Ushio

Before laser illumination, every digital cinema projector burned a xenon short-arc lamp, and those lamps were a recurring operating cost with a finite life measured in hours. Ushio is one of the principal manufacturers, and for many cinemas it was the most frequently reordered consumable in the building.

Ushio is also the parent company of Christie, which puts it in an unusual position: it owns a projector manufacturer and supplies the illumination category that laser projection is steadily replacing. That may partly explain why Christie continued introducing lamp-based models when most of the industry had moved on — there remains a real installed base to serve.

For an exhibitor still running xenon, the planning question is supply and service life rather than price. A lamp category in structural decline is one to have a conversation about before a reorder becomes difficult.

Filmgrail has no commercial relationship with Ushio and this listing is not an endorsement. It is here because a cinema evaluating its supply chain should be able to see the whole of it in one place. Details change — check anything decision-critical with the supplier.