Dim picture on my Themscene H56 - Any suggestions?

[PDMagicMan]

Hi people

I have been running my Themscene H56 for approx. 12 months now and have been absolutely delighted with it, I got it from Neil at Audiovision. I've used 465 hours on the lamp so far.

Now, during the past 3 or 4 films I've noticed that the picture is slowly getting dimmer to the point where it is now really obvious and is now making the film difficult to watch.

My question is, before I get in touch with Neil and/or Themescene, does anyone know what might be causing this? I've tried setting the settings back to factory default etc. but with no luck.

I've not been mistreating it in any way and use it to watch films and play on my xBox.

Any help most appreciated.

Cheers

Paul

[Gary Lightfoot]

It could be the lamp on it's way out, even though it's nowhere near it's rated life, sometimes that can happen. How big is your screen, and what are the rated lumens of the pj?

Have you tried adjusting the contrast up? You might be able to get some more brightness out of it that way, but idealy you should use a test disk to make sure you're not compromising the image with incorrect settings.

Is it equally dim on all inputs?

Gary.

[PDMagicMan]

I have tried various contrast & brightness settings to no avail. It is also the same on all inputs. Any other idea's?

[Paul D]

I suspect the lamp as well.
I'm not sure on your bulb warranty, so check to see if it's covered first.
If not, then you can try the following.

Cycle the lamp from low power to high over the space of an hour. Leave about 5mins between each cycle.
Stop at any point, if the lamp returns to normal brightness.
Sometimes the metallic vapour in the lamp can cluster on the element.
Cycling can sometimes help by releasing these particles.

Please note there is a risk that this may actually totally kill a bulb already on it's way!
Since it sounds as if it's on the way out anyway, you may have nothing to lose.

Try at your own risk etc...

[PDMagicMan]

Thanks for the suggestion although I'm not sure how to 'cycle from low to high power' as you suggested. As far as I can see my projector is either on or off and doesn't have any low/high power settings.

The bulb warranty is 90 days like most I think.

I will contact Neil and see if he has any suggestions.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Most projectors seem to have a high lamp and a low lamp mode (sometimes called eco mode). The H77 has it and it's found in the menus somewhere. Have a look in the manual or in the menu system when you next have it running and see if it's there.

Gary.

[BarryK]

Hi Paul,
What was the outcome of your problem. Was your lamp u/s and if so where did you get a replacement from. I have bought a H56A from neil also so would appreciate information incase I have a similar problem.
Barry

[PDMagicMan]

At Neil's suggestion I got in touch with Optoma and they collected it from me and had a look at it. Trouble from the start, I stayed in for when they said they would collect it and they didn't arrive. When I called them they said they had not logged the collection and so had to arrange it again.

I had to keep calling them to get an update on progress despite them having both my mobile and home phone number.

Finally they told me that the bulb had gone, after only 465 hours use. The unit is just over 12 months old and is permanently mounted in my home cinema room and is looked after very well, it is my pride and joy. So I was very unhappy.

They stated that a new bulb would be £339.00 + VAT. Of course I argued with customer services and finally had to speak to a manager before getting a 30% discount. However, I don't think I got dealt with very fairly as I know you can get a better starting prices else where so I probably only got around a 10% discount on prices else where.

Once the price was agreed it still took several days before my projector arrived back. It is working fine now but I'm scared to use it to some degree as I don't trust it anymore and I'm not in a position to afford another bulb any time soon.

I know that Optoma only give 3 months warranty on a bulb but 465 hours from what should be a 2000 hour bulb in my opinion is terrible.

I certainly won't be buying from Optoma again.

Apologies if my answer turned into a miny rant but you struck a nerve on this one.

:-)

Regards

Paul

[cyberheater]

That's shocking.

If they say that the bulb will last 2000 hours then they should stick to it.

At least they should have met you halfway on price.

Hope the new one last a bit longer this time.

[PJTX100]

Originally Posted by PDMagicMan

I know that Optoma only give 3 months warranty on a bulb but 465 hours from what should be a 2000 hour bulb in my opinion is terrible.

I certainly won't be buying from Optoma again.

Apologies if my answer turned into a miny rant but you struck a nerve on this one.

:-)

Regards

Paul

My sympathies and I agree this is very poor form from Optoma.

Though the bulb warranty is explicit, this bulb was clearly not fit for purpose if it lasted less than 25% of the average life.

All I can advise is to continue to enjoy your PJ to the full, perhaps the next bulb will last a lot longer.

And of course Optoma have done themselves no favours whatsoever on this and prospective purchasers have I'm sure taken note...PJ