Sony VPL-X600 brighter than VPL-CX11?! o.O

[Kimba]

Okay, you can colour me confused.

I'm currently using a Sony VPL-X600 (XGA, 650 ANSI lumens, LCD) projector in my home cinema system. I recently acquired a Sony VPL-CX11 (XGA, 1500 ANSI lumens, LCD) which was in need of a new lamp.
Since the VPL-CX11's lamp was past it's replacement time, I didn't think it was unusual to see a dimmer image in comparison to my older 650 lumen projector. When I replaced the lamp however, I found little or no improvement. It's still significantly less bright than my old Sony.
I can only think of two scenarios here;

(1) I haven't reset the lamp counter (while I know how to get to the factory and service menus in Sony projectors, I can't find how to do this - any tips?). Is there some clever Sony function which dims the lamp a little when it's past it's rated life? If this is the case, resetting the projector should fix it.

(2) I've got a frooged projector. I've heard that TFT panels tend to die reasonably quickly. Given that this unit was manufactured in 2001 and doesn't appear to have been too badly thrashed (especially in comparison to my much older X600), this seems a rather short lifespan.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

- Kimba

 

[Kramer]

Hi & welcome to the forums

I'm not familiar with either projector but IMO, you can safely discount reason 1. Resetting the lamp counter is unlikely to make any difference.

I assume you've got the PJ (with new lamp) set to normal/high power mode (assuming it has an "eco" mode or similiar)?

If the panels/optics are responsible for the reduced brightness, I'd expect other problems to be evident - discolouration etc...

Not much help but.............

 

[Kimba]

Thanks for your reply.

I have to say, this has me stumped. It's not the lamp counter or an eco mode (The VPL-CX11 doesn't appear to have one), and I've tweaked all the settings as much as I can. There isn't any discolouration of the panels (It's a reasonable enough picture), but the VPL-X600 still thrashes it in both vibrancy and brightness.

- Kimba