ANSI lumen

[sirbogey]

I've read somewhere that ANSI lumen for data projectors is not the same as lumen for HT. Can somebody confirm that? My previous Optoma pj had 1600 ANSI lumen but was a data projector being used for HT. I'm about to get the PT-AE900 with 1100 lumen for HT. Are those 2 approx the same, or am I completely wrong.

[Brandon B]

ANSI lumens are basically SUPPOSED to be the lumens of the unit calibrated to ANSI standard. But it is like all the other specs, some mfrs tell the truth (sometimes),some exaggerate, and some just lie. But a lumen is a lumen.

The HT/data difference, is that a data projector merely has to be calibrated like a data display, which may be 9300K or anything else.

An HT PJ, when properly calibrated, is generally at D65, which generally requires throwing away more of your raw light output, so the same projector calibrated to two different standards will have different lumen outputs.

The general rule of thumb is that whatever the mfr claims is the output, after calibration you'll likely throw away some 10-30% of that. There are some exceptions. The JVC HD2K and HD10K, for instance, are pretty close to their rated lumens after calibration.

As for the Panny vs. Optoma, even if they were both actually putting out exactly the values you state, believe it or not, you would probably barely notice the difference in your room, unless you had them side by side. Haven't played with Optoma's much, nor the low end Panny's, but the big 3 chip Panny's overstate their brightness by a fair amount.

BB