» Replacement Projector Lamps and Bulbs

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Is it projector lamp or projector bulb? Both is the answer. The words lamp and bulb are commonly interchanged however, they are different things. A bulb is the glass enclosed filament with reflector and any integrated electronics. For installation in a projector, a bulb is installed in a lamp module for ease of installation and handling. Lamp is a shortening of lamp module and so refers to a lamp mounted in its module.

Do I need a replacement projector bulb?

If you have no light at all then this is a not a problem to determine however, if your light output appears dimmer than you remember then it’s not quite a simple.

Expected Projector Bulb Life

Expected bulb life varies with the bulb type, projector technology and its usage conditions.

The graph of the hours to failure of a particular bulb forms a bell shaped curve so although your bulb may not have reached the rating given by the manufacturer you may have been statistically unlucky or have not been diligent with following the guidelines for improving your bulbs life expectancy.

Projector Bulb Types and Lamp Life

The most common projector bulb type is the metal halide. With metal halide, total lamp life is not a very useful measurement, they typically do not burn out, but gradually grow dimmer. Common life expectancy for metal halide bulbs is 1,500 to 2,000 hours.

Philips manufactures a proprietary UHP (Ultra High Pressure) lamp based on an extremely short mercury arc operating at immensely high pressures. UHP lamps require lower wattage for equivalent brightness, which results in a longer lamp life up to 6000 hours.

Lamp life for metal halide and UHP projector bulbs is given as the number of hours till the lamp reaches half (50%) of its initial brightness. Some manufacturers give a lamp peak rating which is the hours a bulb will last until ANSI lumens output falls to somewhere around 80 – 90% of the rated value.

Cheaper halogen bulbs have a much shorter life expectation. Halogen bulbs maintain a consistent brightness throughout their life and blow suddenly. Lamp life for halogen bulbs is an estimate of the mean time to failure.

Many projectors have a bulb use timer which combined with knowledge of the bulbs rated life and usage conditions can be used to estimate lamp life left.

Purchasing a Replacement Projector Bulb or Lamp

Replacement projector lamps are sold as bulbs or lamps (lamp modules). Replacing a lamp module is a fairly simple procedure generally requiring nothing more than the correct size screwdriver. The most important precaution to take is to avoid any contact with the bulb surface as even oil deposits from fingerprints can cause temperature hot spots on the glass surface and reduce bulb life.

Installing a projector bulb into the module depends to some degree on experience as just the right amount of tightening is required or premature failure may result. It’s safer to either get someone experienced to replace the bulb or purchase the bulb as a lamp (module).

The most common warranty applying to replacement projector bulbs and lamps is 3 months or 500 hours. To claim a warranty the blown lamp must be returned to base (RTB). Commonly you only have 7 days to return a lamp which arrives damaged. It pays to test a lamp as soon as it arrives. If the lamp is to be a spare it is a good idea to install it for the warranty period (it goes from the date of purchase) then store it and re-install the original bulb.

Purchasing a replacement lamp when you purchase a projector can be cheaper than at a later date.

Wasting your Money – Copy Lamps and Branded Copy Lamps

Copy lamps are commonly not manufactured to the original manufacturer’s specifications and/or with the same manufacturing processes. There may also be health and safety risks. Given this, there should be no expectation that the copy bulb will have the same performance or is safe to use in your projector. A final risk to consider is that the copy lamps are illegal.

Branded copy lamps a copy lamps which have been given a brand name.

Diamond Lamps –Less Expensive Option than Original Manufacturers Lamps

All Diamond Lamps use genuine, original bulbs supplied directly from the manufacturer that supplied the projector manufacturer. Projector bulb manufacturers include Philips, Osram, Ushio, Phoenix, Iwasaki (Eye), Matsushita and Epsom. As they are original manufacturer lamps they have the same performance as the one supplied in the projector.

Diamond Lamps come with the original manufacturers’ warranty terms with a longer than average time of 4 months.

Diamond Lamps does not have a complete range but do cover around 500 of the most popular branded projectors. They are working to further expand the range. Diamond Lamps are available globally through resellers and dealers.

A possible detraction is invalidation of the projector warranty however; most likely it will have already expired. The projector bulb being from the same original manufacturer with the same performance seems to make this a small risk.