Lux vs Lumens projector: All in one guide on brightness.

Last updated by Nitish_Lakra on January 14, 2023

Lux vs Lumens projector Which is best for your projector brightness

Many consumers are confused when they see the different kinds of brightness metrics. Which is used by the projector manufacturer for marketing.

And to measure the brightness. Generally, these are Lux vs Lumens projectors. Yes, also the standard one ANSI lumens. 

People are confused about these terms. Which denotes the level of brightness in the projector. About these terms, we are going to talk about in today’s article.

We compare them all Lux vs Lumens projector and Lumens vs ANSI Lumens projector.

And at the end of this article. We also talk about some awareness. In the online market. How most Chinese projectors manufacturers fool us based on resolution, contrast ratio, and brightness. 

So let’s start our comparison with a little intro to the brightness metrics definition.

What are lumens? 

Lumens can be expressed as the amount of light emitted by a projector light source. The light source could be a lamp or Laser.

The more projector light sources produce. The number of lumens will increase and vice versa.

What is lux? 

And the Lux can be expressed as the maximum amount of light falling on the projection surface. Which is coming from the projector light source.

Why don’t we use the term brightness? 

Here we don’t use brightness as the metric. Because the brightness term is subjective. So it can’t use as the brightness term for the measuring.

Lux vs Lumens projector.

Lux vs Lumens projector diagram
Credit: blueriverdigital.com

The major difference between the LUX and Lumens is that. The amount of lumens depends.

On light source and the LUX depend on the projector screen or projection surface and gain. 

And also there is a point. Lux is dependent on the lumens. While lumens are independent of the lux. The reason why when you are choosing the projector. 

You should go with the projector lumens term. Which will be more helpful? When choosing the projector.

Because the number of lumens will be stable. And the amount of lux will change according to the screen size and based on screen gain. 

And when you put the projector in an open environment. The closer you put the projector near to the projection screen. The lux will be concentrated in one place. Hence the image will be bright.

While you put the projector far away from the projector screen. The amount of lux will be spread on the projector screen in the big area. Which makes the image look weak. 

Or we can say that according to the lux to lumens formula: lux = lumens/m2. The more the value of m2 (M Square).

The bigger will be the amount of lux spreading on the projector screen. This will make the image look weak. If you want to convert lux to lumens or lumens to lux you can use this tool.

In all these phenomena lumens amount remains the same. Until you adjust the brightness of your projector.

Now if you are confused between the projector brightness metric Lumens and Lux. You can easily choose between the Lux and Lumens.

What is ANSI Lumens? 

Here is another term for the projector brightness metric ANSI lumens. Which is different from the normal Lumens. It’s given by the ANSI standard.

ANSI lumens measure in some standard conditions. For that, a projection screen or picture should be in a tic-tac-toe grid. The below image is an example of a tic-tac-toe grid for better understanding. 

ANSI Lumen projector screen nine part
Credit: pojectorcentral.com

If you are curious like me and want to know the difference between the Lumens and ANSI Lumens. Then I have an explanation available for you below.

ANSI Lumens VS Lumens.

Normal projector lumens can be a bit confusing for the manufacturer and the consumer like us. To know the exact number of lumens on any projector. 

Because the projector manufacturer gives the normal lumens number in the projector description (Sometimes). That manufacturer has measured. These lumens are which part of the projection surface it’s not confirmed. It could be confusing for us. 

Because the projector brightness is spread equally. All over the projector screen. So there is a high chance you are getting the lumens of one part of the projector screen. Which is probably the middle part of the projection screen (the bright part of the screen). This is the issue with the normal lumens number.

But when it comes to the ANSI lumens then the scenario is changed. The ANSI lumens are completely different from the normal lumens. 

Normal lumens only give the value of one part of the projector screen. While the ANSI lumens are the sum of the whole projector screen. To get the ANSI lumens, projector manufacturer. Has to divide the projector screen into nine parts. 

Top right, Top center, and Top left. Mid right, Mid center, and Mid left. Lower right, Lower center, and Lower left.

After splitting the projector screen into nine parts. One by one every part of the projector screen lumen is measured. And then it’s divided by the nine (Total Value of Lumens/Total split part of projector screen). 

That’s how we get the ANSI lumen of any projector. Which is more accurate? Then the Normal Lumen and Lux measure the projector screen brightness.

If you are still confused between the Normal lumen and ANSI lumen. Here I have a short explanation. The normal lumen number is the lumen of one part of the projector screen. 

While the ANIS lumen is the sum of the whole projector screen lumen. Better will be to go with the ANSI lumen.

How many lumens do you need?

If the Lumen and ANSI lumens are good then. Which number of lumens you should choose? While choosing the projector.

If you want to know what is the best lumen for daylight you can read this article on daylight projector lumens. Which describes the lumen for daylight. Further.

For others. If you want to choose your projector lumen based on your purpose. Here are some standard numbers of the lumen. Business: 1500 lumens, home theater, and gaming 2000 lumens.

If you still don’t get your answer you can read this lumen guide. Which explains the perfect need for a lumen based on projector screen size, aspect ratio, and purpose.

Why are Chinese projectors bad in terms of Lumens or Lux?

Most of the Chinese projectors are not promising. They are something else in the online market. And the reality is completely different. They advertise 7000 lux. Which is not even close to that number. Not only in terms of brightness. They also lie for the resolution.

On the advertisement, it will support 1080p or native 1080p, other than this 4k support. Which is also not true. They’re Just 480p. If you want to read more about this topic you can read this article on How Good (or Bad) Are Those Cheap LED Projectors. Their chines projector got busted.

Conclusion.

So now you know. Which brightness metric do you have to go with? When you are choosing the projector. When you have to compare the Lux vs Lumens projector. In this case, you have to choose the Lumens. Which is the better metric for brightness? While choosing the projector. 

If you confuse between the Lumens and ANSI lumens. It will be better to go with the ANSI lumens. Because the ANSI is more accurate than the Normal Lumens.

And the last one, most Chinese projectors are garbage. If you have a good investment. Go with a well-known projector manufacturer.

See you next time…

Image by Oleg Gamulinskiy from Pixabay.


Nitish_Lakra

Nitish Lakra is a writer and editor with over a decade of experience in the publishing industry. He has written for numerous publications on a variety of topics including home theatre and projector. Nitish is passionate about educating and informing readers through his writing and strives to provide accurate and engaging content. When he's not writing, Nitish is enjoying the pc games, movies or cooking. My YouTube: @nitishlakra My Instagram: @nitish__lakra

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Avatar placeholder

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *