Why A Laser Projector Is A Fit For Your Church

Now is the time to consider upgrading your lamp based projector to a new laser-based projector.

Primary benefits behind a laser projector

Cost savings: save up to $6,780 over the lifespan of your projector

Save time: No filters to clean
Convenient: Less maintenance due to no bulbs or filters needing replacement
Instant image: No warm up time like LCD bulb based projectors
Longer life span: 5-7 years of use vs. 3-5 with LCD or traditional DLP
Consistent picture quality: Does dim with use over time like bulb based projectors
Reliability: No more bulbs blowing during an event

Since laser-based projectors do not contain a bulb, you immediately get an image on power up.

Breakdown of benefits

Cost savings for laser projectors

The features and brightness of your projector will determine the cost of your lamps over the life of the projector. Some projector brands or models offer longer bulb life than others. For this analysis, we are going to select 2,000 hours of bulb life. Bulb costs can range from $200-$900 depending upon make and model, so let’s use $500 as the average cost of a bulb. To be conservative let’s say you operate your projector for 30 hours per week.
30 hours per week x 52 weeks per year = 1,562 hours per year
1,562 hours per year x 5 years = 7,810 total hours of use
7,810 total hours of use ÷ 2,000 hours per bulb replacement = 4 replacement bulbs over the life of the projector

Add in the spare bulb you keep on hand and you are at a total of 5 during the life of your projector. Approximate saving is $2,500. Have a dual lamp projector? If so, double that number to $5,000. Not including the addition cost of a lift or scaffold rental. (See additional savings under “save time” and “longer lifespan” below).

Save time

Depending on your environment and weekly hours of use, a projector filter should be cleaned approximately every three months. That is four times a year or 20 times over a typical five-year life cycle. Assuming you have to rent a lift or scaffolding, it can cost you $75-300 each time. Perhaps you have to move chairs or get out the big wooden ladder. By the time you setup, take the filter out, take it somewhere to blow out the dust, bring it back, put it back in, and put everything away, let’s estimate 1 hour for filter cleaning. Your time is worth money, so what’s your time worth? For this analysis, let’s say $25 an hour is a fair rate. Over the life of the projector, you should clean the filter approximately 20 times. By no longer having to do this you will save you about $500. (Not including lift or scaffold rental).

Convenience factor for laser

Laser-based projectors have a solid state laser light engine with sealed optics, which means no lamps that need to be replaced. Like cleaning the filter, replacing the lamp has both a time and cost impact. You have to order the right bulb, install it, clean the filter, return the old bulb for recycling and make sure you have a spare bulb on hand. What a hassle!
Side Note: Many projector manufacturers only warranty bulbs for 90 days. What happens if you have had a replacement bulb for over 90 days and its defective? I hope you bought it from a good dealer that can support you…

Instant image offered by laser

Warm up time is a thing of the past. Since laser-based projectors do not contain a bulb, you immediately get an image on power up. We are so used to waiting for the lamp to warm up with traditional projectors that I did not think about it until the first time I turned a laser projector on. This is a great feature when a projector loses power in the middle of an event. The cycle time for a lamp-based projector to cool off, then warm up and be ready to display an image can easily be 5 minutes or more. Ever have this happen during a portable event? Someone trips over the power cord to the projector and off goes the image that hundreds of people are staring at, and now they are staring at you, the tech guy. Those five minutes feels like an hour, and you better hope the speaker can tell good jokes! (Yes, this happened to me once, and ever since I use Gaffers tape to keep the power cord from being tripped on.)

Longer lifespan for laser

Manufacturers tout a 20,000-hour lifespan for many laser-based projectors, with a brightness decrease beginning to occur at 10,000 hours. Let’s then conservatively say that the effective lifespan for a laser projector is 12,000 hours. Historically, the generally recommended lifespan of a lamp-based projector is a maximum of 5 years. Based on 30 hours per week (or 1,560 hours per year), five years of projector operation equals 7,800 hours, which means our 12,000-hour life expectancy of the laser-based projector gives us an additional 4,190 hours (or 2.7 years) of operation Lamp-based projectors of a similar brightness average roughly $7,000. To evaluate the cost savings of our additional laser-based projector life, let’s take $7,000/5 to get a per year cost of $1,400 per year. If a laser-based projector will last 2.7 more years than a lamp based projector, the total savings based on additional years of use of the projector is $3,780.

Consistent picture quality for laser

Since laser-based projectors have sealed, solid state optics, there is no way for dust or dirt to enter the projector. Why should you care? Dirt, dust, fog, haze, etc. decreases the life and brightness of the bulb, clogs the filter and settles on the LCD panels inside, degrading the quality of your projection.

Reliability offered by laser projectors

Have you ever started an event with no picture on the screen, only to look up at the projector and see the orange bulb-light flashing? ...no! What happens next is you get the joy of having to tell your pastor that there will be no picture on the screen today because the lamp is out. Alternatively, if you are lucky, you have a spare bulb on hand, and you have enough time to get to the projector to replace the lamp before the event starts. I am sure you have never had a bulb go out in the middle of the event…

Final tally

I can continue to tell you about the better quality image, brighter output, and increased longevity, but the proof is in the numbers. Let’s take a look at the final tally of what going to a laser-based projector can do for you.

Cost savings breakdown

Better quality, longer life, and cost savings over the life of the projector mean now is a great time to look at laser. Give us a call, we would love the opportunity to talk through whether laser-based projectors are right for you.