Rajchumberis Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 We have a 8 year projector (panosonic) that is 4000 lumens that gives of a green light. People start to look like characters from Simpsons (yellow skin). When nothing is live the black has a green tint/light. We've looked into getting it serviced, tried different cables and other than paying a lot of money- is there anything I can do before we go out and spend some money. We use this projector at church for word display and video news etc. An has never been moved since installing it. Any advice?! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 All I can think of in terms of basic projector maintenance is to clean the projector regularly and change the bulb every now and then. (Most projectors will tell you when to change the bulb.) It may be that a filter has blown within the projector itself and I couldn't tell you how to check/mend this. When was the last time you cleaned it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 To be honest, if it's 8 years old it's probably not worth repairing anyway. Technology has advanced in leaps and bounds since then, so an equivalent projector is likely to be quite a bit less than you paid for the current one. Hope this helps someDavid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 All data projectors will tell you when the lamp (bulbs grow in the ground) needs changing. Towards the end of their life, the colour can shift slightly but it's usually so dark by then that you would have changed it anyway. How many hours has the current lamp done? You'll want to clean the filters every couple of hundred hours of use; if they get clogged up, the reduced airflow can cause overheating and shorten the lamp life. I've never encountered a "blown" filter... Putting up colour bars can be quite revealing - it's not unheard of to loose one of the R,G or B signals which causes the type of symptom you're seeing. Loosing red would give everything a green / yellow cast. Make sure you really can see all three primary colours coming through - the colour bars are an easy way of checking (it's very quick & easy to knock up a powerpoint slide for this purpose). From my experience it's always cabling / connection issues that cause one of the colours to drop out. If all three colours are coming through, it's quite likely to be dust building up on one or more of the LCD panels. This will usually look like very blurry splodges rather than a uniform colour shift. Putting up a plain white slide should show that up. Try shifting the focus to see if you can bring such splodges in to focus - it's usually possible to see the dirt itself that way. If this is the problem, it's possible to get the panels cleaned, but as David rightly points out, it's not likely to be worth it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitlane Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 LCDs age in exactly the way you describe, especially ones manufactured a while ago. It probably isn't a lamp problem, or dust on the panels, they have just aged and I doubt there is anything economical to rescue them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Putting up colour bars can be quite revealing - it's not unheard of to loose one of the R,G or B signals which causes the type of symptom you're seeing. Loosing red would give everything a green / yellow cast. Not for "black" though. If it's coloured when it should be black, it's got to be an LCD problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badweasel Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Hi, It could be dust, but this tends to clump or spot. Going through the full range of the focal adjustment, you can often bring the dusty area in to focus and see what you're dealing with. More likely, the green input polariser or green LCD panel have degraded due to excessive heat, possibly a result of insufficient cooling (when was the last time you cleaned the filters?) or long duty cycles (most projectors are not rated to run for more than 8 hours at a time). Replacing either of these parts is cost prohibitive so a new projector is the more attractive solution. Regards, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rajchumberis Posted July 4, 2011 Author Share Posted July 4, 2011 All I can think of in terms of basic projector maintenance is to clean the projector regularly and change the bulb every now and then. (Most projectors will tell you when to change the bulb.) It may be that a filter has blown within the projector itself and I couldn't tell you how to check/mend this. When was the last time you cleaned it? I think, and I say I think, it was serviced of somewhat back 3-4years ago. I don't ever remember it being completely black but never as prominent as it is now. All I can think of in terms of basic projector maintenance is to clean the projector regularly and change the bulb every now and then. (Most projectors will tell you when to change the bulb.) It may be that a filter has blown within the projector itself and I couldn't tell you how to check/mend this. When was the last time you cleaned it? I think, and I say I think, it was serviced of somewhat back 3-4years ago. I don't ever remember it being completely black but never as prominent as it is now. So wha suggestions would you recommend for the following brief: - project on to large area (think 4x3m)- uses include words projection software and video playback- with use of video backgrounds- viewing video clips- rich(er) colours reproduced than currently for skin colour- in church auditorium than has lots of natural light.-possible connections to upgrade sends higher than standard VGA output. Open to take suggestions, and within reason, I'll forward to those above me. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHYoung Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 whatever you do, dont change the lamp.. its got nothing to do with the lamp. without knowing the model , ill guess that its a lcd unit and its got bad panel burn. older Lcd units used organic panels which wear out over time and cause coulour tints over the image that you can do nothing about, often it will have a sunburst effect where its more pronounced in the centre, sometimes a fairly even tint. the simple diagnostics are.. feed white into both composite video and vga inputs - if one is fine, its a cable fault or input board fault, possible the best outcome you could expect.you can also look at the menus and see if they are tinted. effectively if its an optical fault, any input or menu will be tinted equaly and no amount of fiddling will sort it.put up a white screen then adjust the focus to the extremes this throws all the dust spots on the optics into (partial) focus, you may see the actual specs or it may be more of a mottled effect, but as the specs will be on different panels so the specs should be different colours. as one panel generally gets dirtier than the rest in extreme cases this can cause a tint, but generally its a slightly mottled one. Sanyos pick up a blue tint if they get very dirty.If the tint is more even and its and LCD unit as dlps dont have panels, its more likely panel burn. Things have improved, but a lcd panel is a bit like a slide in a projector, its job is to partially block out light and this causes heat, over time things fade and discolour, not helped by long runtimes and partially blocked filters. Eventially a LCD projector will wear out, All you can do is clean the filters and turn it off once in a while... My advice to the OP is to conduct the diagnostics and then simply accept that the unit may well be worn out, its done 8 years sterling service afterall, it still works and may have a function, but as any repairs will be stupidly expensive if even possible, If you want pristine images you possibly need a new projector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rajchumberis Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 Hey just at church, and thought I'd show you (taken on my iphone) what it looks like with nothing projecting- it is just 'on'. Anyone else experience something similar?http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/18/dnasp2.jpg/ Any other input would also be great-thanks. Raj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Raj, Have you tried the test procedures that AHYoung outlined? If you have, and it has ruled out a signal error, cable fault or input board fault, then - as he suggests - you have got a damaged LCD and it's almost certainly beyond economic repair. Good quality high output projectors are more affordable than they were 8 years ago, but if you are looking to increase quailty make sure you consider the whole system (switchers etc.). Since you have some good people looking at your audio needs, why not ask them about projector solutions too? SImon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rajchumberis Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 I know we've tried different cables in. I'm not sure if we've tried a composite input. I'll ask. Raj, Have you tried the test procedures that AHYoung outlined? If you have, and it has ruled out a signal error, cable fault or input board fault, then - as he suggests - you have got a damaged LCD and it's almost certainly beyond economic repair. Good quality high output projectors are more affordable than they were 8 years ago, but if you are looking to increase quailty make sure you consider the whole system (switchers etc.). Since you have some good people looking at your audio needs, why not ask them about projector solutions too? SImon Yes we've tried various solutions. And yes I'll ask mark when I contact him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry Faurie Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Looking at the Photo, you have a damaged Polized filter (green) - when these go it normally takes out the lcd panel aswellYou are probally looking at a new lcd prism to over come this and its most likely beyond eco repair Gerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumphouse Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 That's more than a green tint! Agree that the green panel/polariser filter has probaby failed and the projector is probably not worth repairing. Time for a new projector, and given the shift towards 16:9 probably a new screen as well. If you are looking for 'richer' colour reproduction then consider a DLP unit rather than LCD. Thwey are generally more durable for long periods of operation as well. I would suggest you include an HDMI/DVI input connection as well if you're upgrading. If the cable run is long, then you can use one of the various extender products to run this over CAT5e/6 cable. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rajchumberis Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Hi Thanks, I think you're right, it is beyond eco repair and also local repair. Can anyone recommend any models they feel might be best for us. I'd like to think atleast 5000 lumens 4:/16:9 ratio and a DLP. Thanks again. Raj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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