How much brightness do I need for my cheap projector?

Cheap projector tips

Brightness depends on three factors: (1) the light output of the projector, (2) the reflective properties of the screen, and (3) the ambient light of the room.

So, how much brightness do you need for your cheap projector?

When it comes to home theater projectors, brighter is definitely not better. What you want is a projector that produces enough light to fill your screen with good contrast, but not so bright that it creates eye fatigue when viewed for any length of time.

If you don't want to set up a dark home theater and would rather have some low ambient light, many users prefer to get the screen luminance up. A brighter picture will help compensate for the loss of contrast caused by the ambient light.

Whatever you do, don't make any assumptions about a projector's brightness based on its ANSI lumen rating. Some models have video optimization incorporated into their ratings and others do not. That means there are projectors out there, which are officially rated at 700 ANSI lumens that are actually brighter than models, rated at 1500 ANSI lumens. So the spec sheets, as far as lumen ratings are concerned, tend to be meaningless for home theater.

There are two common methods of measuring light in a home theater. One is the ANSI lumen rating of the projector. That measures the light energy capable of being generated by the projector itself. The second is foot-Lamberts (fL), which takes the screen into account and measures the total light that is being reflected back toward the audience. Of the two, foot-Lamberts are the better method to use for setting up your home theater. However, since that number depends on your screen size and screen gain, there is no fL specification published by the projector manufacturers.

So how I can calculate fL of my room?
You can use the Projection Calculator at www.projectorcentral.com