I have a home theatre system featuring a Sony Superdata EX (VPH-1272Q) projector on a 96" screen. I know next to nothing about any of it, as it came with the house, but I think it dates to the mid-90s.
I went in this afternoon for a little Wii action and found the color extremely off. The green lamp does not appear to be putting out anything at all. If you look into the green lens there is a spotty image with blank lines, compared to the relatively sharp images in the red and blue lenses. I’m guessing this probably means the tube has gone bad.
I doubt there’s anyone I can get to come and look at it who knows anything about it, so I figure I have a few options at this point:
1.) Try to find a tube and replace it myself. How hard is this to install? How hard will it be to find a replacement tube for this vintage piece?
2.) Buy another projector just like it for parts. I’ve seen them for less than $500 online, though shipping on such a monstrosity will be painful. Of course, anything I buy will probably have similar problems.
3.) Get a new projector that didn’t come over on the Mayflower. What kind of lettuce are we talking about for a similar, more modern setup?
Any thoughts? (If I’m talking out of my ass anywhere above, please let me know.)
I suggest trashing it. If you get it repaired, it will also have to be recalibrated, and this is a difficult job unless you know what you are doing. CRT projects also throw very little light. They used to have a big advantage in contrast ratio over the DLP and LCD projectors, but the new generation of projectors are much, much better than the old one.
Look at something like an Optoma HD70 or Mitsubishi HD1000. Under $1000, the size of a laptop computer, easy to install, easy to maintain. They have HDMI inputs and can do 720P HD right out of the box.
The tube is probably fine, but that’s irrelevant. It’s going to cost a fortune to fix. I second Sam’s advice - ditch it, and get a nice DLP projector. I have an Optoma, and it’s awesome. One thing to consider - biting the bullet and buying a true HD projector. These have dropped in price to the “almost affordable” range - around $3,000. If you never plan to buy anything but DVDs, than the SD projectors (like the Optoma H27) are a great buy, but their resolution is limited to DVD-quality. A true HD projector like the Optoma HD81 will set you back $3,500 but it will be able to display HD-DVD and Blu-Ray at full resolution.
If I can replace it for under $1000, I’ll do it. (I don’t care that much about going true HD.) Just taking the thing down from the ceiling and getting it back up would be a full day task, since it weights 140 pounds, and that’s assuming I could find the part and actually fix it. And who knows when I’d have to do it again.
Out of curiosity, what do you think the problem is more likely to be?
There’s a guy in Canada named Curt Palme who specializes in CRT projectors. He sells on ebay, and he might be able to fix your projector at a reasonable cost.