Hello.
I have used an Optoma EX531p projector as a normal television on a 7 foot screen for two years.
Within the last two weeks broken pixel mirrors have appeared showing bright white dots or black dots.
There are hundreds now, at a rate of about 25 a day, emenating from the left hand side.
I know from experience that a semiconductor chip may be weaker in a small area which gradually increases in size.
I am lucky that the DLP projector is guaranteed for 3 years against this type of fault by the distributers.
The projector is fixed upside down near the ceiling, so it never gets knocked, and I also have an uninteruptable power suppy.
As the lamp's lifetime is at least 4000 hours, I would have expected the DLP chip to have lasted at least 20,000 hours.
What lifetime tests have been done, and has anyone else had this situation?
From EE Times Europe Jauary 2012 Page 14 DLP devices are discussed, and they include recognition of biometric, facial, dental, and medical scanning.
Such important systems must not fail, and will be used for many more hours per day than a projector.
I worked at Monotype when Texas Intruments introduced the 74 range of integrated circuits. These IC's developed ramdom faults due to the chip aluminium bonding wires,
and the whole batch had to be replaced by TI. I hope the DLP problem is not a batch one.
I hope to hear from anyone with a similar problem.
Ray Throssell.
Electronic Design Engineer.
Hello Ray,
Welcome to the TI-E2E Community, and particularly to the DLP section.
Thank your for posting regarding the issue you are seeing. Indeed I am very glad that you are still within the coverage period of the distributor.
Please contact Optoma directly concerning what you are observing. They will contact TI if they are seeing an inordinate number of their projectors with any particular issue. Our support system is designed to support the OEMs directly that build projectors using our parts, so that the best channel is to let Optoma know.
Sincerly,
Fizix
Thanks for the reply Fizix,
I now have the Optoma EX531p projector back and fixed up and it works like new.
It was sent to Optoma by AVpartsmaster under warranty and returned on 28th Feb.
The software appears to be upgraded as I can access the lamp life now, which is set to zero.
I think they have put in a new lamp, as the contrast and colours are much better than before.
I hope the pixel problem is solved now.
Sincerely.
Ray
Hello Raymond,
Excellent! I am glad they were able to get it taken care of for you. Also glad to hear the the contrast and colors are better - a little bonus for the effort.
Fizix.