LED Replacement for LCD projector Bulbs

radiojock asks: "OK, I've got a question -- has anyone ever seen a way to replace a LCD projector's bulb (they burn out way too easily) with the new superbright LEDs ? this should be very possible, take a group of the LEDs and mount them on a board. Would this be able to replace the bulbs? And would the LCD projector manufacturers allow this? Think of the energy savings, and the heat reduction ... Just a thought." I would pay a lot of money for such a replacement bulb, and I suspect a lot of others would too -- which leads me to suspect that such LED arrays really aren't ready yet, or they would be on the market. I hope someone can contradict this -- are LEDs up to the task? I bet the LCD manufacturers would be eager to supply them if so.

Comments

Make the bulbs last longer

[whydna]

Two tips to make the bulbs last longer:

- when installing a new bulb, go to extreme measures to avoid touching the bulb directly; use a piece of clothe, etc. The reason is that the oil on your skin will stick to the bulb, and when heated with cause a non-uniform distribution of heat which causes the bulbs to die more quickly

- turn the projector off if it won't be needed for a while. It's easy to forget, but don't leave the projector running if it won't be in use for a while. This seems like a silly thing to say, but a lot of people forget about how fragile the bulbs in the projector are.

Actually, that's a really bad idea

[mbessey]

Halogen light bulbs (as used in most projectors) will actually not last as long if you run them at a lower voltage. There's a cutoff point at which the halogen scavenging doesn't work anymore, and the filament will plate out on the bulb...