Sony SXRD Lamp Life Survey

70" XBR2: Replaced bulb at 7500 hours, but is was still functional (no discoloration, blobs, etc). It was just gettting too dim, forcing me to use Max Iris and 100% Picture, causing a loss in contrast. I've saved the bulb as a spare.

My set is also the 70" XBR2 lamp at 7843 hours, I am still using it.

Did you know that 63.42% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

Your poll is fun and interesting, but I'm afraid that it will never be "significant". You're right about needing participation, but your poll has a design flaw. You forgot to separate the answers by model of SXRD RPTV. For example, you own the A2020 which like the A2000's & A3000's uses the XL-5200 lamp. Sony recommends changing that lamp at about 8000 hours. But your first two responders have the XBR2 which uses the XL-5300 lamp. Sony recommends changing the XL-5300 lamp at about 4000 hours- half the life of the XL-5200 lamp. The Qualia 006 SXRD uses the XL-5000 lamp and the XBR1 SXRD uses the XL-5100 lamp. I don't know the expected lives of those lamps.

The original XL-5300 lamp in my XBR2 has about 5000 hours on it and it is still going strong. HappyFunBoater and Micro have over 7500 hours on their "4000 hour" XBR2 lamps- which would suggest excellent lamp life for the SXRD's. But if A2000/A2020/A3000 owners were changing their lamps at 4000-7500 hours, that would indicate disappointing lamp life. See the problem?

Thanks for the fun poll, though.

I have the 70" XBR2 and replaced the lamp last weekend at 5000-6000 hours because umr is coming to calibrate later this week and I wanted a new lamp in place. Even though the lamp was beyond its rated life, I didn't notice any difference in the picture with the new lamp. I have no doubt that there was likely a measurable difference, though.

I replaced my still working bulb in my 70" XBR2 when the replace lamp warning came up at 6000 hours.
My extended warranty includes bulbs so there was no reason to try to extend the life of my bulb.
I kept it as a spare along with the spare bulb that came with my set.

From my dealer (Video Revolution in Tulsa, OK) they are also a Sony authorized service center.

Just an FYI, but Best Buy includes one lamp replacement. I wanted the replacement as a spare, and the old one still worked at ~6500 hours. Best Buy sent the replacement to my home with no questions asked, and didn't required the old bulb in return. In fact I even told them that the old bulb still worked, but it was just dim and I wanted to keep it "just in case". No problem.

Tell me how to check the hours on my lamp, I just replaced it.. does it reset the # after you install a new one? If not, I'll just subtract 6 hours! Hehe.

But at least then I can post my time.

KDS60A2000.

I have the 60XBR2 and had 6820 hours on my original bulb before I replaced it. The bulb was still working, but I felt the picture was starting to look dark. I installed the new bulb that came with the television and all was well. Two weeks pass and when I turn on my television, the red led "lamp" light flashes and I have no picture or sound. I only had about 100 hours on the new bulb, but it was dead. I re-installed the old bulb and all is well again, except for the slightly darker picture. I called Sony about the bulb problem and they wouldn't do sh*t about it (hard to believe, I know). I'm writing a letter to the corporate office in Fort Myers, Florida regarding this situation. Granted, the bulb is technically 2 years old, but it was never removed from the original box and it was stored in my closet. I feel that it's no different than me ordering a new bulb from Sony, them pulling one off the shelf and shipping it to me. I feel they should cover it or at least give me a discount on a new bulb.

I've got an XBR2 and the hours are in the Service Menu. The method for accessing the hours may be different on the 2000. Just do a quick search in the 2000 forum and you'll find what you need.

Also, the hours won't reset automatically. In the XBR2 you have to reset it via the User Menu.

FYI, the XBR2 service manual has all the red blink codes if you want to check the cause. Sounds like it's bulb related, but the service manual may have additional detail.

Thanks for the information HappyFunBoater. I put the new lamp back in and had the same problem. So the "lamp" indicator on the front panel has separate fault codes also? I have the service manual on my computer. I may put the bulb back in one more time and see what it shows. I was also thinking of changing out just the bulb itself and save some money instead of the whole housing. Protvbulbs dot com has a good price for just the bulb.

The XBR2 has different fault codes (simply the number of times the red LED flashes) for various failures, but I admit I don't know about the 2000. You'd have to check the 2000 service manual. Sorry. I didn't mean to mislead you. I only know about the XBR2. But in general the 2000 is the same.

I was just over 8000 hours, something like 8014. Ran almost all day, every day, for two years and 10 days. Compared to the norm I'd say a very high ratio of hours to strikes.

You must go into the menu and hit "reset" when you install the new bulb....so it can track the hours used on the new one....


Oh...and my SXRD KDS-50A2000 has 4100 hours and still looks awesome!

Just to be clear, I think you're talking about the lamp reset in the user menu, not the full system reset in the system menu that would wipe out all your Color, Brightness, Aspect, Sound, White Balance, etc., settings.

That must be a new or different warranty form; the warranty that covers my Dad's 60XBR1 mentions bulb replacement is covered, but not just "one."

My xbr1 has seemed... "flickery" for the last year or so. It's more noticeable in high contrast scenes and if I turn up the brightness it is harder to see. I don't have auto-iris on. Could this be a bulb problem? I have had the unit since october 2005 and have never replaced the bulb.

I just replaced my bulb after 5800 hours. The old bulb was working fine but the picture just seemed too dark! I was shocked at how much brighter the picture was after the bulb replacement. The new bulb went in without a hitch and the tv is like new again. The tv is a 50A2000 and it's 23 months old.

I placed my order throughAmazon and it was filled by Vanns.

Your survey fails to discriminate between optional replacements and actual lamp failures. I replaced my first lamp at about 3900 hours in my 50A2000, but only because it was a bit dim for my tastes and I wanted to test its replacement. I'm keeping it as a spare, now.

Have more than 4000 hrs haven't replaced yet, replace lamp message comes on at startup, picture still looks fine. XBR2 70"

I own a KDS-50A2000. At ~50 weeks (3842 hours of lamp time per the service menu), the bulb went out with no noticeable dimming beforehand and no "pop" sound. I replaced the bulb only (i.e., kept the original bulb housing).

I'm really curious to know how much you guys paid for the replacement bulbs.

Also, where did you get them from?

http://www.dlplampsource.com/e-store...=1311354742970

close to 5000 hours and have not replaced yet
will be two years in february

so what is the "official" rated life for a lamp on a 70xbr2?

is it hours or years?

we've had our set for almost 2 years now, watch very little tv,a nd it only has 1600 hours on it; I got a free bulb as part of my deal, so I don't know if I should replace it just for grins, or wait until we have at least 5000+ hours on it

thanks!

I just replaced the bulb in my KDS-50A2000 at 7952 hours. I certainly can't complain about the lamp life, but I'm shocked that it got that much use.


I got mine from River Valley Electronics' eBay store for $91 shipped. (This was for the bulb only, which was a simple swap into my original housing.)