After some years of use, you will notice that your projector lamp is dimming and near to completely out of work. Wondering what have you done wrong? Well, nothing in this case as with all electronics the projector lamps also have a running life that is measured in terms of the lamp hour.
Normally the projector bulb or lamps have 40K to 60K lamp hour life and for laser lamps, it is 25K to 30K lamp hours and lasts for 15 to 20 years. If you use your projector daily then to keep a check you must know how to check the projector lamp hour so you can arrange lamp replacement before it completely dies out.
These lamps are expensive and you may not be able to spend so much immediately so better to save ahead. Checking the lamp life is quite an easy task and here is a quick guide for you, learn these simple steps to keep posted on your projector’s condition always.
Contents
What is a Projector Lamp?
A projector bulb or lamp is the light source that enables the digital projections to appear on the walls or screen. The projector lamp uses high-intensity lumens to deliver extra bright lights for better visibility. Normally the projector lamps are made from metal halide or ARC while some projectors also use the LED or laser lamps. For HD or 4K resolution visuals, the preferred intensity is about 2000 lumens or above for clear and proper pixels.
How Does the Projector Lamp Works?
Commonly in the mercury or pressurized gas-filled in ARC bulb lights up when an electric signal or current pulse travels through it. This light then shines over the LCD or digital light processing panel resulting in the image or any digital projection appearance on the screen.
Projector lamps require the bulbs to produce very bright light, as the higher the brightness intensity the better the picture quality of the projector.
The working of the projector lamps is the same in modern and older designs, be it wall-mounted, slide, or movie projector.
What is meant by lamp hour?
Lamp hour is the unit to measure the running life of a lamp or bulb. Lamp hour is measured by the number of hours a lamp has been operated in full mode. Usually, projector lamps’ life span varies from 20000 to 60000 lamp hours, meaning you can operate a lamp for 20 to 3o years running it for 4 to 5 hours a day.
Average lamp hour of projector
The average lamp hour of projector lamps is 25k t0 30k, while the standard metal halide or ARC lamps die out after 4000 to 5000 hours. It is observed that most of the lamps if run on half intensity can run for more hours like a led lamp with 20000 hours life run on half intensity can last for 40000 hours. Laser and led lamps tend to deliver more lamp life and are mostly used now in modern designs but may be more costly than the metal halide ones.
See also: Top 12 Best Short Throw Projectors for This Year
Methods of Checking Projector Lamp Hour
Lamp hours of the projector lamp can be checked from the display menu of a projector. Although with so many brands and designs each projector’s menu and lamp life display option is different. So a user manual will be a great help, in this case, to figure out where to find the lamp life option on the menu. Perhaps the title of the menu is different like in one model you find it in the information section while in the other one in the settings menu.
While in older models of affordable projectors checking the lamp life was a far easier task, you have two power on and off button you have to press them and hold for about 20 seconds and the projector will display the lamp hours on the screen for you to note down.
Here is a general guide for you to check the lamp life on any model of projector.
- Plugin the projector and turn it on.
- Once it is heated and starts throwing light on the screen open the menu.
- Find and choose the Setup option.
- In Setup select the properties or information category.
- Then go to details and select lamp life on the menu.
- Now you can check the lamp hours or lamp life of your projector.
You can get the remaining lamp hours of the bulb with this menu and have an update before the lamp starts getting dimmer and dies out.
How to Calculate the Remaining Lamp Hours
If you want to assess that how long your projector lamp would last in the remaining lamp hours then take the remaining lamp hours and minus them from the suggested average life span by The Company. Once you got the number then divide it by the no of hours you use the lamp you will get the days it will last before you need a replacement.
Calculating the remaining lamp life is good practice so that you can have a better idea of how well which kind of lamp performs and are they delivering productivity as long as the company claimed so.
Related: Top 12 Best Projector Under 200 Reviews
Final Words
Checking the lamp hour of the projector bulb is a fairly easy task and with a help of the user’s manual and following these simple steps you can get the remaining lamp life of your projector. It is also beneficial in case that the lamp is getting dimmer so you can figure out whether the lamp life is depleting or there are other issues with the lamp like it is burning out.
Planning ahead with keeping aside smaller amounts to buy the projector lamp replacement and saving yourself from the last-minute panic with a dead lamp can be done with just keeping a simple regular check on the lamp life.
Hopefully, you now have a clear idea about what is lamp-hour and how can you check it on your projector.