Hello,
I've decided to repost the result from my 'dead colors on X1' thread under a new subject heading in order to give more visibility to a potential issue with colors and brightness on your X1 that can be otherwise avoided with a simple maintenance procedure.
I felt that my X1 was going downhill and that a service call to InFocus was inevitable because of the poor color saturation and the awful brightness/contrast I was getting.
After many tries with different paints my final attempt with Home Depot Ultra Pure White revealed that the X1 was putting out poor and uncalibratable colors, brightness and contrast.
The procedure is actually very simple. You'll need a bunch of soft q-tips and a small dap of water to wet the tip.
1. Use the same procedure for removing and cleaning the bulb chassis screen provided by InFocus to remove the bulb chassis (small flat head screwdriver, pop open the door, disconnect the white power cable and unscrew two screws on top left and bottom right holding the bulb chassis in.)
2. When you remove the bulb chassis, you will see a dust cave in the void that was occupied by the bulb chassis. I recommend that you do not attempt to brush or wipe the dust away while looking down in it. Instead, I recommend that you wipe it with the opening upside down (unit on it's side). Yes you might get some dust in your face but it sure beats having dust on your optics (that will really suck).
3. After you finish the bulb screen maintenance (vacuum that fine lung clogging dust from the screen) take a look at your colorwheel with a nice bright light shining overhead. If you dont see anything and its completely dark, move your big head out of the way.
Now once you see the colorwheel, do you see this?
If your colorwheel looks hazy, dusty, or does not show the colors of red-green-blue-clear or your color wheel looks nothing like the picture - you got a problem. Basically, your colorwheel surface must look like the surface of a mirror, like the one in the picture above, if you were to have the best colors and contrast.
** UPDATE
Through a thread started by Guy Kuo in the >$3500 forum, we are starting to find that the contamination may be a result of plastics gassing or giving off fumes that are ending up on the colorwheel. The gassing is most likely coming from the plastic housing of the bulb itself.
4. If yours doesn't, I assume thats the reason why you read on, go grab your wife/gf/SG's box of q-tips and start cleaning.
- Wet the q-tip so that it is DAMP. Not dripping with water. Water + PJ electronics = BAD
- With a very light stroke, rub the colorwheel glass with your q-tip. We're talking about very light stroke here..not your average-paint-removing-deoxidizing-rubbing compound method. Too much force will gaurantee you a service call to InFocus.
The q-tip will not stand this kind of abuse very long and will become frizzy. Replace it and get another. Wife's got plenty of them. You dont want that frizzy stuff in the PJ. Frizzy stuff caught in colorwheel = bad
Turn the wheel as you wipe off the dust. The wheel turns freely. Dont worry, that color change isn't the color coming off, its the dust. Youre unveiling the true colors of the wheel and restoring your faith in the X1.
You'll notice that with the wet q-tip alone, its not a very nice job. In fact, it looks like a mess you just made. Once you have loosen the dirt with the wet q-tip and removed the dirt, you'll need to go over it again with a dry q-tip to buff it to a shine. See picture again. Shine.
After youre done, take a look at the clear glass on the bulb chassis in which the light shines through, that should be clean too.
Slide the bulb chassis back into the PJ. Make sure the chassis is sitting down properly and that the screws are aligned. You might need to back out the screws a little more in order for the chassis to sit in correctly.
Reconnect the white power cable and carefully snap the door back in place.
Power up, recalibrate, and observe the colors. You may hear some colorwheel noise after your initial powerup but it should go away after 5 min.
Please keep in mind that this procedure is omitted from the owner's manual from InFocus. I feel that it should be but the delicate nature of the colorwheel may have reserved this maintenance for service centers. Do it at your own risk!
Thanks to Dennis Gardner for his feedback and fix for my issue.
I've decided to repost the result from my 'dead colors on X1' thread under a new subject heading in order to give more visibility to a potential issue with colors and brightness on your X1 that can be otherwise avoided with a simple maintenance procedure.
I felt that my X1 was going downhill and that a service call to InFocus was inevitable because of the poor color saturation and the awful brightness/contrast I was getting.
After many tries with different paints my final attempt with Home Depot Ultra Pure White revealed that the X1 was putting out poor and uncalibratable colors, brightness and contrast.
The procedure is actually very simple. You'll need a bunch of soft q-tips and a small dap of water to wet the tip.
1. Use the same procedure for removing and cleaning the bulb chassis screen provided by InFocus to remove the bulb chassis (small flat head screwdriver, pop open the door, disconnect the white power cable and unscrew two screws on top left and bottom right holding the bulb chassis in.)
2. When you remove the bulb chassis, you will see a dust cave in the void that was occupied by the bulb chassis. I recommend that you do not attempt to brush or wipe the dust away while looking down in it. Instead, I recommend that you wipe it with the opening upside down (unit on it's side). Yes you might get some dust in your face but it sure beats having dust on your optics (that will really suck).
3. After you finish the bulb screen maintenance (vacuum that fine lung clogging dust from the screen) take a look at your colorwheel with a nice bright light shining overhead. If you dont see anything and its completely dark, move your big head out of the way.
Now once you see the colorwheel, do you see this?
If your colorwheel looks hazy, dusty, or does not show the colors of red-green-blue-clear or your color wheel looks nothing like the picture - you got a problem. Basically, your colorwheel surface must look like the surface of a mirror, like the one in the picture above, if you were to have the best colors and contrast.
** UPDATE
Through a thread started by Guy Kuo in the >$3500 forum, we are starting to find that the contamination may be a result of plastics gassing or giving off fumes that are ending up on the colorwheel. The gassing is most likely coming from the plastic housing of the bulb itself.
4. If yours doesn't, I assume thats the reason why you read on, go grab your wife/gf/SG's box of q-tips and start cleaning.
- Wet the q-tip so that it is DAMP. Not dripping with water. Water + PJ electronics = BAD
- With a very light stroke, rub the colorwheel glass with your q-tip. We're talking about very light stroke here..not your average-paint-removing-deoxidizing-rubbing compound method. Too much force will gaurantee you a service call to InFocus.
The q-tip will not stand this kind of abuse very long and will become frizzy. Replace it and get another. Wife's got plenty of them. You dont want that frizzy stuff in the PJ. Frizzy stuff caught in colorwheel = bad
Turn the wheel as you wipe off the dust. The wheel turns freely. Dont worry, that color change isn't the color coming off, its the dust. Youre unveiling the true colors of the wheel and restoring your faith in the X1.
You'll notice that with the wet q-tip alone, its not a very nice job. In fact, it looks like a mess you just made. Once you have loosen the dirt with the wet q-tip and removed the dirt, you'll need to go over it again with a dry q-tip to buff it to a shine. See picture again. Shine.
After youre done, take a look at the clear glass on the bulb chassis in which the light shines through, that should be clean too.
Slide the bulb chassis back into the PJ. Make sure the chassis is sitting down properly and that the screws are aligned. You might need to back out the screws a little more in order for the chassis to sit in correctly.
Reconnect the white power cable and carefully snap the door back in place.
Power up, recalibrate, and observe the colors. You may hear some colorwheel noise after your initial powerup but it should go away after 5 min.
Please keep in mind that this procedure is omitted from the owner's manual from InFocus. I feel that it should be but the delicate nature of the colorwheel may have reserved this maintenance for service centers. Do it at your own risk!
Thanks to Dennis Gardner for his feedback and fix for my issue.
