Replacing the lamp enclosure for projector lamps is essential. Projector lamps put out way more energy than a television lamp and extreme warping may occur. Old, worn out lamp cases and containment units may also pose a fire hazard if seriously warped. Most consumers purchasing a lamp for a projector won’t have to worry though because most retailers sell projector lamp units with the plastic case.

JVC Lamp Light Intensity Comparison
1/6/2009
Tested lamp with JVC TV: HD-52Z575
Lamp Unit Part No: TS-CL110UAA or TSCL11oU

Buyer Beware! Don’t buy OEM Compatible or Replacement lamps. The word compatible usually means a generic, while replacement can mean a variety of things. If you have any doubt in your mind, call the company before you buy. Ask if it’s the same lamp that came in your TV or not! Our general rule of thumb here is that the best lamps are usually Philips which is 100% compatible with most television lamps. If not a Philips, try an Osram. Then if not Osram, think again before you buy. Lamps are usually designed to work with the ballast that power them. Philips lamps are always preferred with a Philips lamp driver (or ballast) in most circumstances!

Here are some examples of websites listing OEM Compatible, Replacement, or Original. We will be examining the Philips LCOS television with lamp unit part number 312243871310. The original lamp is manufactured by Philips Lighting.

The company claims to not sell OEM compatible...

Discount-Merchant.com sells an Original OEM Philips, but says it's an original Philips/Magnavox! We know DM is one of the largest Philips distributors, so we'll let that slide this time.

This company is known to sell Osram, not Philips. In this case, OEM Replacement is very misleading! buyer Beware! Don't be fooled into buying an Osram lamp for a Philips TV, when Philips is obviously the better brand.

We're not sure if they are OEM or not, but they claim that it is (And that's one really good price if it is!) If you get an Osram from DiscountTVLamps.com for this lamp model or Philips part number, ask for an exchange!

LampResearch.com has actually ordered parts from most of these internet retailers before and we can tell you that you get what you pay for, so call and ask before you order. Ask for genuine. Ask for OEM. Ask if they are an official, authorized distributor.

We’ll keep updating this list, but it’s safe to say, stay away from companies that mislead you on OEM product. You could buy a cheaper product, but you’ll pay for it in the end! As we stated before, if you aren’t sure about it, call the company and ask. Better yet, call a few companies. Making 2-3 phone calls to reputable dealers will save you $$$ in the long run.

So River Valley Electronics makes our naughty list for misleading customers, while other internet retailers for OEM lamps receive kudos. This Christmas season, make sure you buy an original lamp for your television, and Santa won’t leave you a lump of coal!

The part they advertise is a “GENUINE ORIGINAL LAMP & HOUSING,” however “Bulb pictured may not represent description, please ensure you are ordering the correct model. Do not hesitate to contact our sales staff if you have any questions.”

We decided to call–just to be sure.

To paraphrase our conversation with the nice gentleman, he stated that it is an original OEM lamp made by Philips. According to our research, Philips has only recently become the OEM for JVC televisions, and the actual OEM is Matsushita. This isn’t a huge deal because Philips is a better lamp than Matsushita anyway, which is probably why JVC switched lamp manufacturers. The price tag was pretty steep though, $195 for an OEM lamp and housing made by Philips? Other places that are authorized Philips dealers sell for around $160-180, but we ordered anyway in the name of science and consumer protection. Upon further inspection, an identical listing on the site has the lamp with the same picture listed for $92. We ordered both through two different proxies to remain anonymous.

We received the products today and both were identical. Both were generic lamps and the only thing OEM about the lamps were their housing. It seems they are re-lamping generic lamps into an original JVC TS-CL110UAA housing.

Inspect the photos below of an actual OEM Matsushita lamp with housing and a new generic with original housing.

TS-CL110UAA OEM vs Generic

As you can see:
A. The OEM lamp has a soldered connection to the ballast wiring. The lamp uses ceramic to seal the lamp–common with the big brands.
B. The OEM case has been sealed and a warranty sticker has been placed on the lamp unit by the warranty company.
C. The lamp is sealed, unlike the generic.
D. The generic seems to fit well in the housing, but it’s face has 4 cuts in it. This means the lamp isn’t sealed.
E. The generic lamp uses a nut on the post of the lamp, which sits on a plastic composite. This is both hazardous and prone to breakage. The generic lamp probably has a life of about 6 months at most.

You can often tell what a generic looks like by what’s on the lamp: nothing. Sometimes there will be a model number, but usually there’s no brand name associated with the lamp–and of course, the price is a lot lower, and the warranty is a lot less than a brand name product. You definitely get what you pay for!

We’re particularly surprised at this online merchant for selling a generic lamp for such a high price. We can only hope it was some sort of shipping error, instead of us paying almost $200 for an inferior product that will only last a handful of months.

First, the data:

(Click to enlarge graph)

Next, we’ll analyze the numbers to find out two things: How many lamps need to be produced by OEM Manufacturer Philips Lighting, and how many Americans will need lamps if lamps last approximately 6,000 hours.

We know that over 290 million Americans own televisions (Cal State University Northridge), so if we were to make an educated guess using the date collected by Luth Research, we could say that approximately 21 million Americans own some sort of projection television at home.  From other industry sources, we also know that as of 2004, over 5 million DLPs have been sold. Obviously more have been sold since then, but we can use 2004 numbers to say that there are at least 23.8% of projection televisions owned by Americans today are DLPs. This is only about 2%, but that doesn’t include LCD projection or other consumer electronics that utilize digital light projection.

According to the Luth Research Study, of the 12,000 Americans surveyed with projection televisions, over 70% have a Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, RCA, Mitsubishi, or Hitachi projection television sets. This means that there are many owners of digital projection lighting television sets out there with a name brand set using name brand equipment. That market is big, and while it’s not growing as it used to, the consumer base is there and millions of digital projection lamps will be needed in the near future!

Of the manufactures listed, most use Philips as their OEM lamp, and by our projections, Philips will need to produce over a million lamps per month over the course of the next few years to meet the demands of both DLP and LCD projection manufacturers, and consumer replacement parts.

Inquiries about this research please contact pi@lampresearch.com.

Raw Data:

Message from Philips with regard to KEMA report

Dear reader,

with a worldwide replacement lamp market being about US$1billion worth, copy makers started to step into this business as well. As a result of this, many internet sites offer a variety of replacement lamps for projectors and rear projection television sets.

However, there are many concerns over copy lamps both from the bulb manufacturers themselves as the brands selling the projectors and TV sets.

The IP rights on bulb technology are held by the original bulb manufacturers. If a lamp is proven to have infringed IP’s, than anyone selling it, is commercially at risk of legal proceedings.

Secondly, because copy lamps are not being produced in conjunction with the projector development, no guarantee can be given that the copy lamp will work well within the existing lamp set-up.

The third concern is a safety issue which raises a lot of questions when using a copy lamp; use of none genuine bulb might cause electrical short circuits which could lead to explosions and fire.

To examine the quality of those “compatible” or copy lamps, compared to the originally Philips manufactured lamps, we started a benchmark study in cooperation with the KEMA test house. Four different lamp types have been measured and compared: two for rear projection and two for front projection of which one based on DLP™ (Digital Light Processing™ is a technology invented by Texas Instruments) technology and one based on LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) technology.

You can read the outcome of this benchmark study in attached KEMA report and summary.

Kind regards,

Caroline Robert

Segment Manager Aftermarket DPL

Philips Digital Projection Lighting

Tinne Van Deun

MarCom Officer DPL

Philips Digital Projection Lighting

Web resource: Philips Lighting

We asked: “What kind of issues have you experienced with your Samsung or Mitsubishi DLP television set in the past two years?”

The answers ranged from replacing the lamp to replacing the light engine.

July 2008 Flash Survey

First of all, let me preface by saying there is nothing wrong with purchasing generic parts. With some electronic components or consumable parts, generic is the most cost-effective way to go. The same goes for DLP and LCD projection lighting. Generic can be a great for your wallet in the short-term, but you may kick yourself 4 months down the line when your generic lamp goes kaput.

Hg, or mercury, vapor lamps are under extremely high pressure and it all comes down to the manufacturing process. The better the process, the better the lamp. There are two main parts to a UHP lamp, the lighting element, sometimes called the burner, and the reflector. Philips used to manufacture both in Belgium, but as demand and costs grew, Philips started manufacturing the reflector in China. The burners are still said to be manufactured in Europe since it’s a trade secret–and for good reason too since the burner is what makes the lamp ignition possible. For example, here’s a Philips E23h:

Philips UHP 100W/120W 1.0 E23

• Customer part#: PHI/378
• Lamp Application: RP-TV
• Reflector type: Elliptical E23
• Arc gap: 1.0 mm
• Power: 100W/120W
• Ignition voltage: Ignition voltage 20kV ± 5kV
• Light output typical * : 4100 lumen (in 120W mode)
• Average Life time ** : > 6000 hrs
• Environmental: RoHS and WEEE compliant

Click on image for more information

Philips E23h 100/120W 1.0 PHI/378

• inferior workmanship quality
• lower manufacturing costs
• poor and inconsistent product lifespan

If you’re buying a generic high performance lamp, be prepared to eat the cost of its usage. An OEM product may last 3 times as long for only a few extra dollars. There is risk of premature explosion and loss of lumens associated with purchasing an off-brand, or generic lamp product.

For example: If you buy an OEM Philips for your television, it may cost about $150, but last you 3 years. If you purchase an off-brand, generic product for $100, you will have save $50, but the lamp may only last about 6 months to 1 year. The cost-benefit analysis maintains you’d be better off purchasing the OEM lamp. You can even purchase a compatible brand name such as Osram–though it may not last as long as the Philips, it has a more consistant lilfespan than the generic manufacturer.

Digital projection lamp: original vs. imitation. Source: Philips Lighting

If you’re concerned about purchasing generic products, or have purchased a generic product by mistake, call the merchant you purchased the product from. It is your right to ask them if they sell an original product for your television–anything else is misleading. You should also find out which brands are OEM for your television. For a detailed guide, please visit our Lamp and Brand Guide.