Sony's 3LCD, does it require a lamp change?

[vahdyx]

Also does it have a lot of moving parts?

Also the guy at best buy told me that DLP's aren't really HD! It's just a good picture how true is that?

[mjones73]

Yes, it requires a lamp change.

Never listen to BB salesmen, he was probably confused with the fact that 1080p DLP sets really don't have a 1920x1080 chip, they use a technique called wobulation to generate a 108op picture.

[vahdyx]

Does that same rule apply for 3LCD's or do they use 1080p chips?

Is the KDF-46 the same as the KDF-50?

[skylolow]

Does that same rule apply for 3LCD's or do they use 1080p chips?

Is the KDF-46 the same as the KDF-50?

They are all going to require a bulb.

Bulbs last about 6K to 9k hours. Various people have heard different. Last tech I talked to said 8K. Dust can be a big contributor to shorting the life of the bulb. Bottom line in your home with moderate TV watching you should get a good 18 months to 2 1/2 years out of a bulb. Good rule of the thumb is you get to about 20 months to two years buy a bulb from the web and keep it as a backup. Bulbs sometime just go out but if it runs it life as expected it your TV slowly gets darker and darker until it doesn't work (about 3 to 4 weeks).

I won't look at the bulb replacement as a bad thing. When you replace the bulb your TV looks like new. Not bad for only about $150 to $200 tops. Keep your eye on Ebay and you might find one for about $100.

[lcaillo]

Lamps vary a great deal in life. The average on the Sony sets that we have experienced has been about 7500 hours among the lamps that have what I consider to be a normal life. There are some that last under 2000 hours as well. This is rare, but it does happen. I have had some last well over 10000 hours also. Dust will not affect the life of a lamp unless it is extremely bad.

Be wary of the lamps that you find on Ebay. No matter where you buy, make sure that the lamp is the original Osram or Philips lamp that came in the set. There is nothing wrong with using a cheaper vendor as long as it is the same lamp and not a "replacement." The subs have been notoriously poor in reliablility.

The "dirty little secret" about three chip systems is that the optical path is quite complex and the dozen or so components become dirty with dust and oils from the air. This can cause hot spots and color uniformity problems as well as thermal damage to filters and LCD panels. Replacing a lamp will bring a set back to 'like new" to the extent that the optics are not dirty. Complete disassembly of a light engine to clean the optical path can be very time consuming, tedious, and dangerous for a careless tech or DIYer.