In the 20th century, the projector became one of the most essential and valuable electronic devices. There is hardly any person who doesn’t know this gadget. We use this at home, in cinema hall, conference room, office, and even classroom.
A projector is an optical output gadget that takes an image as input from various devices and reproduces them by projection onto a screen, wall, or any surface. It’s a small device that occupies a comparatively small place than a TV, monitor, etc. Its outstanding versatility attracts customers to use it with monitors, TV, and other output devices.
Though projector and daylight can’t go together, with the help of the advancement of modern technology, we have made projectors that can work flawlessly in daylight as well.
If you are planning to purchase a projector to use in daylight and want to know How Many Lumens Do You Need To Project in Daylight, then you are at the right place. Here we will discuss various factors of using a projector in daylight to help you conclude.
How Does A projector work?
The projector is an optical device that uses light to project images. When we input an embodiment, the projector processes the image using lamp light with various components and finally project the image on a projection screen. There are five types of projectors available in the market, each with a distinct working process. We need to know about them as it will help us decide what kinds of the projector will do well in daylight.
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
The LCD projector comes with three liquid crystal panels, a polarized light stone, a filter, a lamp, and a prism to projector images.
The lamp light passes through a polarizing filter where light components on the same plane pass through, and other features are blocked.
Then the light passes through a series of dichroic mirrors. Dichroic mirrors separate the light components into three primary colors. When light from polarizing filters passes through dichroic mirrors, a certain color light is allowed to reflect, and other lightweight components pass through. In this process, the red part of the light is separated first. Then the green and blue components are separated.
These three colors now fall on three suitable LCD panels. The LCD panels then allow the light to fall on the dichroic prism, where the recombination of the light takes place. The recombined light goes to the primary lens. The lens and stone magnify recombined light and finally project a complete image on the projector screen.
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DLP (Digital Light Processing)
Digital Light Processing projectors project images with the help of a DMD (Digital Micromirror Devices) chip. The DMD chip is made of millions of mirrors as tiny as 1/5th of human hair. Each mirror displays one color using a mosaic effect after being shone through a rapidly spinning color wheel. Each mirror is considered as one pixel. In a Full HD 1920 x 1080 projector, over 2 million pixels are very hard to distinguish in standard color. DMD chips combine colors and create a complete image and projector the image using a lens.
LCoS (Liquid Crystal of Silicon)
The work process of the LCoS projector is complex. It’s a hybrid technology of DLP DMD and Three LCD chips. It provides a superior image with sharp, crisp, and clear photos. The LCoS projector is more expensive than others. Working process of LCoS:
- The lamp provides a white light beam.
- The white light beam passes through a condenser lens. Then the focused and directed light passes through a filter which allows the visible part of the light to pass, blocking other components.
- Then the light is separated by the polarizing beam splitter and dichroic mirrors.
- The LCoS microdevices recombine colors and create a completely colorful image passing through a prism.
- The lens magnifies the image and displays it on the projector screen.
Laser Projector
Three lasers are used as a light source and one for each primary color. A chip deflects light, and then it is focused using a series of lenses and magnified to project an image in a laser projector. It is energy effective and provides fewer faded images in daylight situations. It is comparatively heavy and is compatible to use outdoors for its ultra-brightness.
LED Projector
LED or Light Emitting Diode is used as a light source in this projector and has an array of red, green, and blue light. They combine and create white light. Then passes through Digital Light Processing Chip or LCD layers. So, the work process in the LED projector is just the same as in other projectors.
Can the projector be used in daylight?
Projectors can be used in daylight. To use the projector in daylight, we need projectors offering ultra-brightness. In daylight, brightness is the primary factor for a projector to have the ability to project images. If you use a projector with low brightness in daylight, you can hardly see the content. In daylight, the external light sources can quickly intervene with projector light and defect the projected image. So a projector with high brightness is a must to use in daylight.
You can think a projector with high brightness might be costly. But in this competitive era of manufacturing projectors, many companies offer projectors with high-end features at affordable price ranges. So don’t worry about affordability.
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How Many Lumens do you need to Project in Daylight?
A lumen is a unit of measurement of light brightness. It measures the quantity of light from a source per unit of time. The more lumens projector provides, the brighter image will form on the projector screen.
The minimum brightness required to project in daylight is 3000-6000 lumens. The requirement may vary depending on the place to use.
Dark Room
In a dark room, the required brightness from a projector is about 1000 lumens. To use a projector with a low brightness limit, we need an ultra-reflective projector screen. For example, if your projector can provide 1000 lumens and you use a projector screen with 1.2x gain. Then the brightness of the projected image will be 1200 lumens. The darkroom needs comparatively low lumens because no ambient light exists there.
So, there is no reflection from another source of light and no chance of color fading. A dark room is the most suitable place for a projector. All projectors can provide maximum intensity in a dark room.
Room with Ambient Light
In a room with ambient light, we need more lumens. The ambient light reflects the projector screen and the projector’s light. As a result, the image can be faded and be less sharp.
The 2500-3000 lumens are advisable to use in this situation. But if the room is large, then the minimum required brightness is 4000 lumens.
Outdoors
Brightness should be the factor we should consider if wwe’retrying to projector images outdoor. In Outdoor situations, it is easy to reflect light from an external source on a projector screen resulting in fading and less sharpness in the projected image.
So, we need a projector with a minimum of 4000-5500 lumens of brightness for outdoor situations.
Can Projector be Used in Direct Sunlight?
Not. The brightness of direct sunlight is about 32000 – 150000 lumens depending on the place. No projector is available right now that can compete with this vast brightness. So, we chanteuse the projector in direct sunlight. So we need to place projector screens in the shade to prevent direct sunlight.
Some factors to Project in Daylight – 8 Things to Consider
Besides brightness, there are some factors we need to consider when projecting in daylight situations. Let’s talk about this.
1. Place The Projector Screen in Shadow
To get a better viewing experience in a room, we need to avoid placing a projector screen near the window. The light coming from the window will also reflect the projector’s light, resulting in a less sharp and faded image.
2. Use Projector in Comparatively Darker Room
In a darker room thethere’smparatively low ambient light. So there is a low chance of exterior light interfering with the projector’s light. So, lamp light can reflect on a projector screen without any intervention and form an impressive image.
3. Keep Projector Screen from Direct Sunlight
As discussed earlier, no projector is available in the market that can compete with the sun’sun’sghtness. It’sIt’sost impossible to see the projected images in direct sunlight. So make sure to place the project screen so that there is no direct contact with sunlight.
4. Do not project on a wall
Do not use the wall as a projector screen. The stripling wall can’tcan’ttain the quality of the projected image. The wall’s texture can deviate from the reflected light and decrease the intensity of light resulting comparatively less bright and less sharp image.
To have better performance, you can use projector paint to make your wall a projector screen or use sandpaper to make the wall smoother. The wall is not recommended as a projector screen in daylight situations. Instead, you can use the wall as a projector screen at night or in dark situations.
5. Using a commercial projector screen to project in daylight
In a daylight situation, the projecprojector’stness is not the only factor in having a great image. The screen where the image will form also decides the quality.
In daylight situations, it is recommended to use a dedicated projector screen rather than the wall. Dedicated projector screens have ultra-reflectivity to project better quality images. In daylight, as there is more chance for the external light source to intervene in the projector light, a dedicated projector screen can be a better choice to get a sharp and bright image.
6. Size and Portability
To use in daylight situations, we need a portable projector. You may need to carry the projector to many places. So, we recommend considering a low-weight projector and easy to carry.
7. Right Projector Placing
When we place a projector very close to the screen, it provides a small screen size. On the other hand, if it is placed very far, the screen size will be significant with a faded image.
According to throw distance, there are three types of projectors: Long-throw, short throw, and ultra-short throw.
Most projectors are long throw and can produce 100 inches screen size when placed about 8-12 feet away from the screen. In contrast, short-throw projectors can produce the same screen size when placed about 2-3 feet away from the screen.
Place the projector at a medium distance. Not too close or too far away. We recommend a short-throw projector for use in daylight situations as that can produce a big screen size from a very small distance providing an impressively sharp and bright image without fading.
8. Try Laser-Based Projector
Though a laser-based projector is costly, it can produce great images in daylight situations. It provides brilliant, sharp, and colorful images and provides ultra-brightness. To use the projector in daylight, we need a projector with ultra-brightness.
So, for dedicated daylight use, laser-based projectors are recommended.
Final Thought
Yes. Projectors can be used in daylight situations. To purchase a daylight-compatible projector, you have to consider the brightness first. We recommend you buy a projector with a minimum of 3000-6000 lumens.
Among five types of projectors, laser projectors will be the best choice to use in daylight situations. It is made with laser and compatible with use in a daylight situation for ultra-brightness.
I hope this article helps you to conclude about using projectors in daylight.
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