Projector Torture Test: LCD versus DLP

An anonymous reader writes "A ten month torture test of five LCD and two DLP projectors shows LCD images deteriorate during extended use." Not surprisingly, if you run an LCD projector for 4000 hours, it deteriorates... of course, if you're staring at a projecter 8 hours a day, for 500 straight days, maybe you should go outside ;)

Comments

Monitors?

[metalix]

Does this happen with LCD monitors as well?

LCD is still better

[rufusdufus]

If I leave one image sitting on my LCD projector too long, yes, it will burn in a bit. But the burn in goes away after other images are shown. Typical desktop use gets no burn-in, while long bouts of Shadowbane will leave little yellow pock-marks when the fixed menus are. This goes away after browsing the web a while.

The problem with DLP projectors like the one my roomate bought is the "screendoor" effect that makes it look like you are viewing the image through a screendoor: little black boxes around every single pixel. This is an effect that is there from day-one and never goes away!

Will my LCD eventually get permanent burn-in? Perhaps. Still it's better than the screendoor.

Re:LCD is still better

[Daleks]

The problem with DLP projectors like the one my roomate bought is the "screendoor" effect that makes it look like you are viewing the image through a screendoor: little black boxes around every single pixel. This is an effect that is there from day-one and never goes away!

I think you're just looking at a DLP projector that has a very low resolution, or you're projecting it onto an area larger than it is designed for. We have one of these and it looks beautiful. No "screendoor" effect at all.

Hmm this is actually very interesting

[tokaok]

I work as a projectionist at a theathre. we have 19 cinemas, lately we change all of our slides projector to lcd projectors(pre show adds).

we also have a DLP project or aswell.

the company, actually the whole industry would like to switch from film to digital projection to save cost.

Guess who is pretty much the only player in HIGH powere digital technology, you guessed it TI. TI makes the DLP projectors we all enjoyed watching StarWars/Disney animation on. Now you say that some project running for more than 5000 hrs is never going to happen at your housse, or maybe at your office but consider this.

our current project with bulbs, can go for about 8000-10,000 hours before the bulbs needs replacement. so we got through about 2/3 bulb a years per projector.

but only switch the bulb.

now the problem is that if after 8000 hours we have to switch more than just the bulb

(which is the case when a digital project goes bad if you ever owned one)

then this could really hurt TI in getting the theathres to switch over.

'Nuff said

[PCM2]

According to the article:

Our Take: The TI/Munsell is anecdotal, and cannot predict with any certainty that your particular usage scenario or LCD projector model will be problematic over time.

Colleges?

[ForestGrump]

I'm in college and I see projectors used in large lectures ALOT.

So these projectors are used all the time. 4-5 days a week for a school day.

Any ideas?
-Grump

Re:Long life is often needed.

[Admiral Llama]

Plasma's are good for about 10000 hours. But then again they get screen burn like a traditional CRT does. Also, if you put it at more than a 30 degree angle, or hit the screen oh not so hard at all the thing's a total loss.

Re:Home Use?

[Alrescha]

"Has anyone here used any of these high res projectors to put movies and TV in their homes?"

I do this. I have a DLP projector which has a resolution of 852 x 480 in 16:9 mode (using TI's original dual-mode chip). This happens to match the native resolution of DVDs (which are 720 x 480 - remember that DV to PC conversion factor).

The recommended maximum screen size for the projector is 80" (diagonal). I therefore used a 100" screen. :-)

This makes for an impressive image, with some caveats. The room must be movie-theater dark, and if you remember reading movie/DVD reviews where the reviewer complained about washed-out movies and you never saw a problem - you will know exactly what he was talking about.

The setup is coming up on its one-year anniversary. I'm still happy, my friends are still jealous, and the original bulb has a few more hours left on it.

A.

Re:More a stress-test than longevity-test

[autopr0n]

How many purchasers of projectors are going to use them non-stop? Just imagine such a stress-test of your Intel or AMD processor - 8000 straight hours of 100% CPU activity. I

Before windows 2000, almost everyone ran windows 98, which didn't halt the processor during the idle loop. It literally just sat and executed one loop over and over again. Obviously it wasn't a problem. CPUs are designed to run continuously forever.

Re:Long life is often needed.

[norton_I]

I haven't been terribly impressed by the quality of consumer DLP systems. The quality of rear projection DLP systems is no better than that of LCD, and considerably worse than plasma (which is more expensive, so that is expected). I have looked at LCD vs. DLP front projection systems side-by-side and the LCD looked better, even though the display was meant to show the superiority of DLP systems.

Based on my earlier experiences, I would not have considered a DLP projector for home theater, though if the lifetime is that questionable, perhaps I would be willing to make the tradeoff, but only after carefully looking at the picture quality.

Theater projection systems are another matter entirely, as the DLP systems used there are a lot more sophisticated than what consumer gear uses.

Re:More a stress-test than longevity-test

[Mononoke]

There really wasn't much information provided on the methodology in this article. Did they leave just the one image or did it shift thru? Were any of the projectors shut off at any point (besides changing bulbs)? What were the conditions of the room/area in which the projectors were stored - ventilation, sunlight, etc.?

Good point! A DLP chip is basically just a bunch of reflectors on swivels. On a still image, the reflectors never swivel, thus theoretically the DLP chip will last 'forever.'

Being a mechanical device, the DLP will wear according to the level of activity in the projected image.

A real test of lifespan for these would be off-channel snow from a TV tuner. (Basically random video noise.)

Of course, that might not make TI look good.

Ok, overclocking/cooling guys, do something useful

[Animats]

LCD displays deteoriate because the heat dissipated in the LCD elements fades the dyes in the liquid crystals. It's a cooling problem. So there's an opportunity for the overclocking/cooling crowd to do something useful here. Figure out how to cool down those things.

Big displays run continuously in control rooms and advertising applications. There's thus a market for long-life displays. Unlike home and conference room environments, silence isn't as critical. So aftermarket cooling solutions might actually sell.

DLP projector for movies

[mfh]

I have a DLP projector - Infocus LP330 - that I use for movies. It only cost me $900 used, and I use it to project an image about 75" (or so) wide on my living room wall. Image quality is good, but not great, and there is a halo of light that surrounds the projected image. A cloth-bezeled screen setup would solve my problems; right now it's just on my wall.

Any consumer who uses a projector to watch TV is, in my opinion, not focusing their monetary efforts in the right place. A substantially-sized HDTV these days is less than the cost of a projector, and will undoubtedly look better in the middle of the day.

However, when it's dark out, your friends (or ... ahem ... friend) is over, nothing beats an entire living room wall worth of screen real estate. Toss in a decent surround sound system, and you've got yourself maybe $6 worth of the $10 a movie ticket costs. I haven't been to the theater in months.

Using the XGA input is also great for parties and mp3 visualizations, displaying music videos, whatever.

Re:Ok, overclocking/cooling guys, do something use

[evilviper]

You aren't going to see theatres with a staff of geeks, modding projectors. If you think there is a market for reliable projectors, you need to manufacture the projectors, feature-complete, and provide massive warranties. Companies don't pay several times as much money for some feature, they pay the money for the assurances of the reputable brand-name that this will do exactly what it claims.

How many companies could easily use $200 walmart PCs, but instead, buy lower-end computers for $1000/piece from Dell/HP/IBM? They want the assurance from the company that they have been tested, and will work perfectly, as claimed.