I'm reading specs on various projectors and checking the predicted brightness on Projectorcentral.com's calculator.
The problem is that higher lumens-rated projectors are coming back with much lower FL ratings on the calculator, for the same size screen, which defies logic. Brighter projector should equal brighter FL on a screen with a given image size.
I compared a bunch of projectors based on 60" image height.
My existing InFocus IN82 comes out to 34FL on this calculator. The projector is rated for 1500 lumens.
Infocus has a newer model out called the IN8606HD, which claims to be 2500 lumens. However, throwing the same 60" height image, the calculator says only 28FL. My suspicion led me to check the bulb technology and wattage. It's also a UHP mercury arc lamp, like the IN82, but the wattage is much lower, at 220 watts, vs. 300 watts for the IN82. So either the industry believes in unicorns (that somehow a 220W lamp is brighter than a 300W lamp), or the projector calculator is giving bogus results.
Presently, my IN82 is only 14' from the screen, so the largest image I can get is 45" high (and at that dimension, approx 92" diag, the brightness comes to 60FL). It's at a comfortable brightness, about like an LCD TV, but much larger, but the problem is that I have 1/3 of my 154" 2.35:1 screen unused. The IN8606HD has a shorter throw angle, and would fill my screen top to bottom from the present mounting position. I was hoping the extra 1000 lumens would make up for the larger area, but the calculations at Projectorcentral tell me it's not even as bright as my current setup, even for the same image size.
What's going on here? Have the ANSI standards changed since 2009? Are lamps of the same brightness being assigned higher lumens ratings? Or is the data for many projectors incorrect at the calculator, thus rendering artificially low FL numbers? I don't want to even consider changing out my projector if it's going to be a step down in brightness (and a much bigger step down if the image size goes up). Short of hitting the lottery and buying one of those 40,000 lumen commercial projectors, what are the options for finding the honest screen brightness? People tell me my current setup is "blindingly bright" (that was an exact quote from one of six people who attended a screening of "The Wind Rises" that I showed here last month. I rather like it though, because my fireworks video looks more like fireworks.
Another thing that concerns me are with projectors like the BenQ 1070, they claim 2000 ANSI lumens and reviewers talk about how bright it is, but say the contrast and black levels aren't that great. I'm quite happy with the black levels and shadow detail on the IN82. If I were to nitpick, I'd want more gamut in into the reds. Mercury arc is weak on red light output. But to overcome that would require LED or Laser technology. I just want the image to be bigger without having to knock out another support column to move the projector back another two feet. The IN8606HD looks tempting at $799, which is cheap compared to the $5200 MSRP of the IN82 that I bought used for $1400 in 2009, but if they're lying about the lumens (and it seems they are contradicting the laws of physics to claim a lower wattage bulb of the same tech is brighter than a higher wattage bulb) I don't want to waste my money.
My manual calculations say that the 2500 lumen projector on my 60" image height (16:9 aspect means 8.8' wide, thus 44 sq ft area), so 2500 lumens / 44 sq ft = 56 FL. Not 28 FL.
Maybe someone here with some insider info can relate what's really going on with ratings and why the brighter projectors are so dim in the calculator results.
The problem is that higher lumens-rated projectors are coming back with much lower FL ratings on the calculator, for the same size screen, which defies logic. Brighter projector should equal brighter FL on a screen with a given image size.
I compared a bunch of projectors based on 60" image height.
My existing InFocus IN82 comes out to 34FL on this calculator. The projector is rated for 1500 lumens.
Infocus has a newer model out called the IN8606HD, which claims to be 2500 lumens. However, throwing the same 60" height image, the calculator says only 28FL. My suspicion led me to check the bulb technology and wattage. It's also a UHP mercury arc lamp, like the IN82, but the wattage is much lower, at 220 watts, vs. 300 watts for the IN82. So either the industry believes in unicorns (that somehow a 220W lamp is brighter than a 300W lamp), or the projector calculator is giving bogus results.
Presently, my IN82 is only 14' from the screen, so the largest image I can get is 45" high (and at that dimension, approx 92" diag, the brightness comes to 60FL). It's at a comfortable brightness, about like an LCD TV, but much larger, but the problem is that I have 1/3 of my 154" 2.35:1 screen unused. The IN8606HD has a shorter throw angle, and would fill my screen top to bottom from the present mounting position. I was hoping the extra 1000 lumens would make up for the larger area, but the calculations at Projectorcentral tell me it's not even as bright as my current setup, even for the same image size.
What's going on here? Have the ANSI standards changed since 2009? Are lamps of the same brightness being assigned higher lumens ratings? Or is the data for many projectors incorrect at the calculator, thus rendering artificially low FL numbers? I don't want to even consider changing out my projector if it's going to be a step down in brightness (and a much bigger step down if the image size goes up). Short of hitting the lottery and buying one of those 40,000 lumen commercial projectors, what are the options for finding the honest screen brightness? People tell me my current setup is "blindingly bright" (that was an exact quote from one of six people who attended a screening of "The Wind Rises" that I showed here last month. I rather like it though, because my fireworks video looks more like fireworks.
Another thing that concerns me are with projectors like the BenQ 1070, they claim 2000 ANSI lumens and reviewers talk about how bright it is, but say the contrast and black levels aren't that great. I'm quite happy with the black levels and shadow detail on the IN82. If I were to nitpick, I'd want more gamut in into the reds. Mercury arc is weak on red light output. But to overcome that would require LED or Laser technology. I just want the image to be bigger without having to knock out another support column to move the projector back another two feet. The IN8606HD looks tempting at $799, which is cheap compared to the $5200 MSRP of the IN82 that I bought used for $1400 in 2009, but if they're lying about the lumens (and it seems they are contradicting the laws of physics to claim a lower wattage bulb of the same tech is brighter than a higher wattage bulb) I don't want to waste my money.
My manual calculations say that the 2500 lumen projector on my 60" image height (16:9 aspect means 8.8' wide, thus 44 sq ft area), so 2500 lumens / 44 sq ft = 56 FL. Not 28 FL.
Maybe someone here with some insider info can relate what's really going on with ratings and why the brighter projectors are so dim in the calculator results.