ANSI Lumens vs ISO Lumens vs Light Source Lumens Differences

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Many people are confused about the various brightness units of projectors when purchasing projectors, such as ANSI lumens, ISO lumens, light source lumens, etc. Some merchants may mislead users by stealing the concept of exchange. So what is the difference between ANSI lumens and ISO lumens, and light source lumens?

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(The brightness of Dangbei Mars Pro is 3200 ANSI Lumens)

1. What is ANSI Lumen?​


ANSI lumens is the world-recognized unit of brightness specified by the American National Standards Institute, which refers to the brightness of the projection light source after layers of reduction.

This standard specifies the "nine-point" measurement method: under certain conditions, nine points are taken to measure the brightness of the projection screen, and then the average brightness value of the nine points is obtained.

This measurement method strictly requires the size of the projection screen, and ignores the projection distance and possible losses during the projection process. Therefore, ANSI lumens is the current mainstream brightness standard.

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2. What is ISO Lumen?​


Among the regular projector products, in addition to using ANSI lumens as the measurement unit, there is also ISO lumens, which are common in Japanese projector brands. When testing ISO lumens, it is necessary to pay attention to the power of the light source, noise and the influence of various factors on the brightness. In the measurement process, not only the size of the measurement screen is required, but also the projection distance and the loss during the projection process. Therefore, the calculation is relatively strict and the measurement standard is higher.

ANSI lumens and ISO lumens are different measurement standards formulated by different institutions, and they are both authoritative projection brightness parameters. At present, projectors on sale have been basically unified as ANSI lumens.

3. What is Light Source Lumen?​


The brightness of the light source refers to the "most original luminous brightness level" that the lasers, bulbs, LED lights, etc. in the projector can provide for the projector.

Generally speaking, the brightness of the light source is the brightness that has not been reduced by the lens or other factors. Using the sun as an analogy, the sun itself is the brightness of the light source, and the sunlight shining on the body is like the light projected by the projector on the wall after being reduced. Therefore, when choosing a projection, you need to look for ANSI lumens or ISO lumens.

ANSI Lumens Calculator


ANSI lumens vs ISO lumens vs light source lumens: What is different?​


At present, there are two main standard luminance units in the projection industry, namely ANSI lumens and ISO lumens, which are the world-recognized international standard units of projector lumens. Among them, ANSI lumens is the unit of brightness specified by the American National Standards Institute, and ISO lumens is the unit of brightness specified by the International Organization for Standardization. In addition, there are also devices that use "lumens" or "light source brightness" as the unit of brightness, which basically have no reference significance.

Some businesses will mark the brightness of the light source on some projectors, and too high a value can easily mislead users. Before buying a projector, if you don't know the brightness of the projector, you can use the ANSI Lumens Calculator to convert the values between ANSI lumens, IOS lumens and light source lumens.
 
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