I only barely understand what a lumen is

May 13, 2012 7:36 PM

I'm getting a projector for gaming (and occasionally movies). It's across a living room, about 15 feet, to go on a wall. I've previously used just a boring office projector and that worked fine. I'm not super concerned about image quality; it needs to be good enough to read text on the "screen", but that's about it. Can I get away with an LED projector?

I get a little bit of ambient light in the daytime, but not much, and 90% of my use of this device is at night anyway.

LEDs seem to have WAY less lumens than the other kinds of projectors, but I'd like not to worry about bulb replacement.

posted by NoraReed to Technology (2 answers total)

Here's a link to a page from projectorcentral.com - Brightness - that gives some info on selecting a projector. The "Projector Calculator" linked to on that page starts with you selecting a manufacturer & model, so you'll have to do some research first & come up with a list of possible models.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:54 AM on May 14, 2012

Best answer: I have a 5-year old LED projector, a Mitsubishi PK10 that works fantastically at night. I use it in a room with some ambient light. I've also used it outside with a bit more ambient light, and about 12-15 feet away from the screen.

Specs say it's only 10 lumens. I think it's great. They aren't kidding about the wider color gamut of LEDs. Reds are REAAAALLY red.
posted by MonsieurBon at 9:25 AM on May 14, 2012