OFFICIAL Sony HS50(51) thread - Page 190

Mine did the same thing, the image became very dark after about 200 hours. I was not happy, but sent it back and Sony replaced the bulb with no charge. I noticed they also set the high altitude mode which causes the fan to run more often (even though I'm not in high altitude location) and it's been fine since then, I think I have about 800 hours on the replaced bulb. I was extremely frustrated at the time, but Sony did take care of it and the turnaround was very fast. Definitely make sure high altitude is set so that the fan runs more often.

Also make sure you aren't cutting the power to the projector when you power down the system -- the fan needs to run several minutes after the projector light turns off, if the fan doesn't run, the bulb will burn out quickly. I put a UPS on the projector only to prevent this issue since we have frequent power outages in our area (not sure why)

Then maybe it is the DVI-VGA converter (recommended previously for get point2point with older units and video quality), I'll try HDMI direct and other methods and let you all know

given the devaluation of the unit, I'm just going to make it work and its worth keeping if only I can play Wii games on it !

Pjp, thanks for your input, I hope I don't have to swap the bulb as we don't get service for electronics usually after 1 year here in Hong Kong.

Given that the first bulb failed at 170 hours, it's likely that they will replace it anyway. I think mine might have been out of warranty at the time, but they replaced it without question because 170 hours is simply too soon. Also, there were many, many people that had this problem, so Sony knows it was an issue so my guess is they will do the right thing if you push them even modestly. Given that their "fix" with my unit was to turn on the high altitude setting, seems like their original setup did not have the fan come on soon enough - so they really had a design issue. Good luck with it.

dear friends
I switched to pure HDMI but it didn't help a lot, however next day when I just remove it away from my isolation transformer (projector wasn't on that day), for the first time I unplug the power to the HS50 after it was on for < 5 seconds

then what happen is when I try to switch it on a clacking alarm would come on (almost sound like a fan is broken) and the projector will go back to standby right away. Removing the power does not change anything. Seems either something is broken or it is waiting for a reset (like "is it safe now ?) signal

any suggestions ? am i out of luck ? I will find the dealer tomorrow

Well it seems people lost an interest in this thread some time back, but I thought I'd post a little something. I believe strongly that most companies DO employ some form of planned obsolescence. In the vpl-hs51's case, the ventilation is COMPLETELY inadequate.

Stock settings, you can make out 'heat waves' (much like looking at asphault on a very hot day) when you are very close to the screen after only 1.5 hours! This is very subtle, and not really noticeable at all unless you are right up to the screen, which, by nature most people wouldn't notice. With high altitude setting on, this increases to about 2-3 hours before onset, but going more than that DOES start to put heat wear on this model like you wouldn't believe.

An easy fix? Hot glue two regular computer muffin fans to the front grill and wire to a 12v AC adapter. For me, I can now run the projector, even on High lamp, without any 'shivering' or 'shakies' when looking up close. This should, in theory, prolong the life of the lamp and the projector a great deal. Scanning this thread there are reports of people who sent their pj in and had the fan upgraded and high altitude switched on. I firmly believe this was a known issue, and they did nothing about it. Also, if you are having issues with shakies and know its not heat, try putting something moderately heavy on top of the projector, like a portable jump starter or a speaker.

Anyway, I recently got this pj off ebay and am loving the hell out of it. Playing team fortress 2 on a 12 foot screen FTW.

Hey Krazy, I have had mine for a little over two years now and have not noticed any issues, although I don't do as you say and get that close to the screen. I do have a pipe in front of the projectors vent that leads to the attic with a triggered fan on the other end of the pipe, so that helps a ton! I noticed that the room was getting warm and found that the in-line fan I had at the end of the tubing (I put flex-line on the tubing once it was in the attic) had fallen off the tube.

I have been very satified with my HS-51 since 1/2005. Second bulb up to 1500 hrs.

I am considering an upgrade to a new 1080 LCD unit, and the HS-51 must have heard me.

Over the past several months I have had difficulty getting the handshake over HDMI from the Sony. Now I get ZIP, either it just studders, looking to sync or I get an out of frequency fault indication. Outputting device(s) direct to projector. I have been limping by on component.

I have tried all of the normal turn A on then B, B on then A, with no luck.

HDMI cable is the same one I was using all along, even tried a new 35' 22 GA from MONOPRICE, NO help. All works well with another HDMI display I have with same cables and players.

Any ideas? I do not think it is worth a service repair. I would just like some support from you all to convince the wife we need a new projector.

Steve

Hi, I have had the VP-HS50 for three years and more now. I used to run it with a DVDO IScan HD+ and the ISCAN broke down twice in three years. The only connection was an HDMI - it was a 30 feet cable.

I have a the Cable HD box and a progressive scan player from Toshiba connected to it via the ISCAN HD+. I got lousy service (practically none from DVDO) so I decided to just get me a new receiver. I bought a brand new Onkyo TX-SR875 which upconverts all signals over HDMI. I connected the cable box to the receiver via HDMI and the DVD player via component and my Nintendo Wii via composite.

I have set the Onkyo to output over HDMI (it can output over HDMI and component) at 720P resolution which is the native resolution for the Sony.

I had no trouble with video switching with the ISCAN, with exactly the same configuration my SONY does not display a picture through the Onkyo. I continue to get a clicking sound as if the projector is trying to handshake but not able to.

I ran the following tests

- See if the ONkyo's output (when trying to use its onscreen settings functions) worked on their own with the SOny thus elminating any HDCP issues coming over from the HD source. IT did NOT.

- I bought a cheap 19" LCD flat panel and used the SAME cable to connect to the Onkyo and voila it worked.

I have come to the conclusion that its the Sony and not the Onkyo that is at fault here and that its to do with HDCP handshaking. I did notice from time to time even when I had the ISCAN that when I tried to connect to the cable box it would give me a "failure to authenticate" signal and the message would go away after some time and I would still get the picture.

Any thoughts on what I can do?

Ya know I am in kind of the same boat you are BT1, except my damn hs51 is working flawlessly, I would really like to upgrade but it just keeps going. And it still has good pic with about 800 hours on the lamp. At least you can show the wife that it don't work. Good luck.

I would like to upgrade as well but every time I turn on my HS-51 I still really enjoy the picture it throws. I have 900 hours on it. If you were to upgrade would you stay in the Sony family? What is the consensis here is the latest Sony offerings standing up to the competition in the same price range?

I would and most likely will stay with Sony, I have had no problem with my hs51 and have been looking at the new sxrd projectors like the 10 or 70 (can't afford the 70). I will still look around and see what is out thier before making a desision, but my hs51 is still looking good and working great so it will be a while before I attempt to talk the wife into an up-grade. By the way how big of a screen are you using?

I am using a 96 inch Stewart Firehawk and I have been very happy with the combination.

I wished I would have went a little bigger in my room, I have the same screen you do except it is a 92". It does have a great picture though, we watched Iron Man on blu ray over the weekend and it was very impressive.

I have not made the blu ray plunge yet but I do have a new pre-pro the Integra 9.8 that will take advantage of the new lossless audio formats. Waiting on the sidelines for someone to come out with a player that is worth the investment. I still ove my Pioneer DV59-AVi that does a great job with standard format DVD's. OPPO is designing a new player right now that should be out this winter, I am going to wait for that one I think. Which blu ray player are you using and are you happy with it?

I am using an older Panasonic dmp-bd10a blu ray player, it has internal decoding for dolby truehd and dts hd but not master audio. I needed the analog output for my system. So far the it has been working great, it has had two or three firm ware upgrades and has played all blu ray's I have rented or bought. I do have a ps3 on another tv but my kids don't let me get near it much. I bet that Integra 9.8 is awsome.

hi, i just bought a used sony vpl-hs50 and dum as i am i started started playing with the factory settings. well i didn't think about writing down the old settings, and now the image look really bad.
So i was wondering if somone could tell me the original settings?
thanks in advance