Xenon lamp vs HTI vs LCD lamp, what do you think?

[Winbert Hutahaean]

I don't have all but to get the original Toshiba Xenon lamp is almost impossible.

Now in Asia there is a trend to convert Halogen lamp in 8mm and 16mm projectors to LCD lamp (not: do not confuse with LED lamp). This is the LCD lamp that currently installed in all Video Projectors. The lamp is indeed expensive (ranging between $250 - $450) but it has a very long life span (around 3000 hours).

The reason why many convert to LCD lamp because today there are many defunct LCD Projectors caused by unrelated factor to the function of the lamp. This resulting the second hand LCD lamp can be bought very cheap in Asia.

So, what do you think the performance of this LCD compared to Xenon, HTI or Halogen lamp?

Cheers,
winbert

[Joerg Polzfusz]

Hi! Please contact Kevin Faulkner. He’s trying to have another batch of Xenon lamps produced…

[Winbert Hutahaean]

Hi! Please contact Kevin Faulkner. He’s trying to have another batch of Xenon lamps produced…

No Joerg I don't have a Xenon machine. I just want to get members' opinion if I am using LCD lamp in my projector will that give par quality with Xenon or HTI.

note: the LCD lamp can be installed in any projector.

[Steve Lee]

As far as I know Winbert, there is not much difference between the LCD and HTI. Because these modules are designed to be just plug and play, the reflectors contained inside them are quite large. I don't know if they would fit inside the average lamp house.
Also they are rated between 250w-400w and run very hot. Like the HTI they cannot be switched on and off, once the lamp has been struck it takes about one minute to get up to colour temperature, before it is useable. Again like a HTI, a douser mechanism would be needed to be fitted behind the gate, to shut the light off then the projector is in standstill mode.
I am still looking for options before I convert my Beaulieu, before I commit any money to the project, but it is looking like HTI is the road to go down.
There is also the problem of overkill. A lamp that is too bright can and will bleach out the picture on the screen, making it unwatchable.

[Paul Adsett]

There is also the problem of overkill. A lamp that is too bright can and will bleach out the picture on the screen, making it unwatchable.

That's an extremely good point Steve, and one not often mentioned in the discussions of increasing the brightness of projectors. HTI and HID are probably just great for large screen venues such as the BFCC, but are they an unnecessary overkill for home use? How do they affect the appearance of color prints projected in the home?
I have recently converted my GS12OO to use the 250w ELC lamp, coupled to an external 24VDC power supply. I am extremely happy with this arrangement as it provides a really significant boost in screen illumination and brightness uniformity, while preserving the beautiful rich warm color of super 8 color prints which I love.

[Steve Lee]

Hi Paul,
It was long time ago, but whenever we would screen 70mm we would always change the lamp over form a 2K xenon to a 4K. On this occasion I had found a new 8k lamp in a cupboard, and thought it would deliver a punch.
After fitting it into the lamp house and turning up the amps on the rectifier, I struck the lamp and opened the dowser. Well, the light that reflected back off the screen back through the projection room portholes, was like a scene from Close Encounters. It threw me back across the room. I think even a welders mask couldn't protect you from this.
The projector was fitted with a water cooled gate, and you could hear it boiling, there was even steam coming out of the chiller unit.
I ran some film with it, and it looked like the film had been left out in the Arizona desert for a couple of months, it was totally bleached out, but it was a lesson learned.

I can see the appeal for upgrading to a HTI lamp, as the higher colour temperature would help a great deal when running any faded prints. having that slightly blue tint would be more beneficial than sticking a colour filter in front of the lens. I also think black and white prints would benefit from this.
At the end of the day, it is the same colour temperature that was used for showing films in cinemas for the past fifty years or so.
Looking into these 150w HTI lamps they deliver around 11,000 lumen output, I think anything over that would be overkill, especially for super 8, and it brings into the question on how do you keep the back of the gate from being fried. As they were never intended to have this kind of heat thrown at them.

[Dominique De Bast]

Interesting point. I have two projectors with a HTI lamp (one bi-format I use only for standard 8 and the other is a 9.5 projector). I only project black and white films with those machines and the picture looks great. I brought a home made 9.5 colour film in Spain recently for a private projection (since the film was shoot there but had no soundtrack so was not ready for a public presentation). The film was ran in HTI converted projector but at small distance from a white wall and I found the colours less good than when I projected the film at home in "normal" projectors (I project only features with the HTI projectors so I never tried the quoted film in my high lighted machine). However, when the "Spanish" HTI projector was in use in a large room, the colour films looked good. What has been written before by other members may explain why I had that impression of better colours with normal bulbs. Maybe I should bring the film again in Spain next year and ask to see it on the large screen to have a definitive opinion ?