OFFICIAL Sony HS50(51) thread - Page 186

These kinds of reports are exactly the kind of thing that makes me pause in replacing my perfectly working HS20 with an HS51a/HS60. Honestly, while I'm impressed by the performance at the price point, I'm thinking that that is too LITTLE to pay and that a slighly more expensive unit would have better quality control. Going south just out of warranty is not a good thing.

Have you actually been reading the reports on the Sony Ruby ($10K) projector thread?

Sony has now changed their policy so that a 2-pixel offset misconvergence is now considered "within spec". Try getting something fixed going through Laredo.

I think spending more $$$ for better QC is the wrong way of looking at it.

A better solution would be looking at a company with better QC instead.

And who, pray tell, would that be?

I think the blob mentioned a few threads ago, is the same thing that happened to mine, and it progressively got worse over a few a weeks. I ended up sending it in under the guise of needs BIOS update, as well us typing up my own 'within 2 years' invoice for warranty servicing. It was an ebay buy so I didn't have the official invoice.

I ended up getting a new lens assy, hardware adjustments, and the bios update. I was able to talk to tech, and he said it was a burnt polarizer as well as panel damage. My new len assy is also black, like the hs-51a.

There are only 2 things I can attribute it to, since both occured around the same time, using the near 100 contrast settings + the record heat in California. I'm guessing the combination of both just burnt it out.

I did orginally think it was a blob, so I took the liberty of opening up my proj, and used compressed air and optical swabs to give the panels and polarizers a good cleaning. It did nothing.

Btw DJOS, just curious how can it be out of warranty? It's a limited 2yr, you should still have a good 2 months on it, if you were an early adopter.

The warranty is only 12months here in Aus!

That sucks.

I have the same problem.
To be quite honest I think this projector is a heap of **** and Sony's support is abysmal.
I for one will not buy another Sony pj or any of their products in the future.

Over the weekend my projector lost about 75% of it's brightness with only 670 hours on the bulb - looking around here and avforums it seems that's a fairly common complaint against the projector and a sign that the bulb has reached the end of it's life.

So now I'm stuck with a dilema - do I buy a new bulb, or throw the Sony in the bin and go for something else.

As such, I'm hoping to get some views from people on here about the 'reality' of Sony's bulb life .. if I go for a new Sony Bulb, should I expect to see somewhere near the advertised 3000hrs, or am I only likely to get another 600hrs before it dims again?

Thanks all!
Matt

Greetings,

I think the answer is obvious. Buying a new lamp versus a new projector is a no brainer. Now, if you were already contemplating upgrading then that is another matter. A new lamp costs $300. A new projector costs $2000 ( depending on which one you are considering). I had a premature failure with one lamp when I had the HS51. I now have the 51a and have 270 hours on the original lamp.

I think it is important that everyone remember that the failure is not the fault of the projector but the fault of the lamp. Premature lamp failures are certainly not restricted to Sony projectors. This is one of the potential issues when purchasing a UHP lamp driven display. The benefit is the ability to have beautiful, large images on our theater screens for relatively little money.

Regards,

Ralph,

I'm not sure I agree with you there - I saw at least one post where a guy said he'd used his projector for 3000hrs and was on his 5th bulb, having replaced it every 600hrs because of severe dimming. At $300 a bulb that's then starting to approach new projector territory!

Especially if the new projector has a more 'reliable' bulb that truly does last 2000+ hrs...

Hence the question - are the Sony bulbs *likely* to fail prematurely?

M

Greetings,

Based upon the scenerio you describe above that would be accurate. However that scenerio you describe is certainly not the norm. I am not sure what his viewing habits are and how he uses the projector. Having to replace 5 lamps all at 600 hours due to severe dimming may be indicative of another problem. At the time I sold my HS51 I had had it for almost a year and a half. The original lamp had 800 + hours on it with no dimming problems. The backup lamp I purchased did have problems at 350 hours. I called Sony Customer service and got the lamp replaced under warranty.

That (knock on wood) is the only lamp related problem I have experienced and have now owned 3 Sony front projectors.

Regards,

My first HS51 lamp lasted 812 hours. The second lamp is still going strong after 1005 hours.

My first lamp made it 719 hours.
Now on second lamp.

strange thing, though - sometimes when I turn the projector on, the "clicks" that occur sound different than they used to. crazy, I know, but the relay clicking does not sound the same with the new bulb. I have no idea how that could be.

One other thought.

anyone take a look at their first bulb that died after < 1000 hours?

we used our bulb for mostly movies and used a cinema-like user mode (low lamp mode) and after I pulled the bulb at 719 hours or so, I noticed a lot of black veins inside the curved portion of the back of the bulb - almost like a blood-shot eye.

I wonder if bulbs that die within the period of the life expentancy (2000-3000) hours appear this way as well.

My first bulb has 1000 hours on it and I now use it for my back up bulb, I did not notice it dimming. My second bulb now has 2700 hours on it and I don't notice it being exceptionally dim.

Sent my HS51 projector into Laredo for repair. I was getting a pink tint on the right side of the image. When I looked up my account today, I see they have written that they need an approval for $349.99 from me. That sounds like a lamp. The lamp had 645 hours on it. My understanding is that they should last from 2000-3000 hours.

First of all, there's NO WAY I'm paying $350 for a lamp that I can buy elsewhere for $270. Secondly, is there any chance I can get them to cover the lamp since it is failing WAY below the expected life?

I will be calling them soon. What would you advise me to tell them? How should I handle this?

Hi There:

While I am still using the Sony HS51 P.J. and very much enjoying it I had a ? which is annoying. My lamp burned out at 1400 hours (bang!) and I replaced it. Now @ 2000 hours I get the screen prompt to replace lamp. I have done the
reset-left-right-enter, all to no avail as the next time I turn on system the prompt is still there. Do I physically need to remove lamp and re-install it??? I have just repaced filter so power has been shut off. Seems like a stretch. BTW I love the projector. Thanks, this is very irritating.

John

My HS20 gave me a "replace filter" reminder - just after I had replaced the filter. I ignored it and it went away.

When I turn the dial to adjust the image's vertical position, vertical lens shift, it keeps rotating without the image moving and then drops all of a sudden. Is this a common problem? Does the warranty cover this issue?

Thanks
Gireesh

Yep common problem with these, just turn the dial slow until you feel the resistance a little and the image starts to move. I you do it slow enough you it should not just drop and once it starts moving you can continue. The pain is that if you adjust to much then you need to correct by changing directions you have to take up all the play yet again until it moves the other way again.

Thanks... I have noticed that too... has anyone gotten Sony to repair this problem?

Has anyone had issues running 720p signals to their HS51A via HDMI? When I do so through my 82TXS set to 720p I get a bright blue stripe down the right side and a green stripe along the top edge.

Thanks

Is the HS-51A the same as the HS-60? They sell both in the US but the HS-51A is often more expensive. Some say they are the same projector. Is the HS-60 the over seas equivalent of the HS-51?

Does anyone have any reccomendations for a DVD player that can up-convert to 720p (for my HS51A) without using the HDMI cable? I already have my component cables routed all the way to the projector and adding another cable or replacing what I have with an HDMI is more than I want to do right now, but I do need a new DVD player...

I know some people here like the Bravo player, but that is all with HDMI cables, correct?

FYI - Best deal I have come across for a replacement lamp.

http://www.projector.com/pgs/1900/La...rojectors.html

Has any one gone over 1500 hrs on the lamp and still has enough lumen?

That is a good price Hawkeye.

BTW, since I posted on here about a new DVD player and nobody replied, I went out and purchased an LG DN191H, which says on the back that it can send the 720p or 1080i through component. I hooked it up and am very happy with the results, especially since it is less than $100.

I checked the specs on this model and the upconversion for 1080i specifies over HDMI.

I thought that it was illegal for any upconverting DVD player to output 720p or 1080i over component.

Are you sure about this?

Gary

I am sure.

Not sure how long this image will be available at Best Buy's site, but here goes:

It is for copy-protected DVDs in the U.S. The player is supposed to prohibit upconversion over analog outputs. However, some players made for international distribution do allow this, and some that do not, out of the box, can be made to with a f/w hack or service menu selection.

Homemade copies stripped of CP will upconvert on all players.

Usually plenty of info on this subject in the player section.