Choosing the Best Brightness For Your Projector

By XGIMI Tech - 2022-08

The Role of Brightness in Enhancing the Viewing Experience

The degree of brightness a projector can produce is important, given that flexibility in daytime use demands increased amounts of brightness. A projector's light source does not exclusively determine how bright its display will be. Other elements like ambient light and screen size have a huge role to play and equally affect brightness quality.

Ambient light, for instance, can deplete or increase the overall image brightness of a projector. During the daytime and in open spaces, only a 1000+ projector ANSI lumens (2000+ LED lumens) will be suitable (successfully negate the effects of ambient light) on an 80"–120" screen. For outdoor/portable projectors, a brightness of at least 500 ANSI lumens is ideal for low-lit outdoor and—perhaps—mildly-lit indoor arrangements.

This article will expand on the subject of brightness as it relates to projectors and give valuable insight into brightness-impacting factors like projector lumens, ambient light, and screen size. Additionally, the article will explore the ideal brightness of home and outdoor projectors and recommend XGIMI smart home and outdoor projectors that can deliver an excellent viewing experience anywhere, anytime.

1. All You Need to Know About Lumens

2. How Much Brightness Suits Your Needs?

3. Making Better Buying Decisions When You Understand Projector Brightness

All You Need to Know About Lumens

Brightness is a derived quantity (scientifically) and, like others in its category, has a unit of measurement. Projector brightness is measured in lumens, and 'ANSI lumens' is the standard expression in the industry (ANSI is short for American National Standards Institute). In projector technology, some of the known brightness measures are ANSI lumens, LED lumens, and light source lumens.

ANSI Lumens

The term 'ANSI lumens' is the measurement of the brightness of a projector's display over a certain area after the light from the source has gone through the processing required to produce the image. ANSI lumens refer to the brightness of the projected image.

LED Lumens

For projectors with an LED light source, LED lumens measures the brightness of the LED light as it relates to the HK (Helmholtz-Kohlrausch) effect.

Light Source Lumens

Unlike ANSI lumens, which measure the brightness of the projected image, light source lumens measure the brightness of the projector's light source, which can be lamps, lasers, or LED bulbs.

You can convert ANSI lumens to light source lumens, and LED lumens and vice-versa. A projector with 1000 ANSI lumens will typically have 2400 LED lumens (ANSI lumens value × 2.4) and 16,667 light source lumens (ANSI lumens ÷ 0.06).

For clearer understanding, the table below will show you a few conversions of ANSI lumens values of some XGIMI smart projectors to LED lumens and light source lumens values:

Note: The brightness unit conversion formula is for reference purposes only and should not be considered an exact or certified measurement.

How Much Brightness Suits Your Needs?

Projectors have come in handy in various settings, ranging from living rooms to classrooms, movie nights in the backyard to camping nights in the woods. Different settings require varying brightness levels, especially with factors like ambient light and screen size. Note that a high ANSI lumens value does not always translate to an excellent viewing experience. 

Ambient Light 

Ambient light impacts projector brightness in different viewing conditions. At night, with lights on, the ambient light interference can dilute the display's brightness, resulting in a slightly whitewashed display. The result is similar to a mid-afternoon home theater session with the windows wide open, during outdoor sunset settings, and classroom sessions with lights on and open windows. 

Projected images are reflected off the screen, and with a lot of ambient light, the reflection becomes less solid, frail, and whitewashed. In rooms or outdoor settings with a lot of lighting, you need projectors with high brightness. Darker rooms or spaces like nights in the backyard require lower brightness. In summary, more ambient light requires higher brightness, while low lighting requires lower brightness levels. Thus, it would be important to know where and when (in the evenings after work, on a Saturday morning, etc.) you want to use the projector before settling for a particular product. 

Screen Size

Another factor that affects a projector's brightness is the image/screen size. If you switch on a flashlight and focus the beam within a small portion of a wall, the reflected light is brighter than when you turn it on the entire wall. Some projectors can fill a 200" screen, but large screen sizes often come at the expense of brightness. 

As the screen widens, the light rays have more room to cover, making them lose their intensity. Enlarging the screen on the same brightness setting will likely yield a darker and paler display. This explains why you will likely get a brighter display on a 100" screen than on a 200" screen with the same brightness setting. Thus, large screens require higher projector ANSI lumens. 

Ideal Brightness For Home and Outdoor Projectors

Concerning brightness, home projectors have a significantly higher entry level than outdoor projectors, mostly due to the former's emphasis on great, cinematic viewing experiences. 

With a home projector with less than 2000 ANSI lumens, you can enjoy your favorite content on a high-quality display on an 80-120 inch screen with moderate ambient light interference (curtained windows and lights switched off). If you love watching movies during sunny afternoons, a brightness above 2000 ANSI lumens is sufficient for the same screen size with minimal degradation. It would help if you settled for any projector tailored to meet your brightness needs.

For outdoor projectors, the bar is much lower because you would need much larger spaces for projectors that have higher brightness values. If you are planning a backyard party or camping trip in low-lit settings and also mildly-lit spaces indoors, you would need portable projectors with 300+ ANSI lumens. 

Making Better Buying Decisions When You Understand Projector Brightness

Having a good understanding of projector brightness is beneficial when buying projectors. High ANSI lumens do not automatically translate to excellent viewing experiences. Hence, other factors like your needs, ambient light, and screen size should influence your projector choice.

Ambient light can cause projected displays to be less bright. Hence, you may need to consider projectors with ample ANSI lumens depending on your intended setting (indoor or outdoor) and when you want to use the projector (in the day or at night). 

Also, if you need a large screen size, remember that the wider the screen size, the more projector lumens required. 

For bright displays that suit your needs, XGIMI HORIZON 20 Series 4K home theater projectors, AURA 2 (New) 4K ultra-short-throw projector, and Halo+ (New) are ideal home, laser, and portable projectors you can trust.

Note that XGIMI projectors are using ISO Lumens as brightness unit now.