Is there anyway to tell how much longer the bulb will last in my TV? I think it's losing brightness but it's very hard to tell. It seems darker than it used to be but sometimes it seems ok. HD material is ok but SD content looks darker. Is there any way to tell what the life is at? Or how many hours are on the TV?
dsa_shea
10-17-09, 03:42 PM
Mine has been telling me to replace the bulb for more than a month and I bought an extra one. However, I'm waiting until the original bulb dies before I swap them out. I have also been looking for signs other than a built in timer to tell me that the bulb is really near death.
Spiky
10-17-09, 09:37 PM
It should tell you the time used or something somewhere in the menus. Mine (Panasonic) changes the time in the menu from white to red when it gets close, then starts blinking the time when it gets closer, and then when it gets really close it shows me a little warning sign every time I turn it on (no menu needed).
dsa_shea
10-17-09, 10:25 PM
Mine shows the warning every time that I turn on the set. However, the picture quality isn't any different than what it was when I first bought it so I'm not sure. I guess I'll just wait until it doesn't come on anymore and then switch the bulb. Is there any danger in waiting until the bulb actually burns out?
Spiky
10-18-09, 12:33 AM
A lamp could explode, possibly causing damage to something else. So you have to decide what is worthwhile, pushing it further or not. My first lamp started really having issues. Not always firing up, flickering when it was on, noticeably dimmer, etc. That's besides the warning I described above. So it was pretty easy to know when to replace it. But each lamp is different, let alone different TVs, so you can't assume it will always behave a certain way.
It is best to know the rated life of your lamp, usually something like 5000 for RPTVs, then find the spot where it tells you the time used for the current lamp, there's gotta be a place, possibly in a service menu.
Sdallnct
10-18-09, 09:30 PM
The bulb in my front projector exploded and damaged the unit. Luckily still under warranty.
llandros
11-09-09, 05:00 PM
When mine blew this Saturday, I had no warning at all. Just waiting on the replacement and nervous that it may have damaged something inside. Should know by Thursday at least.
Mr. Salty
11-09-09, 06:15 PM
Is there anyway to tell how much longer the bulb will last in my TV? I think it's losing brightness but it's very hard to tell. It seems darker than it used to be but sometimes it seems ok. HD material is ok but SD content looks darker. Is there any way to tell what the life is at? Or how many hours are on the TV?
I don't know of a way to tell when a bulb will die, but I know how you can tell how many hours are on the bulb in a Sony HDTV. These instructions are for an SXRD, but probably apply to other Sony HDTVs as well:
Enter the service menu by pressing Power-off, Display, 5, Vol+, Power-On in sequence on your remote control.
Go into the PANEL section of the service menu (Press Jump until PANEL displays)
Item 21 TIMER / 0 LMP_TMP will tell you the # hours on your bulb
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