Outdoor projector brightness. How many lumens to choose?
Projecting an image with a media projector outdoors is more challenging compared to interior projection. In the conference room or at home ambient lighting is more controllable. You can curtain the windows and turn excessive lights off. Outdoors there might be bright streetlights at your venue, headlights of cars passing by and evening overcast may turn into clear sky sunset. This is why for your outdoor projection needs you will want a brighter projector than the one you would use for an interior.
Projector manufacturers usually state the maximum screen size that a projector supports. But in most cases this value tells us about the maximum focus distance and not the brightness. The further your projector is from the screen the larger projected image it will provide. Covering a larger projection screen requires more light, which means brighter projector requirements.
The dependance between projector brightness and projector screen is non-linear. From our experience producing various types of outdoor movie events 1000 ANSI lumens brightness is sufficient for a 100-inch screen in diagonal. Yet the screen doubled in size (200” diagonally) will require 3500 lumens to achieve a vivid and crisp image outdoors.
Conditions to consider when choosing brightness for an outdoor projector
Ambient lightning is definitely one of the most influencing factors that need to be considered to pick the proper brightness for an outdoor projector. However there are more conditions in place that will influence the quality of your projected image in the open air.Screen size
Wonderful thing about outdoor movie events is that there’s plenty of space to accommodate many people. A 150-inch projection screen will look gigantic in almost any room, but in a community park space it will appear tiny. Regardless of whether you are watching the game in your backyard with friends and neighbors or producing a film festival open air for a large crowd - the bigger the screen the better.Projector manufacturers usually state the maximum screen size that a projector supports. But in most cases this value tells us about the maximum focus distance and not the brightness. The further your projector is from the screen the larger projected image it will provide. Covering a larger projection screen requires more light, which means brighter projector requirements.
The dependance between projector brightness and projector screen is non-linear. From our experience producing various types of outdoor movie events 1000 ANSI lumens brightness is sufficient for a 100-inch screen in diagonal. Yet the screen doubled in size (200” diagonally) will require 3500 lumens to achieve a vivid and crisp image outdoors.
Viewing distance
Usual outdoor movie theater setting is when the first audience row is located on a comfortable distance from the screen depending on the screen size and personal preferences. Next there’s a second and further rows. Sometimes your outdoor movie venue and audience size may dictate the viewing distance for the last row of viewers. Typical examples of such a setting include movies by the pool, amphitheaters or when the outdoor screen is placed on a concert stage. In these scenarios your last row of people watching may be far away from the screen which will require an outdoor projector with more ANSI lumens onboard.Type and brightness of the projected content
Different content may be more or less demanding to the brightness of your projector. Movies in dark tones, gaming on an outdoor projector and presentations with plenty of texts are better on a brighter outdoor projector.Is more lumens always the best?
Generally the answer to this question is positive, however there have to be compromises. Brighter projectors are more expensive. In fact after 5,000 lumens the price for most projector models starts to skyrocket. Projectors with a high amount of lumens are always bulkier and heavier, they emit more heat and consume a lot of power.