Will Low Lamp Lifetime Spell Trouble for DLP TVs?

Techno-Canuck asks: "Now that the DLP TVs have been in customers' hands for the last few years, there are problem histories that are begining to unfold. According to Toshiba's DLP TV User Manual: 'The average useful service life for the lamp is approximately 8,000 hours in LOW POWER or 6,000 hours in HI BRIGHT MODE.' However there were problems with certain 2005 Toshiba models that saw the lamp lifetime at only a few hundred hours or less. Toshiba replaced the lamps in these models at no cost and extended the lamp warranty to 2 years. According to an FAQ on About.com the lamps currently last an average of 1500 hours. Whether or not Toshiba has resolved the problem remains to be seen, as only time will give the real indication. There also seems to be lamp issues with some 2004 models as well, but Toshiba does not seem to be stepping forward to resolve the issues in this case. The customer ire is starting to rise, however. Will there be similar problems for the 2006 models once enough time has elapsed?" Most people probably would use the information provided by Toshiba to make a decision about what the lamp maintenance costs would be for DLP ownership. However if lamps only last for 1500 hours, then that's a 400% increase in costs over what Toshiba is presenting to customers. The cost of a lamp is $200 or more, and for a family household that averages 6 to 8 hours of TV viewing per day, this translates to a new lamp every 187 to 250 days. Strangely enough the Toshiba warranty on a replacement lamp not covered by the original TV warranty is 180 days.

It's possible that the death blow has already been struck. It appears that no longer carries DLP TVs in its product line."

Comments

Re:Havin' a funeral

[dch24]

I don't know that I agree with you. The Newton failed for other reasons in addition to the handwriting recognition problems.

As another counterexample, the slashdot article says: "It appears that no longer carries DLP TVs". Is that Toshiba? http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/televisions/dlp.asp Is that some big-name store that sells home theater equipment? But does that cast a pall over slashdot to the point that editors read the summaries before posting?

Re:6-8 hours of TV a *day*?

[kalpaha]

I was thinking the same, but if you consider a large family, where kids would probably watch a little TV before going to school, home mom would check something during the day, then kids would watch more TV before going to bed and parents would watch a movie after the kids are sleeping, I guess you can average 6 hours.

Morning: 0.5h
Daytime: 1.5h
Evening: 2h
Movie: 2h

Eight hours is sick, though. And of course, the argument about "wife" watching is moot with slashdotters, anyway.

I have one

[passthecrackpipe]

A tosh DLP that is. It sees very heavy usage in our household, and the lamp has been going for about 2 years now. It will probably die soon, the bulb that is, but hey, I knew bulbs were going to be consumables when I bought it. Most people that run short bulblives forget to switch on the "quick restart" feature that keeps the bulb on for about 10 minutes after you switch off the telly, and its the frequent on/off cycles that do more damage to the bulb then anything else.

Re:6-8 hours of TV a *day*?

[DrMrLordX]

Also keep in mind that some people leave the TV on as background noise that rarely garners full attention from the "viewer". I used to leave the tube on in the background while at my computer when I still had a TV in the same room as my PC. Other individuals have been known to leave the TV on while they sleep (and apparently know nothing of these new-fangled sleep buttons lurking on their remote controls).

Re:Cat Got Your Tongue?

[AaronLawrence]

Waiting for a SED sounds like a dumb idea. Toshiba want to keep them expensive and exclusive.
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20061 225/125850/

Strange concept. Perhaps this suggests that they don't think they will be able to get the price down enough to compete.

Re:replacement bulbs

[Anonymous Coward]

Initial models also had heavy banding and dithering across solid color areas. Not to say that it's not possible (as much as I hate to admit it, Sony's LED DLP televisions are quite good), but it's not always a step up right away.

Re:Cat Got Your Tongue?

[GodBlessTexas]

HP is stopping production of their DLP sets because they suffered from significant problems that killed HP's reputation in that market, especially when they were just getting into it. DLP as a whole is fine, and pound for pound is one of the best fixed pixel display technologies available. I think the only better one available today is LCOS (Sony SXRD or JVC HD-ILA). But I'm really looking forward to Organic LED (OLED). It's got the contrast ratio of CRT (the ultimate display technology when it comes to visual quality) and vibrant colors, but with a form factor that is thinner than LCD (a horrible display technology) or Plasma (energy inefficient). They just have to work on making the blue elements last longer, but Sony displayed several OLED sets at this year's CES show, and everyone who say them was stunned at how good they looked compared to the other flat screen technologies. It makes LCD and Plasma look like CGA monitors.