When it comes to projectors, there’s a lot of talk thrown around about number of hours “20,000 hours”, “60,000 hours” but what does this really mean? Will your projector last for that long? Will the picture even be visible after all that time? How does that translate to actual working time of the projector?
Laser projectors were first introduced in 2014 and they were a game changer, offering virtually maintenance free, consistent image quality and low cost of ownership compared to traditional lamp models. The biggest advantage being the longevity of the light source, lasers burn much longer than lamps so you get a lot more from your projector before the light source fails. But how much time?
You will surely come across a lot of claims of longevity with laser-light source, ranging from standard 20,000 hours up to 60,000 hours of life. All these claims of longevity are meaningless unless you know what is being measured so lets start there.
Brightness of the projector.
20,000 hours is obviously a measurement of time, but it is also a measurement of the projector’s brightness after that period. But this brightness is never disclosed!
Traditionally and once considered standard in the industry, we measured lamp-based projector hours from when the projector was 1st turn on at full brightness, until that lamp brightness reduced to 50% of original specification. This time space was considered the lifetime of the lamp specified in hours.
The specified brightness of the projector typically dictated the length of time specified on the lamp. Less bright projectors typically had longer lamp life and higher brightness projectors had a shorter lamp life. Simply you’re burning the lamp brighter so its going to burn out quicker.
Traditional Lamp-base example:
A 12,000-lumen installation lamp-based projector at 6,000lm (50% reduction) would average around 3,000 hours per lamp. You’d then replace the lamp with up to 3 lamp replacements until a new projector is considered.
Assume a university uses the lamp-based projector 9 hours a day for 5 days, 45 hours a week, / 3,000 hours per lamp = 66 weeks (1.28 years) x 1 Original lamp + 3 lamp replacement = 5.1 Years.
Now you know where 5 years or 12,000 hours standard warranty comes from on laser projectors 😊 you can thank Sony (sorry, I mean me) for that one!!
Original lamp plus three replacements 12000 hours of typical use with lamp-based projectors
Today, with laser / phosphor type projectors we calculate the hours of the laser-light source in a similar way but with a slight difference and it all depends on the manufacturers definition of number of hours (time) vs. brightness of the projector (% of original specification).
Not all manufacturers use the same percentage of original specification and some manufacturers claim 40,000 hours, 60,000 hours of use within their marketing communication.
I cannot comment on other manufacturers actual percentage of brightness based on length of time, but I say that Sony first introduced laser / phosphor 3LCD projectors on the market and are now on their fifth generation of laser technology so we know a little about the topic.
All Sony laser/phosphor projectors measure only 30% reduction of brightness* after 20,000 hours.
*Under normal operating conditions
Sony’s VPL-FHZ120 example:
Sony VPL-FHZ120, 12,000-lumen installation laser light source projector after 20,000 hours of use would typically average 8,400lm of brightness (30% reduction) under normal working conditions.
Assume a University uses the VPL-FHZ120 laser / phosphor projector 9 hours a day for 5 days, 45 hours a week, / 20,000 hours = 444 weeks = 8.5 Years. A huge difference in projector use and a huge difference in brightness.
Typical Lamp Projector: 12000lm at 50% reduction equals 6,000lm after 3000 hours (replacement)
Sony’s VPL-FHZ120: 12000lm at 30% reduction equals 8,400lm after 20,000 hours (no replacement)
Sony VPL-FHZ120 Laser / Phosphor projector after 20,000 hours of typical use
Brightness is EVERYTHING
20,000 hours is a game changer from traditional lamp-based projectors and allows for virtually maintenance free operation and no down-time due to lamp replacements, but the hidden benefit is the length of time the projector remains bright from original specification.
It is worth asking other manufacturers how they measure brightness after 20,000 hours. Some manufacturers will state 40,000 hours or 60,000 hours, one can only speculate at what brightness the projector will be after 40,000 / 60,000 hours of use; probably not fit for purpose.
Get the most from your investment when buying projectors and consider its ‘usable life’ not just how long it will keep switching on.
Read our buying guide for more information about what to consider when looking for projection technology:
https://pro.sony/en_GB/products/professional-projectors/how-to-choose-projector-buying-guide
