Hi this is my first post I have been looking in for quite a wile now but I work away all week & only have a quick look in on weekends. I have had a few experements with projectors when I can find the time but I have always been disapointed with the brightness of the light engine. Iam very interested in the 40 series plasma light engine. At the moment I have been using a sharp lcd projector which I performed several experements with from 70 watt hid to cree led's all worked OK except only in a dark room not as bright as the original bulb, I observed the inner part of th 70 watt bulb was the same size as th original 260 watt bulb so removed he outer glass & mounted the inner bulb in the reflector, not very bright on 70 watts so since I aquired the bulb for nothing I conected it up to 250 watt ballest worked fine bright s original bulb, the 70 watt had 6000 hour life I thought ths may drop to 2000 hours like the original bulb, but I have been testing it watching movies every weekend for a couple of months writing down the hours it finly failed at 104 hours at 40$ a bulb would be cheaper to use the original bulb. Any how I will keep an eye the new plasma light, have to save my pennys

that's an interesting experiment you did. I know that the life decreases exponentially when using a lower wattage lamp fired up to higher wattage. I'm not sure how a 40 series lamp can be retrofitted, there would some issues with size of the light unit firstly, but I think it can be done with some experimentation.

If you are looking for a decent replacement lamp, ywh at diyaudio sells very short arc lamps that are designed for commercial projectors at about 2000hr life and 80 USD per lamp ($5 shipping). From what I have seen, majority of people that have used them have stated that the projector is as bright as before,

Would be good to see some 40 series tests though!

I would love to see some pics of the retro fit you did. Yes, burning a bulb higher then it is rated will definetly decrease its life as you demonstrated.
Soon as I get a 40 series Plasma here to test we will have some asnwers but like you I have tested many light sources and I like the plasma best. it really makes the image "pop"!
I am working on a small arc light engine using 250w and 400w MH bulbs. dont know if they will be small enough but you may want to use the 250w bulb to experiment with.

__________________
www.DIYProjectorkits.com

I will post some pics when I find time to remove the bulb from the projector & show my modifications. if I use the 40 series plasma I intend to make a new projector using a 15 inch wuxga monitor, I have a 15 inch compaq monitor I have been experminting with using 400 watt hid bulb but the polersing film is very dark & image is dull it dont seem to have any anti glare film I can remove so if I can aquire a 40 series light source I will upgrade to a 15 inch wuxga monitor. I also have a 12 inch monitor off a dell laptop but have no way of powering it up the name on monitor & seral number torisan tft-lcm TM121SV-02L07B does anyone know if it is posible to power this monitor from an external power source & connect it a PC like a normal pc monitor.

Here are some pics of the reflector & bulb mods for my sharp projector, the reflector housing has ben modified to allow the bulb to slide in & out to find the focal point, the bulb had the outer uv glass removed & is held in a stainless tube with plaster. I havent checked the bulb since it failed until now as you can see it appears to have melted at one end the electrode brobley burned down to close to the glass. The bulb was second hand & I dont know how many hours it was used on 70 watts but it lasted 104 hours on 250 watts. the first pic shows the bulb removed from the reflector with the projector in the background & the 250 watt ballest to the right second pic shows a sad bulb.

Attached Thumbnails

   

Yep, one side definetly melted! wasnt there enough room to do the same thing to the other side with the plaster and sleeve? how did it fit in the reflector housing? how did you mod it to be able to move the bulb?

__________________
www.DIYProjectorkits.com

Hi i just arrived home from working away in coffs harbor all week. In answer to your question about the mod allowing the bulb to be adjusted & removed, I removed the original bulb from the reflector by breaking it away & chipping away the plaster or cement substance that held it in place until I had a clear hole in the back of the reflector, then I poked a screwdriver through the hole from the back & observed from the front roughly where the focal point was, then I mounted a piece of half inch water pipe with a locking screw on top it at the back of the reflector, I roughly knew where the focal point was so when I mount the bulb in the stainless pipe I made it log enough to be adjusted in & out at the focal point. The projector at that time was all apart on the bench so I was able to move the bulb in & out to obtain the best results while observing the picture on the wall. The idea was if successfully & the bulb lasted 500 hours or more it would be easy to change. I also try ed this experiment with 150 watt bulb roughly the same dia just longer ark the result was no different to the 70 watt bulb I could adjust it in & out with out much change in brightness as the reflector only focus on one point. Any one have any answer to my question about connecting the 12 inch laptop monitor to a PC?

Tricky one.

I'd say it's easier to connect it back to the laptop and use the built in controller to use it. But then you loose the ability to show the PC's screen on the laptop (unless you are remote controlling it or using RDP) since there are few computers which have a input VGA/Composite/DVI connection. To use an external controller (MST/PW etc.) you probably would need to send it to the controller manufacturers to be coded to work with your specific panel.

CrazyChen would know more about this than I do, I'm still learning

__________________

Gary that def was a nice fit for the commercial. The 40 series has incredible numbers and is smaller then the 30 series plasma...we just need to be able to bring one into the shop to test out but that might be a little while (wish they would send us a free one haha)

__________________
** Mike **
Webmaster
Audio/Video Enthusiast
www.DIYProjectorKits.com

Thanks guys for all your info I'll just have to wait for the 40 series & build a new projector using a 15 inch wuxga monitor. Any how it will give me time to pennies.

Yep the 40 is available you just let us know when you are ready to fit one

__________________
** Mike **
Webmaster
Audio/Video Enthusiast
www.DIYProjectorKits.com

WOW Mike did you say the 40 series is available are you to fit one to a prototype & show some screen shots?