically much worse on old electrohomes (Even if the LVPS has been replaced. Electrohomes don’t cut off the Cathode as drastically for some reason in standby)

I say with 10k hours on a Barco chassis plan on replacing the tubes in 3-5k more hours.

--- One Hint to add 15% to any Barco tube with 10-20k hours. ( Works on Some)

Go into the service menu.
Select Run in Cycle
Let it run for 24-30 hours

This was designed to clean the gun for new tubes that have (Zapping or popping)

It does clean the guns in very old tubes too and typically gives you 15% more.


Greg

Thanks all!
3-5k more hours are several years with my use, so I think I`m ok there. "Run in cycles" is a great tip!

Gunnar

Deal closed! Will probably pick it up tuesday. Have not seen it yet, but if nothing special happens I will again enjoy a Barco before next weekend!

Gunnar

Picked it up yesterday evening, and hung it on my ceiling this afternoon . It had to stay in the trunk of my car tonight, so I`ll let it rest and become familiar with its new home until tomorrow before firing up. Tubes look good, slight and even wear on green. (look here) (http://home.broadpark.no/~gku/1209s.JPG).

Gunnar