As we know the lumens output from digital projectors (and crt one for that matter) drops off in time. I have an Infocus 5700 paired with a Carada 106" diagonal 16:9 High Contrast Gray screen.
Currently I am very happy with the picture. Blacks are very deep and satisying though I can tell that there is some loss of detail in shaded scenes relative to my Sony XBR Reap projector in the family room. I do find that colors are just a little desaturated and that outdoor sky scenes often look as if they were shot on a hazy day, even when there's not a cloud in site. All three traits are doubtless related to my choice of a gray screen.
While, I'm happy with the trade-offs I'm making with my new projector, I am worried that as the bulb ages the image may lose its snap as the lumens decrease. From what I've heard the bulb on the 5700 and 7200 loses one-quarter of its brightness after 1000 hours and is down 50% at the recommended 2000 hour swap-out point.
I was considering just buying a new bulb, at a cost of about $450 every 1000 hours or so. However, i was wondering whether it would not be a better investment to instead purchae another Carada screen, this time say a bright white screen with a 1.4 gain versus the 0.8 gain of my current piece. With shipping, a new screen would set me back about $750.
I figure that if I swapped out screen after 1000 hours, instead of swapping out bulbs, my displayed brightness would be about 30% higher than with a new bulb on my old gray screen. At the 2000 hour point, my brightness would be 87.5% of a new bulb with a gray screen.
Then, when I replace the bulb at 2000 hours, I go back and re-install the Carada gray screen.
Such an approach would keep me within 30% brightness of my existing set-up. I would only need to replace the bulb every 2000 hours, instead of at 1000 hours. I figure if my projector has a total life of 4000 hours before I upgrade that means I would only ever have had to replace the bulb once for a total maintenance cost of $450 for the bulb plus $750 for the screen, i.e. $1200 total.
Were I to replace the bulb every 1000 hours, my total cost would instead be $1350 (3*$450).
So going with the two-screen route would actually be cheaper in the long run, plus I would have an extra screen which would give me more options when it comes time to upgrade my existing projector.
What do you guys think? Am I nuts?
Kurt
Currently I am very happy with the picture. Blacks are very deep and satisying though I can tell that there is some loss of detail in shaded scenes relative to my Sony XBR Reap projector in the family room. I do find that colors are just a little desaturated and that outdoor sky scenes often look as if they were shot on a hazy day, even when there's not a cloud in site. All three traits are doubtless related to my choice of a gray screen.
While, I'm happy with the trade-offs I'm making with my new projector, I am worried that as the bulb ages the image may lose its snap as the lumens decrease. From what I've heard the bulb on the 5700 and 7200 loses one-quarter of its brightness after 1000 hours and is down 50% at the recommended 2000 hour swap-out point.
I was considering just buying a new bulb, at a cost of about $450 every 1000 hours or so. However, i was wondering whether it would not be a better investment to instead purchae another Carada screen, this time say a bright white screen with a 1.4 gain versus the 0.8 gain of my current piece. With shipping, a new screen would set me back about $750.
I figure that if I swapped out screen after 1000 hours, instead of swapping out bulbs, my displayed brightness would be about 30% higher than with a new bulb on my old gray screen. At the 2000 hour point, my brightness would be 87.5% of a new bulb with a gray screen.
Then, when I replace the bulb at 2000 hours, I go back and re-install the Carada gray screen.
Such an approach would keep me within 30% brightness of my existing set-up. I would only need to replace the bulb every 2000 hours, instead of at 1000 hours. I figure if my projector has a total life of 4000 hours before I upgrade that means I would only ever have had to replace the bulb once for a total maintenance cost of $450 for the bulb plus $750 for the screen, i.e. $1200 total.
Were I to replace the bulb every 1000 hours, my total cost would instead be $1350 (3*$450).
So going with the two-screen route would actually be cheaper in the long run, plus I would have an extra screen which would give me more options when it comes time to upgrade my existing projector.
What do you guys think? Am I nuts?
Kurt
