There is some good news related to the European Commission’s rules on mercury products. If you own a projector that uses traditional replacement lamps, there is no need to worry, and here is why:
Commission Delegated Regulated (EU) 2023/2049 is a proposed regulation across European countries to eliminate new consumer products containing mercury. This regulation is supposed to start on January 1st, 2026. This regulation might jeopardize the manufacturing of new DLP (Digital Light Processing) and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) projectors with metal halide and UHP (Ultra High Performance) bulbs for home theatres, offices, and classrooms. The regulation was first brought to the members of the European Union back in 2017, but continues to be delayed, amended, and ultimately pushed out. We believe that both manufacturers and business leaders alike will continue to debate and delay the regulation.
There is a lot of misinformation about the new amendments to EU Regulation 2023/2049. Everyone seems to have their interpretation. Many “anonymous” people are writing blogs and click-bate articles, to try and ‘scare’ people into buying laser projectors. People are writing this misinformation to try to generate sales for laser projectors.
EU regulation 2023/2049, which is supposed to come into effect on January 1, 2026, restricts new sales of mercury-containing products but allows for the continued supply of spare parts, including projector lamps, for EEE products already on the market. As such, Epson, Panasonic, Optoma, and others are committed to providing projector lamps to existing users under these provisions.
In speaking with our contacts at Philips and Osram (the leading lamp manufacturers of the world), both OEM manufacturers confirmed that the new regulation is irrelevant to projector lamp bulbs. The ban is more targeted toward all fluorescent lamps.
Existing projector owners should feel confident with their products. Projector lamps are not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.