This is so disappointing.

I have a Sony VPL-HS51 with around 3000 hours on it (2.5 years). I had to replace the bulb after 1000 hours (after the 1st year)

Several weeks ago, I noticed a bluish discoloration in the top right corner of my screen. It gradually progressed over the past several weeks and is now very large taking up 1/3 to 1/2 of the screen.

I just tried replacing the bulb but the problem is still there! So it's not the bulb.

Has anyone else had similar problems? Is my projector dying? Do projectors have a couple year life span?

I would have hoped a $3,000 purchase lasts a little more than 2 years.

I hope this is a known problem or a simple thing to fix.

ahhh.........sounds like the dreaded blue haze.......but I don't know if this is an lcd projector but I will take a guess and say yes.....

ahhh.........sounds like the dreaded blue haze.......but I don't know if this is an lcd projector but I will take a guess and say yes.....

Sony doesn't do DLP, so, I would presume you are right.

ahhh.........sounds like the dreaded blue haze.......but I don't know if this is an lcd projector but I will take a guess and say yes.....Yes, it's LCD, I should have mentioned that.

Hmm, I'll search blue haze, but can you tell me more about it?

Is this the long-standing polarizer issue? I believe I recall reading about the blue haze in relation to the breakdown of the polarizer...or perhaps the LCD liquid itself?

Thank you guys for the information. I was searching "blue discoloration" without success.

After searching "blue haze" I am finding lots of information. This is such a relief to me that it is a fixable problem (and hopefully not too expensive).

I'll look around and see if there is a do-it-yourself solution.

I called Sony and they said the estimated cost is $143.10 (but they wouldn't tell me what they thought the problem was).

So maybe $200 to fix (shipping, shipping insurance, taxes, etc).

The "blue haze" is normally due to discolorization of one (or more) of the 3 Polarizers (not the LCD panels themselves). The polarizers are plastic and tend to discolor when they get hot (gets worse as time progresses and happens faster when the PJ s run in a hot room, or when the filters aren't cleaned regularly). They look like a plastic "filter" in each light path (R, G, or B). You have to be carefull not to break the flexible cables. Many times, the polarizers can be cleaned - using pressuried dry air (if the haze is due to dust build-up on the plastic and not deterioration of the polarizer material).

Polarizers can be replaced by a very carefull (and handy) user (panels need optcal alignment, and are expensive to replace). Fortunately, panels are faily robust and should last much longer than the polarizers (over 5000 hours, and more likely in the 10,000+ hour range). Again, all of this depends on how hot (and for how long) the PJ has been running.

The cost estimate you got from Sony is very reasonable for the replacement of a polarizer (some companies charge $200 for a single polaizer, if you try to buy it from them).

i got a yellowish spot on the bottom of my sanyo z3

i got a yellowish spot on the bottom of my sanyo z3

Yellow usually means a burn on the blue polariser. I know 'cause i had one on my old Sony VPL400.

This is so disappointing.

I have a Sony VPL-HS51 with around 3000 hours on it (2.5 years). I had to replace the bulb after 1000 hours (after the 1st year)

Several weeks ago, I noticed a bluish discoloration in the top right corner of my screen. It gradually progressed over the past several weeks and is now very large taking up 1/3 to 1/2 of the screen.

I just tried replacing the bulb but the problem is still there! So it's not the bulb.

Has anyone else had similar problems? Is my projector dying? Do projectors have a couple year life span?

I would have hoped a $3,000 purchase lasts a little more than 2 years.

I hope this is a known problem or a simple thing to fix.


Projectors die after 2-3 years?



Not for this guy.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=852540

Always remember, digital is disposable. Most units end up working well past their 'usable' life. Usable in the sense owners feel no need for "upgradeitis".

Typical PJ use hovers around 600 to 750 hrs a year, so 1500 hrs before upgrade is very doable in most cases.
The poster above represents a rare bird in the revolving door upgrade-for-less cycle most of us are accustomed to.

Just to update the thread for those who may search about this problem in the future.

After just over 2 years and 3,500 hours my projector started displaying a blue tint in the corner of the screen.

On the phone, Sony estimated it would cost about $150 to repair. I sent it to Texas whereupon Sony said it will take $2,600 to repair.

The service department, customer service, and customer relations department was unsympathetic to my plight... that a projector I paid $3,000 a little over 2 years ago will cost $2,600 to repair less than 3 years later with only 3,500 hours total use.

I am unable to use this projector so I will be buying another one. Not a Sony though.

Wow. Wonder what they possibly could be doing that would cost $2600. Most be going through the entire unit, new mainboard, new panels, new bulb, etc. Could it be a misprint, $260 in lieu $2600? Did they tell you what was wrong?

I have never looked inside one of these, but seems you could swap the Polarizers. If the haze changes color, then you would know it was the Polarizer. But if the color remained the same, then the panels are drivers are at fault. The service manual I looked at for a different unit said all three LCD panels had to be replaced as a unit, probably due to alignment.

You might try and sell the unit on E-Bay. I have seen broken units sell as high as 25% to 30% of new price, and that is without a bulb. More typical is $100 to $200, or about 30% of low end working projector used price. Why they pay so much for these I do not know.

I would like to get a broken unit to see how they are constructed. I have bid on many broken units, but never win. I have seen them go for under $30, but always the ones I did not bid on. I would offer to buy yours, but I am sure I could not afford it.

Just to update the thread for those who may search about this problem in the future.

After just over 2 years and 3,500 hours my projector started displaying a blue tint in the corner of the screen.

On the phone, Sony estimated it would cost about $150 to repair. I sent it to Texas whereupon Sony said it will take $2,600 to repair.

The service department, customer service, and customer relations department was unsympathetic to my plight... that a projector I paid $3,000 a little over 2 years ago will cost $2,600 to repair less than 3 years later with only 3,500 hours total use.

I am unable to use this projector so I will be buying another one. Not a Sony though.

Are you serious? Did you hear the correctly? This seems fishy.. But it is Sony.



I know, I KEED I KEED!

Yet another reason to hate Sony! They make it so easy, don't they. I sure hope HD-DVD makes it on that account alone. I don't want to be forced to support Sony!

Pat

Just to update the thread for those who may search about this problem in the future.

After just over 2 years and 3,500 hours my projector started displaying a blue tint in the corner of the screen.

On the phone, Sony estimated it would cost about $150 to repair. I sent it to Texas whereupon Sony said it will take $2,600 to repair.

The service department, customer service, and customer relations department was unsympathetic to my plight... that a projector I paid $3,000 a little over 2 years ago will cost $2,600 to repair less than 3 years later with only 3,500 hours total use.

I am unable to use this projector so I will be buying another one. Not a Sony though.

Give the guys at this address (http://www.lcdrepair.net/) a call and see what they tell you. They are primarily an LCD screen repair shop but they also have projectors listed on their website.

Yet another reason to hate Sony! They make it so easy, don't they. I sure hope HD-DVD makes it on that account alone. I don't want to be forced to support Sony!

Pat

Time to throw away all your CDs then, because guess who was responsible for its success.

Well, my Woot-bought 4805 made it 23 months before the color wheel started it's fulltime lumbermill act, and now the colorwheel won't even budge. Infocus wants $275 to fix it, which I assume means replacing the colorwheel module or some $50 part. So it's off to eBay for parts, and on the market for something else.

To answer the OQ, I'd say 2-3 years is about right for a digital projector. In fact in normal use my guess of average live would be closer to 2 years. Like any average there are individual results all over the bell curve. But keep in mind that it's not like buying a TV that can last 20 years.

I thought LCD's were worse because of the polarizers, organic LCD panels etc, but a recent thread on the over $3K forum about sportsbars using LCD's reveals that LCD's actually tend to outlast DLP's in heavy use.

Projectors are high heat machines, and heat stresses - especially when most of the parts are plastic. It's something to keep in mind - escpecially when you start to get seduced by these $10K projector marvels they talk about in the other forum. When you know to expect to average about 2 years of use, the economics of the whole thing get quite a bit clearer.

Wow!!! Most review talk about factoring in the bulb cost, but not projector replacement after two years. I'm looking for a replacement for our first projector that died what I considered a premature death after 3.5 years and 8000 hrs. We have the projector as the only TV in the family room so it logs a lot hours. But how do you go back to a small screen? I couldn't do it. My hope is to find a replacement that at least equals my old one for about 1k plus or minus. Then if it dies in 2 years at least I won't feel bad.

Wm

Sorry I did not respond back for a while, I didn't see a reply to the thread for a week, so I took it off my bookmarks. To answer all everyone's questions:

Wonder what they possibly could be doing that would cost $2600. Could it be a misprint, $260 in lieu $2600?Unfortunately, it is not a misprint. They sent me the work order estimate detailing everything. One was for the LCD block itself which was $1,700. Another was for one (or maybe two?) filters. I can't remember the other lines.

I called the service department, customer service, customer relations, and one other person which I forget what department they belonged to. I calmly told them them what I felt: That a projector should not break like this just after 2 years. It should not break after 3,500 hours It should not cost over 80% of the purchase price to repair it... ESPECIALLY, when brand new HS60's are being sold for half that price... on their OWN webpage! (not some shady New York dealer on the streets). Of course, no one wanted to do anything.

Thanks, for the eBay recommendation, I might try that, but I worry about calculating shipping costs accurately. Currently I'm willing to let go of it for $50 on Craigslist (I listed it higher for higher though). Some people also want it to tinker with. But if I can't get $50 for it, I'll take it apart myself and trash it.


Are you serious? Did you hear the correctly? This seems fishy.. But it is Sony.Sadly, it's pronounced dead after 2 years and 6 months and 3,500 hours and nearly $4,000 invested in it:
$3,300 projector and shipping
$300 bulb replaced after a mere 1,000 hours
$300 bulb bought when projector started to fail because I thought it was the bulb going

Regarding "it's a Sony", that was one of the reasons I bought it! But perhaps I haven't kept up with the times. I had multiple Sony Trinitron CRT's lasting 15+ years. That's a big reason I was comfortable getting a Sony projector.


Give the guys at this address (http://www.lcdrepair.net/) a call and see what they tell you.I wish I saw this before. I already got a new projector (After all this, I got another Sony :p because I have extra bulbs now... plus it's a LOT cheaper so if THIS one busts, I won't mind it as much... and will definately steer clear of Sony projectors in the future (in case this situation is a fluke).


To answer the OQ, I'd say 2-3 years is about right for a digital projector. In fact in normal use my guess of average live would be closer to 2 years.That's just bizarre and frankly, I feel if true, needs to be a sticky warning on every projector forum and article. Two years? They talk about bulb replacement after 2 years... No one said the whole thing is gonna be shot after 2 years.

I don't accept that for my microwave, car, computer, external hard disk, etc. I don't even accept that for my cheapo $40 USB thumbdrive, why would I except it for a $3,000 projector?

That's just pitiful and demoralizing if true. The industry needs to do a MUCH better job at disclosure.

Edited: grammar

That's just bizarre and frankly, I feel if true, needs to be a sticky warning on every projector forum and article. Two years? They talk about bulb replacement after 2 years... No one said the whole thing is gonna be shot after 2 years.

I don't accept that for my microwave, car, computer, external hard disk, etc. I don't even accept that for my cheapo $40 USB thumbdrive, why would I except it for a $3,000 projector?

That's just pitiful and demoralizing if true. The industry needs to do a MUCH better job at disclosure.

Edited: grammar

I have a similar question posed in the over $3000 projector forum. I completely agree with you. I am thinking about upgrading to a 1080p projector pretty soon while my 720p LCD becomes less and less watchable because of dust problems and polarizer burn. Very frustrating!

Stace

The economics of this hobby are, unfortunately, stacked against us. This is why I look for the best bargains when it comes to PJs. If and when they fail, or I get the urge to upgrade, I move on to the next reigning bargain champ. Damned if I'm gonna drop $10K on something that could crap out in 2 years!

Wow!!! Most review talk about factoring in the bulb cost, but not projector replacement after two years. I'm looking for a replacement for our first projector that died what I considered a premature death after 3.5 years and 8000 hrs.

Wm

8000 hours and 3.5 years is excellent. That's about what I pulled off with my HS10, but it's not typical. I wouldn't budget more than 3 years - and yes, I'm surprised this isn't talked about more.

But as you say, once you have a projector there's no going back.

Im in the exact same boat. Two and a half years, just over 3000hrs, on my third bulb (plus a new spare sitting in the box) and a bluish haze that started along the bottom of the picture. Then along the lower right side, and then a slight haze over the entire right two thirds of the screen. Sent it off to Texas...got an email with an estimate of $2181.49!!!! Needless to say my HS51 is on its way home with no repair. I can't believe this.....how many more of us are out there?

Of course, such a situation afflicts consumer electronics generally, not just projectors. I had a laptop (3 years old) that suffered a hard drive failure (with wider consequences as simply swapping drives was not a viable solution). The repair bill was estimated at 3000$. The laptop was worth 1500$ new and about 200$ at its present age. Had to get a new one. Sucked, but there you have it.

This kind of relatively short life expectancy means, however, that I won't be buying any 20,000$ projectors any time soon (even if I could afford one--unless I won the lotto and 20,000 became the equivalent of 1000-1500$ in my world). But that's me. Everyone has a different threshold for what they value--early adopters like being "first", so they pay a premium. Others like having the "best", no matter the cost. I like to get value for dollar spent, though I won't get the cheapest thing in each category. I spend more on speakers because I expect them to last longer. I spend moderately on A/V receivers because I value some features not available at entry level and I value better amplification than entry level. In each case, I expect the gear to last 5 years (receiver) and 10+ (speakers). Everything I've read about projectors in the past four months (and I've read a lot) since I started thinking of getting one suggests to me a relatively short life for projectors vs other A/V gear so I won't spend quite so much, proportionally speaking. Of course, I'm also far more of an audio guy than a video guy, so naturally, my money goes in that direction.

As the old saying goes--"you pays your money, you takes your chances". If the fear of frequent replacement is an issue, then LCD flat panels or plasmas are probably a better bet than projectors. But then, smaller image size and higher prices come into play. I figure I can buy 4 projectors for the price of one 65 inch plasma.

The economics of this hobby are, unfortunately, stacked against us. This is why I look for the best bargains when it comes to PJs. If and when they fail, or I get the urge to upgrade, I move on to the next reigning bargain champ. Damned if I'm gonna drop $10K on something that could crap out in 2 years!

I'm of the same opinion. Personally I wouldn't spend $10k on a projector that came with a 5 year warranty. The technology just changes to fast. Plus, it's not like the $10k unit is even close to being 4 times as good as a $2.5k model...probably not even twice as good. So there's really the issue of diminishing marginal returns on top of the fact that we're talking about rapidly depreciating goods.

I bought my panny AE700 just over two years ago for $1700. Nearly 3,000 hours later (I did install a slightly used bulb after it started dimming at 2,400 hours...which cost a bit over $100) it's still going strong, but I'm starting to think about an upgrade. Whether I pull the trigger this fall or next, I won't be spending more than I did on the last one. And for the same price I'll have an even better unit that will hold me over nicely for another 2 or 3 years at least.

hey, i had the same problem and Sony fixed it for free (well, the $12 shipping cost).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11842740&posted=1#post11842740

It's probably already been said, but most in this hobby upgrade every year or two, so most would never experience a failure. I myself have owned 7 projectors over the last 9 or 10 years and don't really see things changing anytime soon. It's fun to upgrade and part of this hobby of ours.

Of course, I always go for the bargain bin units. My first projector was a Sony 400Q which I got for a steal (back then) for about $3000. I've never paid more that $3000 for a projector and I don't plan to start anytime soon. Heck, the way things are today, I doubt I'll ever pay more than $2000 ever again.

So is this problem more common with LCD than DLP? I was looking at an LCD for the brightness, but hell maybe I'll stay away from that. Also whats the point in expecting to buy a new bulb after 2 years if the unit will fail right at that point-doesn't make any sense. My Optoma HD70 has a two year replacement, so I should expect it to break around that time? If all this is true, its sounds like buying from some of those club warehouse places is best sense they double the warranty of the whatever the factory one is.

Regarding "it's a Sony", that was one of the reasons I bought it! But perhaps I haven't kept up with the times. I had multiple Sony Trinitron CRT's lasting 15+ years. That's a big reason I was comfortable getting a Sony projector.



Sony as a brand isn't the problem, it's the way stuff is made today. Back when CRTs were mainstream, electronics were made to last. Today everything is basically made to fail after a couple years. It's the new economics employed by manufacturers today in the quest to earn higher profits.

Polarizers are only a problem because they use organic compounds (as do lcd's) which can breakdwon over time. However the heat simply accelerates this degradation. The thing is that lcd's work by using two polarized filters to block light or let it pass. What happens is you have a single polarizer filter which only lets a certain alignment of light (horizontal) pass. Then you have the lcd panel, then after this you have another polarizer going for the opposite alignment (therefore blocking all light). The lcd pixels when twisted will flip the horizontal light from the first filter, making it of a vertical alignment, which will allow it to pass through the second filter. What we do is have 3 lcd's, each with color filters (since lcd's without any are grayscale), and then recombine these into a single image for full color.
Knowing this i've always wondered why they never went for the solid state polarizers, ones that are non-organic. I know they exist, but because of them not being organic they wouldn't breakdown with heat.
Anyone else know why?
As for how long they last, i have a spare sony vpl-px1 from 1999 (1024x768, 600:1 cr) and it is near its 14,000 hour mark. Though this may be because i altered the cooling, however even before the cooling alteration it was around 10,000 hours of use. Yet i have yet to see any polairzer issues.
I feel the problems we've been seeing today with projectors may be because of both quality control reasons and design comprimises because of price. However things have also gotten better, but the polairzer issue still seems to popup quite a bit.