Optoma has been joined by distributor Midwich in warning customers, distributors and resellers to be vigilant against counterfeit lamps. Nick Price, Optoma’s Territory Manager, said:
“We have recently been informed of a few cases where fake lamps have been used, which has resulted in damage to the projector. The counterfeit lamps may be cheaper but this is often due to cheaper components that have not been rigorously tested by the manufacturer and could damage the projector. We strongly recommend that customers fit only Optoma lamp modules into Optoma projectors and we have put a number of actions in place to help our customer recognise genuine lamps.”
Optoma has set up a facility on its website for customers to check whether they have a genuine lamp. All genuine Optoma lamps carry a tamper resistant sticker. If the lamp module packaging does not carry this sticker, or the seal is broken or damaged, it may be a fake lamp. Stuart Mizon, divisional director at Midwich, said: “We fully support Optoma’s message in using genuine manufacturer consumables. We only stock, and only ever have stocked, the genuine article here at Midwich.”
He added: “We know of too many problems and horror stories from people who have used counterfeit lamps and go to great lengths to ensure we deal with genuine, trusted suppliers. For a large majority of our vendors, we deal direct with the manufacturer to ensure authenticity.”
