Here is the breakdown from what I can see:

Name: S400DD, T15

Brightness: (Lumens) 33000, 40000

Arc Gap Length: (Millimeters) 27, ?

Average Life Span: (Hours) 20000, 10000

Color Temperature: (Kelvin) 5400, 4000

Color Rendering: (CRI) 85, 70

Average Warmup Time: (Minutes) 4, 2

Hot Restrike Time: (Minutes) 15, 4

Some questions:

1. Has anyone experimented with adjusting the target white point of the panel to compensate for the color temp of the bulb? Or is the spectral distibution simply void of some portions of the primaries? I guess what I am asking for is a side by side comparison even in writing of what to expect from the S400DD and the T15 where both have been adjusted at the panel to give a good image.

2. Are my Average Warmup and Hot Restrike times above correct? Or were they refering to the difference between probe start and pulse start in the specifications?

3. The store says that the T15 works perfectly with the new pro reflector. What about the S400DD?

4. What is your choice and why?

Mark.

This new T15 bulb from ushio is the same as the ed28 Venture PS. Same specs, same brightness, arc length, arc design, just different form factor. The s400DD is also a T15 style bulb, both have the same physical dimensions.

Yes the Pulse start is much better in start times and restrike times, and saves a bit of energy compared to probe start.

In the end, I'll take a S400DD, you just can't make up for the color temp by messing with the panel adjustments, or you can but not enough to where it will match the S400DD

If you need bright, get a PS T15. If you can control all light and want the best color, S400.

I've found a "new", really bright bulb:

source: Venture 400W


Info:

Wattage: 400
Initial lumens 47000
Average Life (hours): 15000
CCT (K): 4000
Warm-up (min): 2-3
Restrike (min): 5-8
RA: 65
Finish: Clear
Operating Position: Vertical±15°
Case Quantity: 6


I'm still searching for a bulb with both high lm and cct

vertical operating , hhmmm

Unfortunately that bulb is "Open Luminaire" I think we try to use the Enclosed type for better lighting, not sure but I thought so?

That's too bad.

What does it actually mean that a bulb is "open Luminaire" in design?

This would not impact our ability to design a system that can collect a lot of the output light from the bulb, so what is the deal with these open and closed luminaire design bulbs?

Guess what im asking for is an explaination, i must be missing something but that Venture bulb looks very good to me.....

That means it has an explosion proof jacket. The lamps we typically use do not and are rated for closed luminaires. The outer glass is thicker on those lamps. That's it.

Sorry Mark, I wanted to post this somewhere effiiciently quick. Hope it doesn't cut to much into the main topic.

Was looking at light tunnels (yeah, I know OT was well) then found this tunnel light: http://www.tirsys.com/products/light-pipe/...l-dual-beam.htm twin beamers.

Just wanted to share and advance apologies again.
sim

Arr ok thanks fro the explaination Brain.

so i guess these venture bulbsare good to try then....

Has anybody got a chance to try the T15 out yet? I would like to see comparison pics between it and the old S400DD. I want to see just how much brighter the projected image looks.

I still think my projector is too dim to be usefull, and was wondering if jumping from a 33000 to 40000 lumens would make that big of a difference.

I have the same question Chad N.

anyone?

Obviously I have, it is a lot brighter. The color isn't as good though, but it's hardly bad either.

I just got one in . (this makes 6 bulbs I have now)

It's quite a bit brighter than the S400DD. In fact , to me, it's even brighter than the Venture bulb.

I like the T15 a lot and I HIGHLY recommend it.

It will be my permanent bulb for now. Can't wait to replace my Ikea with the new LL reflector.

Be sure to burn it in on a long (hours) run for the first time. They may flicker at first until they've burned in, this is normal.

Any disadvantages to using this bulb, I think its the widely known EYE:
http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=8703

I placed this question at another thread. How about a MH bulb that puts out a medium color temp of 10k, would this be to much. It provides an intense 'white' light. BTW, it works with the electronic and M135 coil ballast: http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?...Product_Count=2
sim

Is this bulb Compatible with the LL balast they are selling now? Something inside of me tells me to aquire lots of bulbs and compare them. And at $20 a pop its a no brainer...

Whats an "EYE"?

The EYE lamp was used and ditched long ago because of its huge form and reddish color. That was a Lumenlab mainstay lamp 2 years back.

Sim: 10,000k is way too blue. 6000k is considered perfect.

A chart showing:

Thanks Brain! That helped!

Got anything to explain the CRI Color Rendering Index? I assume higher number is better?

CRI is a unit of measure that defines how well colors are rendered by different illumination conditions
in comparison to a standard (i.e. a thermal radiator or daylight).

When CRI is calculated, it can be rated on a scale from 0 - 100.
On this scale, a CRI of 100 would represent that all color samples illuminated by a light source in question,
would appear to have the same color as those same samples illuminated by a reference source.

A lot of math here for the slide ruler type:

http://www.kruschwitz.com/cri.htm

Oh yeah, that bulb I had linked to is not an EYE bulb, I thought it was because of the description, but now I see that its just some no name brand. And Its ED28 form factor...so its not too big.

ED28 is too big for the Pro reflector. The new lamps we're headed for are much smaller than even the T15. Keeping the arc size small will give us MUCH more power.

Alright...ED28 is too big for the pro reflector, thats nice to know. But not for an Ikea Napkin Holder right?

Some have said it works, but I've never seen any math that says so. It can't be a very good solution though. The pro reflectors go right up to the arc, much closer than you could get with an ED28. The pro reflectors have IR pass coatings, meaning you won't be frying the lamp arc with the IR reflection, and you can pass the lamp's rear heat backwards to be removed. In my opinion the T15 lamp shape is big and the ED28 is obsolete. I'm not trying to sell you a ($15) pro reflector here, but I am saying that the pro reflector is a long time dream come true for this community and you should seriously consider leaving room for the option. If you go with a T15 lamp shape you are good to go.

what are the odds the new lamp will run on the eballast, im not going to purchase one now if im just going to want to upgrade in 3 weeks .

It's possible, can't say until I try it though.

Great... so now some tunnel is going to be missing sections of super high quality (and expensive) "Light Pipes" to be cut up and used in our projectors.. Ok, I'm in! Do we have a group of volunteers for this mission?

About the T15's and EYE lamps etc. Could the more experienced posters here please make an effort to call bulbs by their manufacturer's product description, (In Example: S400DD).

For the new comers here, T15 is simply a bulbs SHAPE. An EYE lamp is a BRAND of lamp. I find it so frustrating to try and decipher posts, look at the title of this thread, T15 and S400DD differences. I read that and say what the ???? The S400DD is a T15 lamp.

I plan on trying both Brain's new lamp and reflector, but if I was someone stuck on a ED18, or ED28 bulb shape I would just buy a 100mm spherical mirror from Melles Griot or Rolyns for $70. It wouldn't be dichrotic, but it should work with that shape.

Anyways, please learn to call lamps by their manufacturer's description, it sure makes things make sense when reading posts. OK, feel free to kick me off the soap box now.

Why would someone probably wanting to save money by getting the ED28 size buy a 70$ spherical mirror?