since the bulbs go out after 1000 hours or so, do you guys just watch movies in your home theather or do you watch tv as well... cause average household watches about 7 hours of tv a day, so in less than a year that bulb can be burnt. just a question i am wondering about

since the bulbs go out after 1000 hours or so, do you guys just watch movies in your home theather or do you watch tv as well... cause average household watches about 7 hours of tv a day, so in less than a year that bulb can be burnt. just a question i am wondering about

That actual statistic is "The average number of hours the TV is turned on in a household on any given day: 6 hours and 47 minutes".

That doesn't mean it's being watched, and I would presume it refers to ALL the TVs in the household, meaning that the TV could be on in the kitchen while someone's cooking, in the living room, in the bathroom (not in my house, but I know of others who do). In short, all TVs combined.

I'm also curious as to where you got your '1000 hours' number. My old Plus 910 projector got about 1200 hours from a single bulb, but that was four years ago. I would expect a lamp life of 2000 hours today, and in many cases as much as 4000 hours.

-drin

I watch everything on my projector (Sony G70). I bought it in 2003 with ~1200 hours on the tubes, and I just checked and it has 7599 hours on them now and the picture is still great, though I can just detect some wear in the blue on an all-white field. I'm buying a new house in June and when the PJ comes down for the move, I may re-tube blue and green. If it wasn't moving, I'm sure it'd be good for another 2000+ hours. I'll stay out of the digital vs CRT flames, but I'd likely be on my 8th bulb, and at least 2nd, if not 3rd, projector by now in the digital world.

For me, watching everything on the big screen is worth whatever the minor cost for tube wear is; I'm sure that's less than electricity in my theater's case, especially since my sound system is fairly 'over the top' by any non-AVS standard.

To me a dedicated theater is a theater not a TV room. I would HATE to watch TV on my 2.35:1 screen in my theater, the only TV watched in there would be things like the OSCARS, or the rare special event.

There is certainly a percentage that use it as a TV but I believe the majority use it as primarily cinema.

Well going from a Sony G90 CRT to an RS1 projector where the tubes were each 1300+ and you need to replace all three to get spec... The RS1's bulb are nothing only $350 or so, I will continue to play XBOX, Wii and watch what ever in there.

Bulb life varies by projector though...

I watch TV on my Pioneer Elite 610HD, and I plan to keep watching in my HT when I get it finished. 'Lost' in HD works great on the big screen. I wish Battlestar Galactica were in HD, or at least 16:9. I don't watch that much TV, however.

I can't see sitting up there flipping channels, though.

We record and watch HD TV content - but that probably amounts to 4 or 5 hours a week (less during the summer), plus an average of 1 movie per week, so we're talking about under 10 hours per week.

Then again, that's what the theater is for - glad to use it!

Randy

I have a 56" DLP tv for everyday watching....and my JVC RS-1 and 106" screen for movies

Later
RayJr

I use my theater for all of my evening TV watching. Especially since so many TV shows these days are in HD. I also use it for all of my movie watching. However, during the day when I'm puttering around the house, then I usually just have the kitchen TV on, usually tuned to Discovery Science Channel, Fox News Channel, or National Geographic Channel.

Manly used for Movies and Gaming. The only TV we watch down there is American Idol and big sporting events.

Cheers,
Mark

If it is a TV show that we really care about, and it is broadcast in HD, then it gets recorded and viewed from the comfort of our HT room. I don't mind that it is a 16x9 show viewed on our 2.4:1 screen, as this gives us more of an appreciation for the scope movies when we watch those.

I'd estimate we have about 6hrs / week of these shows. Also, given that we usually have to wait until the kids go to bed to watch anything during the week, it is nice to go retreat into the theater room for 1-2hrs prior to hitting some sleep.

Most of the series we watch are wrapping up now though, so I'll assume we will switch to watching movies more than anything for a few months... and I am looking forward to it.

The way I look at it, if you make a commitment to watch something, whether it be a favorite TV show, or a movie, and that is what you enjoy, then it is not a waste of bulb.

I wish Battlestar Galactica were in HD, or at least 16:9.



It is if you have UHD, though it is a couple months behind

Our HT is used only for movie viewing. We watch very little TV... probably about 6 hours a week if I had to guess. We do not have pay subscription TV. It would be a waste of money in our opinion. TV we watch comes over the air.
We do watch 3-4 movies per week. Maybe a little less in the summer months do to more time out on the motorcycle.

I use ours for TV (satellite - Sports - F1 & Football) the Media Center (games, music w/visualizations and movies HD and SD) and of course Movies from DVD.

I would probably watch at least one movie every night. But my wife and daughter watch our 42" Panasonic Plasma for things like the news or cartoons etc.

I suppose I am going to go through 2,000 hours pretty rapidly. ;) Oh well, it gives me an excuse to convince my wife that I NEED to upgrade my pj instead of buying a new lamp. ;)

You know, scale of economy and all that.. ;)

When mine is done, I'm pretty sure I'll be living in it.

Besides, the Epson Pro Cinema I'm getting comes with a replacement bulb. That should hold me off for a while..

Don't want to wear out the "special" that is my theater.
We'll watch movies and the occasional HDTV specials.
Discovery just aired "Planet Earth".
HAD to watch that in the theater.
Also, 24 and CSI get watched there.

Movies and Ache Dee Tee Vee

Lost at 10 feet wide in 7.1 surround is great. As is a good football game. And my wife and kids feel the same about American Idol.

I watch both movies and HDTV on my projector. My feelings are that if I spent the money for this great room to watch stuff, I'm going to actually use it. Replacing the $350 bulb every 2000-3000 hours is just part of the cost in my mind.

Can't say what I DO, but I can say what I plan.

My under-construciton room is being built to be multi-purpose. When I first started desgining it, I thought it would be really cool to add in a 42" TV behind the screen for TV. They were still so expensive at the time it seemed kind of crazy. NOW I'm seeing 50+ LCDs for a reasonable price and am thinking again about adding one behind the screen for TV watching and saving the projector for movies, sports and special events.

Tom

I use my theater for movies, TV, and gaming. I don't watch a ton of TV though, maybe two hours a night. I find that I tend to have around two hours an evening on weeknights to devote to media (movies, tv, gaming, dedicated listening), and maybe a few more hours on the weekends.

Given that bulbs are only around $350 or so where as even a cheap flat panel is about $1000 I think it's a no brainer to buy bulbs instead. Unless you constantly leave TVs on you'll be wanting an upgrade for technology reasons well before your bulb burns out. I've got about 1400 hours on my current projector bulb, and I'm looking at upgrading to a 1080p unit rather than replace the bulb.

I have a regular TV for most shows, but use the theatre for certain special events, the rare video game, and all movies. With a 92", 16x9 screen and DLP projector, I don't mind most sources. I think it would be different if I were using a 2.35x1 or a pj with burn-in concerns...FWIW.
-Geoff

So far (the last 2 years) it's been strictly for movies. And not that many. We average about 6 movies per month in the HT. My wife and I have date night every Saturday and we spend it watching a movie in the theater. A couple of times per month we'll go in their during the afternoon and watch something with the kids (2 and 4).

Our regular TV viewing is done in the living room on the 42" (65" by xmas) with 5.1 sound. With 2 little kids running around, it's hard to isolate ourselves in the theater. We also like keeping it for special viewings.

Of course, that could change by xmas when we buy a new TV for the living room and make the move to HD (been putting it off for years). After the kids are in bed, we'll probably watch some select shows in the theater.

We just got our theater up and running a couple of weeks ago so we're still in "discovery" mode - figuring out how we want to use it. We have a 50" Panny plasma / 5.1 system in the Family room that is used for day-to-day viewing so it will be interesting to see how the viewing splits out between the 2.

I think we'll probably end up averaging 2-3 movies per week, plus any series we've recorded on the DVR. We watched 24 in the theater for the first time last night and that was pretty good, although I noticed how truly crappy the HD signal is - lots of noise. I also play XBox in the theater on Wed nights (the Wed. night "geekfest" as my wife likes to call it).

I don't even have TV - I just watch movies and play games on my set ups (most TV isn't worth watching IMO).
Cheers

Since the Halo 3 Beta was released, nothing other than Halo. :)

When they take the beta away we will be back to 50% xbox 360 and 50% movies.

Oh, and 24. That finale rocked.

In our version I of a theater, we watched everything on it. I went through a bulb a year (from 2000-2004). We don't watch a lot of TV, but in the Fall, it is on all day, sat. and sun. even if I am going about the house tracking down kids or doing projects.

Version II of the theater I imagine will only be for movies and, of course, sports. and it won't be on all day on the weekend in the fall...

My plan was for mostly movies, some HDTV and a little gaming.

The actual viewing is Gaming, followed closely by HDTV. Movies are actually a distant third! The main reason for this is Heroes, House, NCIS, LOST, and the Yankee/Jets Games look too good to not watch them on the system! (Now if only SciFI could go HD so I can watch Battlestar Galactica in HD! - I don't get Universal HD and I don't want to wait 6 months to see a show...) I also got an XBox360 which has now taken over my life. COD2 matches are beyond amazing and poker nights have broken down in to COD2 match night more than once...

Don't get me wrong, the Home Theater is still used for movies (especially HD movies with me HD-DVD player) but other uses have taken over.

On occasion I worry about the bulb like, but then someone takes a shot at my character and I get immersed in the game and forget all about it! Besides what good is having a HT if you aren't going to use it!

Gaming, Movies(HD and SD) and HDTV. I am trying to burn out the bulb in my current projector so I can have a valid reason to upgrade to a 1080p projector. ;)

Once I get my new projector...Gaming, Movies(HD and SD) and HDTV. :D

Since I only paid $800 for my Infocus SP5000 and extra bulb, I watch as much as I can in my theater. The only problem I have is that I mounted my projector before I finished the theater, now I find myself watching HDTV instead of working on the basement ;)

When the theatre is done, it will be used for everything. Tv/Games/Movies in that order probably. I own about 800DVDs/BR yet still watch very little movies at home. I still prefer going out to the movies and that wont change once the room is done. And with so many good shows in HD lately (heroes/jericho :( / lost) i cant wait to see them in the larger size. I will also have my 62" DLP in the next room for the times when we dont feel like firing up the theatre room and of course for some System Link Gears of War.

Ryan

I am trying to burn out the bulb in my current projector so I can have a valid reason to upgrade to a 1080p projector. ;)

LOL - my projector is only a few months old, my room not 100% finished, but I found my self thinking the same the other day.... :D

To come back on the topic....preparing myself right now to watch Desperate Housewives and then Grey's Anatomy together with my wife in 15 minutes...questions? ;)

The reason I have build this room - watch DVD's, selected TV features and listen to music sometimes.

My theater is only 1 month old and I racked up 100 hrs on the projector already. We have had a few weekends with friends over and we lived down there. Multiple movies and mostly HD shows. SD does not look that great stretched out to 106". What I really can't believe is how good both the 360 and PS3 look in 1080p. Gears rocks on the big screen. But what really has sucked up the time is Guitar Hero on the 360 which is absolutely totally adicting when you have a bunch of friends over! Oh yea, I let my 14 year old son play once in a while as well. To be honest if I get this much entertainment out of it, $350 will be a good investment to me when the time comes.

I thought the hour specs quoted by the manufacturers was technically the average time to half bulb brightness, which I guess is where most people choose to change the bulb? My projector spec is 2000 hrs in standard mode.