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HOW MANY LUMENS DO I NEED IN A PROJECTOR?

HOW MANY LUMENS DO I NEED IN A PROJECTOR?

In the world of projectors, there are a range of specifications and features that will add up to make the perfect projector. One of the main parameters is the projector brightness. When you’re shopping for a projector, it’s important to remember that you can’t just go out and purchase a high brightness device and get great picture quality. There’s no one size fits all approach to choosing a projector brightness for your needs

Projector Brightness
Projector brightness is generally measured in ANSI lumens. An ANSI Lumen is a unit of measurement devised by the American National Standards Institute to measure true brightness. It describes how much light a projector can project onto a particular surface.

Your viewing environment is the deciding factor on how many lumens your projector needs. Dedicated home theaters (rooms with controlled lighting and no ambient light) will not require as much brightness as a space with ambient light from windows or other household lighting. To determine how high the light intensity should be, you must pay attention to the conditions of the environment.

Recommended Projector Brightness
Dedicated home theaters need 1000 lumens or brighter.
Rooms with some ambient light should have at least 1500 lumens.
Spaces with high ambient light need about 3000 lumens

ALR Screen
ALR screens allow you to clearly see projected content even when you’re not in a completely darkened room and are ideal for environments with uncontrolled ambient light. Current trends in construction and architecture are focused on open plan layouts that bring natural elements, such as sunlight, into commercial and residential spaces. Sustainability also remains top-of-mind as incandescent light bulbs are replaced with brighter, energy-efficient alternatives like LED. ALR screens allow you to preserve the projected image quality you desire without controlling or concealing all the desired light with dimmers or shades.

There are a couple of different ways ALR screens can reject ambient light. It is important to understand the differences and how to select the right one based on your application and projector type.

Contrast-based ALR screens are gray instead of white like traditional projection screens. The gray color of the screen absorbs some of the ambient light rather than reflecting it as a traditional white screen would. The gray color maintains and enhances contrast for viewers and typically will block up to 80% of ambient light in a room. This type of ALR screen is suitable for laser projectors.

Surfaces that are suitable, but not recommended, for laser projection may exhibit a slight speckle pattern. Speckle is produced when the light beams from a laser projector interact with or scatter off the surface due to its texture. The speckle pattern is observed as interference in image clarity and can be distracting to some viewers. Surfaces deemed suitable for laser projection can be used with a laser projector, but some interference in the image may be visible

True-optical ALR screens reject higher levels of ambient light, up to 99%, from specific angles in a room. This makes an image brighter than when it is projected on a Contrast-based ALR screen. Light in the room is not reflected in the image, preserving contrast and color. This type of ALR screen is recommended for laser projectors.

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