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Projector Brightness (1 Viewer)

Jackson L

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Nov 13, 2004
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After reading many threads in these forums about how the rated brightness of a projector doesn't mean much in the real world I would like to know how to tell if a projector is bright enough to use in a room with quite a bit of ambient light. In one of my classes there is a Mitsubishi LCD projector (model unknown) that displays a very bright and clear picture even when the lights are on. There is even a light directly over the screen and the picture is still very bright and detailed. That's what I would want. I think that Mitsubishi is only 800x600 though and I would want 1280x1024. I have been looking at the Panasonic PT-AE700U. I doubt that would have comparable brightness. Would it?
 

Jim Mcc

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Feb 11, 2004
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Jackson, why would you want to watch a projector with all kinds of lights on? What is your intended use? Go to Projectorcentral.com and use the "search" function.
 

Jackson L

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
69
I wouldn't watch it with all kinds of lights on. My living rooms is rather bright in the daylight though and while I don't watch very much TV in the daylight I would like a projector that can cope with a bit of extra light.
 

Leo Kerr

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May 10, 1999
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1,698
This results in a mixed blessing situation.

A higher brightness projector may be able to be 'toned down' for better contrast in the evening, but you'd end up having to monkey with your levels all the time.

Second, you will pay dearly for the additional brightness.

In mildly bright areas, we're using 3k lumen projectors, and they're okay. 5k is better. But hidiously expensive.

Leo
 

Neil Joseph

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That projector that is used in your class is most likely a high brightness low contrast ratio projector that produces greys rather than deep blacks. Further ambient light would further lighten the blacks. What you need is a way that you can "control" the ambient light in the room so that you can watch a football game during the day with some ambient light but also reduce the ambient light drastically during the day when you want to watch a movie.
 

Jackson L

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
69
Controlling ambient light is the difficult part. See THIS picture of the room. The screen would go where the TV is now. The blinds on those large windows block out some but not all light.
 

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