Projector owners cringe at the thought of power being pulled from their high-end video unit before it can safely shut down, yet that's exactly what happens when there's a power failure. We should know because it has happened to us more than once. To make matters worse, the UHP (Ultra High Performance) bulb in our Optoma H77 lasted only about 500 hours before failure even though the expected life was more than 2000 hours. Spending a couple of hundred dollars on protection is a small price to pay for a projector bulb that costs $400. Tripp Lite has introduced a new product designed to keep projectors alive even though the utility power fails. The new HT1000UPS provides 1000VA/500W of power capability from the backup battery.

Tripp Lite is one of the largest makers of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) serving the needs of both businesses and consumers alike. More recently A/V systems have begun to see the benefits of UPS designs, particularly with the new LCD and DLP digital projectors that require cooling when they are powered down. Failure to properly cool down these projector bulbs can result in shortened life and/or damage to the hardware. Normally this is not a problem, but in the event of a power failure the need for a UPS becomes apparent. Tripp Lite has recently introduced their HT1000UPS, designed to provide 1000VA/500W capacity for A/V products. Protection is included for not only utility power, but for phone and antenna/cable/satellite electronics as well. They also offer their customers a 2-year product warranty and $100,000 Ultimate Lifetime Insurance coverage for connected equipment.

Front Panel
The front panel of the HT1000UPS is designed to be used in either a horizontal or vertical (tower) configuration. The front display can be removed with an attached ribbon cable that allows it to be turned 90 degrees and reinstalled. The top buttons for Power and Mute/Test are the only controls for the unit. Pressing and holding the Power button for one second will toggle the unit on or off. Pressing the Mute/Test button will silence the alarm when the unit is running from batteries. Pressing and holding the Mute/Test button for two seconds will initiate a self-test of the UPS. If the Replace battery indicator illuminates after the self-test, the battery is faulty. The input line voltage is displayed with large numbers on the top half of the LCD. There is a five step bar graph that shows the battery capacity. There are also four indicators on the bottom of the display. The AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation) indicator lets the user know when the unit is adjusting the output voltage to compensate for an input voltage that is either too low or too high. The On Bat indicator comes on when the unit is powered by the internal batteries. If the unit's outputs are overloaded, the Fault indicator will illuminate. The display generates significant light output, so if you plan to use it in a room with a front projector, we would recommended covering the LCD. We couldn't find a way to turn off the backlighting.

Rear Panel
The rear panel of the HT1000UPS has a total of eight outlets. Four of them offer battery backup/surge protection while the other four outlets have surge protection only. One set of telephone/modem surge protection (for phone lines) and two sets of coax protected F-connectors (for satellite, cable or antenna connections) are available. A USB connection that supports Tripp Lite’s PowerAlert Software (available FREE via web download) is also provided. However, we did not test this feature in our setup. The attached 6-foot power cord has a right-angled plug for fitting into tight areas behind items close to the power outlet.

In the lab
The HT1000UPS has protection circuits for both over-voltage and under-voltage conditions. The AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation) circuit activates when the utility line voltage drops below 105 VAC. When this occurs, the unit applies a gain to the incoming line voltage to bring the output up to approximately 120 VAC, while still producing a true sine wave (no power inversion applied). As the voltage from the utility power decreases below 90 VAC or goes above 139 VAC, the UPS power inverter takes control of the output line and provides a PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) sine wave producing 115VAC +/-5%. This guarantees that the protected component will always have adequate line voltage and uninterrupted power. The HT1000UPS has different threshold levels for activating and deactivating the inverter for both over-voltage and under-voltage conditions, commonly referred to as hysteresis. This prevents the unit from switching back and forth between power modes when the line voltage is near a threshold level. The unit enters the battery mode when the utility voltage drops to 89 VAC, yet requires the input line to reach 94 VAC before returning to the AC mode. Similarly, the unit enters the battery mode when the utility voltage exceeds 139 VAC, but requires the line to drop below 134 VAC before it returns back to the AC mode.

Our test unit consisted of an Optoma H77 high definition DLP projector. This particular projector consumes about 320 watts and presents a rather large load to the UPS when displaying an image in the bright mode. Once the unit was fully powered with a picture on the screen, we pulled the power plug on the UPS to simulate a power failure. The projector continued to operate as if nothing had happened to the incoming power. We had plenty of time to shut down the projector since most of the cool down time uses relatively little current compared to when the lamp is illuminated.

Conclusion
Tripp Lite's HT1000UPS is a must for projector owners who are concerned about the longevity of the expensive UHP (Ultra High Performance) bulbs in their projectors. The chassis is designed to be mounted vertically or horizontally. The unit is geared for general A/V applications, but we found it most useful for powering our DLP projector. No longer do you have to worry about losing power while the projector is running hot. The power reserve is designed to last 3 minutes (1000VA / 500w) under full load and 14 minutes (500VA / 250w) under half load. This will give the user ample time to shut down the projector in the event of a power failure.

- Kevin Nakano

Projector: Optoma H77 High-Definition HD2+ DLP™ Projector
Screen: Stewart Filmscreen 100" FireHawk Screen on a Luxus Deluxe ScreenWall
Video Processor/Scaler: Anchor Bay Technologies DVDO iScan HD A/V Processor
Preamplifier/Processor: Parasound AVC-2500U THX-Ultra DTS/DD Preamp/Processor
Amplification: Parasound HCA-2205AT THX-Ultra Five Channel Amplifier
Bass Management: Miller & Kreisel BMC Mini 5.1 Bass Management Controller
Front Speakers: Miller & Kreisel S-150THX (L+R) and S-150AC (Center) Speakers
Rear Speakers: Miller & Kreisel SS-250 Tripole® Surround Speakers
Subwoofer: Two Miller & Kreisel MX-350THX MkII THX-Ultra Push-pull Subwoofers
Room Treatments: Echo Buster panels and Bass Buster towers
Set-top Box: Samsung SIR-T165 Terrestrial HDTV Receiver with DVI
DVD/CD/SACD Player: Sony DVP-NS900V DVD/CD/SACD Player
DVD Audio/Video Player: Kenwood Sovereign DV-5900M 400-Disc DVD Changer
D-VHS VCR #1: JVC HM-DH30000U D-VHS High-Definition D-Theater VCR
D-VHS VCR #2: Marantz MV8300 D-VHS High-Definition D-Theater VCR
A/V Cables: Ultralink Platinum and Advanced Performance Series Cables
DVI Cable: AudioQuest DV-1 20m DVI-D Cable
HDMI Cable: Accell UltraRun 45m HDMI Cable
Power Conditioning: Panamax MAX® 5510 ACRegenerator
Video Generator: Sencore VP403 SDTV/HDTV Video Pattern Generator
Color Analyzer #1: Sencore CP5000 ISF Certified All-Display Color Analyzer
Color Analyzer #2: Milori ColorFacts Professional with GretagMacbeth Eye-One Pro

Tripp Lite - HT1000UPS 1000VA/500 Watt

Features

Company Information
Tripp Lite World Headquarters
1111 W. 35th Street
Chicago, IL 60609 USA

Phone: 773-869-1111
Fax: 773-869-1329
Ordering: 773-869-1797
Customer Support: 773-869-1234

URL: www.tripplite.com