What are your ANSI lumens doing for you? Part 2

In Part 1 we talked about how they measure ANSI lumens and why your projector lamp has a lot to do with the brightness of your picture. Now we will start off by asking you what your needs are and how ambient light can be your worst enemy.

For some of you this is common knowledge, but for those who are just entering the projector world a major consideration is the amount of lumens the projector offers. Some entry level projectors start off with disgustingly low lumens, otherwise known as lower than 500 ANSI. This is not terrible and isn’t too hard to work with if you simply want to watch a movie in your specially formatted projector room. You simply have to make sure that you close the curtains and watch during the night if your room isn’t completely sealed off from light.

Most people who watch television on a traditional TV set realize that if they set it up near a window and the sun is shining onto the screen it makes it hard to enjoy. Well, that goes double for most projectors, since the light that is being projected is not encased in a tube. To avoid as much loss of picture due to ambient light you may want to consider buying a grey screen instead of a white screen. The grey screen will reflect less ambient light, light that comes from everywhere but the projector, and therefore give you a darker more obvious picture.

If you are looking to buy a projector that has a huge amount of ANSI lumens you are probably using it for situations that are littered with ambient light. Perhaps you need it for office presentations or outdoor presentations where a certain amount light is needed for the audience. There are some projectors that have been released for non-commercial use that can supply up to 6000 ANSI. The majority of users don’t require this much, as with such a high amount of brightness, it might be too much for their small theatre room.

You have to put into consideration the size of the image you require as well. Example: if you are using your projector in a room where you want the screen size to be relatively small (70inches), and your projector can shoot out 1250 ANSI or more, expect the image to start showing signs of bleeding. The image is going to be too bright for what you are using it for and you will be disappointed especially since you spent a load of money on your expensive projector.

This topic will have to be continued once again in an article most appropriately titled “Part 3�. Until next time.