[Boilermaker]

Having recently received a Vigatec Dune, I was finally going to have the opportunity of de-interlacing 1080I to watch the ultimate in 1080P. Unfortunately, my XG-1100 was not up to the task as the image was noticeably soft, and not as good as the 1080I. So, I drug out my old 9" GP-5000 and spent a couple of days tweaking every last drop out of it, thanks to the many previous posts in this forum. While the softness is 90% gone and the image is now better at 1080P than 1080I, I have to fight the very long warm-up time of this big beast before everything is "spot-on"!

For the last few days, I have been leaving the projector on, and just using the "picture mute" function to shut off the display. The convergence and focus drives stay on and keep everything at thermal equilibrium so there is no delay. There should be no tube burn without an image, and I figure the fans are good for 100,000 hours. While the heaters in the tubes are still on, at least they won't have to go through the thermal "on-off" shock. The biggest inconvenience I have found is that the mute function is a toggle, so I can't use it in a macro on my Pronto. Any comments?

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Brian Hampton]

Hi,


Just one comment, Can you just not send the projector a signal instead of using the picture mute function. If you black level is set so there is no light output for black then the two should be the same.


The only thing that may be different is if AKB is turned off when the pic-mute button is used and it's on when there is no signal. That could be a problem.


You could also set up another memory where the contrast and brightness are 0 and use that one when you want the black page. That would solve the pronto problem I think since it's not a toggle type feature.


Good Luck,


Brian



p.s. In no way do I advocate 24/7 operation, just trying to be helpful. Definitly would power down for Thunderstorms at the least.

 

[Boilermaker]

Brian - Thanks for your response. I had not thought of another memory position with zero contrast & brightness. That could be done easier with pronto. I don't understand why the AKB being on-off would be a problem; can you please explain?

I'm not too concerned about power problems as I use a two pole surge protector and filter system.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Brian Hampton]

Hi,


Well my only concern is that on some projectors the AKB may be on even in pic mute mode. The AKB draws a line on the top (or bottom) of the pic in order to get feedback from the tubes about current requirements to maintain white balance, or something like that. Anyways, what the end product may be is a small line always projected that would certainly burn in.


If you were to re-setup that projector in another config (different room, different size screen or throw distance) that line that was burned in could wind up being in the picture area.


Good Luck,


Brian

 

[Eric van Ballegoie]

Save the enviroment and start at home: Turn equipment off when you're not using it.

 

[Boilermaker]

Brian - Thanks for info on AKB - I looked in the lenses and found no line that was visible. I'm going to use your idea of using a different memory position as this will keep even the video circuits warm and it can be done with a macro on Pronto.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Per Johnny]

To my understanding - the GP series dosen't have any AKB circuit?


Per Johnny Ødegaard

 

[Boilermaker]

Johnny - I just checked the schematic and service manual - You are right - No AKB.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Vic C]

What I do is this BOILERMAKER,


I have my MACRO turn the entire AV system on EXCEPT my line doubler and power amps.(Pro power amps have NO IR or trigger remote on/off)


My projector is a manual on and off so its plugged into my racks power conditioner. I turn on the conditioner and this powers all my components and turns on the projector, which is now in stand by when there is no video fed from the doubler.


I let the projector warm up and all that but I can press MACRO 1 on my SONY AV2100 remote and turn on all the components so I can play CD's tapes, what ever I want. When the systems is ready or I am ready to watch somthing I simply go to my doublers control "page" and power it on. I now have video feed to the projector.


You could simply take your projectors power command out of the macro and just let the Pronto power up and down all your components and the line doubler. When the system is off, doubler off you should get nothing out of the projector and it will keep on running. When you power up it switches everything on and you have a picture on the screen.


just another thought.

 

[Art Sonneborn]

Is this true. We should be able to leave the CRT PJs on for 11 years before expecting the fans to give out ? One downside to the CRT is the warm up. If there aren't any other issues I would leave mine on all the time. Any other thoughts here?

 

[KennyG]

Yes, I can say that with my htpc turned off, the pj has no picture output what so ever.

I have always left my audio gear and computers on 24/7, unless I'll not be using it for several days in a row (so compputer is never down)...but, I've had a tough time leaving the pj run 24/7, for some reason I can't bring myself to let it run once I go to bed.

I'm sure it'd be alot better for the pj in every way, but 500 watts is alot of wasted power.

One thing for sure, once you fire it up, leave it running the rest of the day. If I fire mine up in the mourning, it stays on until bed.

 

[Art Sonneborn]

This is very interesting to me . I feel the same way about leaving the PJ on all the time. This may be an irrational fear but the darn system is so fragile that I haven't been able to pull myself to leave it on all the time. Even if it is a fuelish thing to do (to throw away the 500 watts) this isn't my main concern. Are there any other CRT owners out there who basically leave it on all the time in picture mute or with no source signal all the time? I really would love to get rid of the long warm up .

 

[KennyG]

Art, that's it exactly, there is so much inside one of these things that I too look at them as fragile...but, if we look at it realistically they aren't fragile at all. Sure, there's alot that could go wrong inside one of these beauties, but they are well built, in fact over-built!

Knock on wood, but I can't remember the last time I had a piece of electronic gear malfunction...I'm not sure I've ever had anything happen! I had a fan bearing wearout in my PC's power supply about two months ago, and the power supply burned up, but letting it run 24/7/365, you'd have to figure that would happen.

Another thought is resale value, for someone not versed in electricity and electronics, high chassis hours may be a problem.

 

[John Harbor]

From an Electronics point of view,

I work within the broadcast industry, and most equipment is left turned on from the first time it is switched on.

Most Equipment runs for many years with no electronic problems at all.

Most of the problems that are seen are mechanical ones ie, fans becoming noisy etc....but even this takes some years with good quality units.

Other faults are mostly related to mechanical usage such as mechanisms and heads etc wearing out although this is not relevant to Projectors.

The benefits of leaving things on are mostly related to thermal cycling, going from cold to hot every time the unit is switched on or off. That can lead to one of the main faults within the electronics industry.....Dry Joints.....These can sometimes be hard to find and may involve many hours of testing if the fault is intermittent.

The other problem with "Turn On" is the sudden "Inrush Current".

During this brief Period, Powersupplies can be stressed as a result of the higher than usual current flow at startup as all the capacitors etc charge up. Faults occurring at this time are common.


The disadvantages can be Power consumption(and its affect on the environment), risk of fire if unattended and if you are in an area where power can fail, remember the unit may not come back up on in the same memory position, So screen burns etc may be a problem if the unit displays something unexpected for long periods of time.This may not happen of course if the unit goes into standby mode at powerup, and needs another key press to fire it up.

Surge protection on the mains supply may also be worth thinking of if you intend to leave things switched on.


So there are many pro's and con's

The final choice I guess has to be based on those.


Cheers John

 

[Art Sonneborn]

As I said that 500 watts is a consideration. I would consider leaving the PJ on without any power to the sources such as DVD player and HD receiver. This should then make the worst thing to happen is it would go through the 15 minute warm up screen and then back to a blank screen if the power went out and then back on. I think if I were to leave town or something then I might turn the power off. Anyone else out there leave their CRTs on all the time?

 

[Boilermaker]

There is probably a point where so many hours watching per day, it becomes more effective to leave it on and vice versa. I agree with John that other than fans there are no moving parts. I have been doing this for a week, and I really love not dealing with the long warm up time. Obviously if I were to leave for a few days, I would turn it off. I always leave all my equipment on now except my power amps. My concern is not the waste of 500watts since I am in the heating season anyway and I have electric heat. I have found that previously even after a long warm up I would feel the need for a touch up once in a while (I am a confirmed tweek-a-holic). That has not happened in the last week, as everything is as good as I can possibly get it, and it stays that way!

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Aslan]

Interesting post. I was just doing a search before posting something similar.


Anyway, I have a D50 and often am tempted to either leave it on all the time, or at least throughout a day (eg, when I use it in the morn and know that I'll be using it in evening as well). Same thought about the pic mute and warm-up time.


My concern though is CRT life. Am I reading this thread correctly that the life of the tubes is only reduced when there's an actual image on the screen and that if the pic is muted or it's receiving either no or a black signal that there is no negative impact on CRT life?


Thanks,


Aslan...

 

[Art Sonneborn]

I've wanted to get a definitive answer to this for some time. What I think is the question is also the warm up issue itself. When I warm up my system and watch something in the morning and then turn off the signal source like the DVD player I get a black screen. Eight hours later the DVD player goes back on and the system is still warmed up. If it is the CRTs , heating, and expansion of a non solid state device why doesn't it require at least some minimal warm up? Since I don't understand exactly what happens during the warm up process I'm still reluctant to leave them on all the time for fear other effects are there which I misssed or didn't understand. Is 24/7 harnd ion other components. I've heard some responses to these questions but since this is a CRT forum I've been very surprised that this hasn't been answered by many many more folks.