Projector Lamp FAQ

Why Are Projector Lamps So Expensive?

Projector lamps function by igniting ultra-high presurrized mercury vapor that is compressed inside a quartz ARC tube. Electricity jumps or arcs accross the gap filled with mercury vapor, ignites it and produces an extremely bright light.

As you can imagine, this technology is not inexpensive to produce. The machines required to produce a single projector lamp can oftentimes cost manufacturers tens of millions of dollars.

Projector lamp manufacturers also have to hire expert scientists and engineers to ensure that the projector lamps are constructed to the standard required. The mercury vapor has to be pressurized at an exact pressure and the ARC tube and quartz reflector also have to be structurally sound. If these components are not calibrated with exact precision then the projector lamp quality will suffer severely or the projector lamp will fail to work at all.

Further, most projector lamps have different ignition and running voltages and wattages. These different settings produce different brightness levels or ANSI lumens rates. The machines that construct projector lamps therefore have to be recalibrated for each specific lamp setting.

As you can tell, projector lamps are not easy to manufacture and that leads to another factor that makes them so expensive. There are only four major high-quality projector lamp manufacturers in the world. The limited amount of manufacturers means that they have more control over market prices than say banana farmers or flat screen TV manufacturers.

Projector Lamp Prices are Falling Over Time

The good news is that as the years go by, projector lamp prices have fallen slighty and they are becoming more and more affordable for the average buyer. Every year there are more companies attempting to manufacture projector lamps and the competition drives prices down. Also the return on investment for lamp manufacturers increases every year as they pay down the lofty start-up costs associated with manufacturering projector lamps.