Projectors and Color Brightness

The Importance of Color Brightness

Somewhere lodged in your projector body is a tinfoil speaker that produces 0.34 of a Watt. Some have speakers that can output 10-20 Watts, which is sufficient for a classroom of 30 students. However, no projector has truly outstanding sound. Flat TVs have phenomenal images and sleek styling but tin-can-quality sound. This is due to minimizing display profiles (portable projectors, flat TVs), which sacrifices the audio component.

What is Color Light Output?

Color Light Output (Color Brightness) is a standard that provides buyers with data to compare projectors. Previously, only White Light Output was measured, which was insufficient for projectors that display color. Color Light Output or Color Brightness now gives buyers the comprehensive data they need.

The Color Light Output (Color Brightness) standard was introduced in May 2012 and applies to all displays, including projectors for business, education, or home use. It highlights significant differences among projectors by providing two measurements: White Brightness (White Light Output) and Color Brightness (Color Light Output).

Projector buyers should look for and demand both numbers – White Brightness (White Light Output) and Color Brightness (Color Light Output). If you can't find Color Brightness on a product, click here to look up test results for some of the models.

OLD vs NEW Color Measurements

Known as the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) 1931 x,y Chromaticity Diagram, the old system measured hue and saturation in two dimensions. Developed with the best tools available at the time, it is not perceptually uniform and is not the best system to measure projectors.

In 1976, the CIE proposed and adopted a newer, more uniform system (CIE 1976 L*a*b*), which measures hue, saturation, and lightness (brightness). This system provides a more accurate representation of human perception and remains the standard used today.