Which Projectors Are Best for Bright Rooms

If you are creating a home theater and want to install a projector, a dark room will always give you the best image and performance. However, if you are limited to a brighter room, there are some projectors and screens that work better in brighter rooms that you may want to consider.

A short throw projector or a projector with high lumens work best in bright rooms; however, the focus should be your projector screen rather than the projector itself. If you have a bright room you should consider getting an ambient light rejecting (ALR) projector screen.

How a bright room affects your projector image

Projectors are a great viewing option and can provide a better in home cinematic experience than a TV. However, with a projector you need to carefully consider where you plan on putting them to get the best experience. Projectors produce images on a screen by using either a lamp or a laser to project light out to display the picture.

Ambient light (any light that you can’t control such as sunlight) can interfere with the Projectors ability to produce a bright, crisp image. When deciding where to place your projector, if possible you want to avoid rooms with a lot of windows that let in a lot of ambient light that you cannot control.

Ambient light will wash out your image and make it hard to see the picture on the screen. You will also loose a lot of contrast and detail, which can make it hard to see either really bright or dark images. If you can’t avoid a bright room you will want to make sure you take the time to find a projector and screen that will work in a brighter environment.

Projector specifications that affect bright room performance

If you are in a bright room the only thing you can fight the ambient light in your room is light coming from your projector. A brighter projector image will show up better in a bright room than a darker projector image. The level of light emitted by the projector is measured in lumens.

You will find that all our projector recommendations in this article are laser projectors. A laser projector uses laser as its light source rather than a bulb like a traditional lamp projector. Laser is a brighter light source than projector bulbs, which make them better for bright rooms. We wrote this article that goes through the differences of each and may give you an idea of which one is better for your situation.

Lumens

Lumens are the measurement of the total quantity of visible light emitted by a source. When shopping for projectors the amount of lumens can widely vary. You can find projectors with less than 1000 lumens and more than 3000 lumens.

While a projector with higher lumens may help the image appear on the screen in a bright room than a projector with lower lumens, it does not necessarily mean it will have the best quality picture. If your image is too bright it could wash out your image and hurt your black levels. This can decrease the overall quality of the image. Pairing a high lumen projector with a screen with a negative screen gain can actually help a high lumen projector get better black levels and can help balance out the brightness and contrast ratio.

Contrast Ratio

Lumens are just one spec you should look at in your projector, but if you want to fight the ambient light in your bright room without sacrificing the quality of the overall image you need to also look for a projector that has a high contrast ratio.

Contrast ratio is the difference between the projector’s brightest white and darkest black level it can display. Higher lumens does risk washing out your picture and hurting your projector’s black level range, so you want to look for a bright projector with a higher contrast ratio to increase your image’s quality.

Contrast ratios are written in a ratio format such as 1000:1 which means that the projector’s brightest white level is 1000 times brighter than it’s darkest black level. You will ultimately want the highest contrast ratio possible. This will allow you to get a more crisp and colorful picture.

The more ambient light that is in the room will dramatically affect the contrast ratio. The brighter your room the more your contrast ratio will fall. Keep this in mind when you are shopping for a screen. If you have a room with a lot of windows or uncontrolled lighting you want to have a good projector with a high contrast ratio to help negate the effects of a bright room.

Long throw projector options

If you are opting for a long throw projector that you mount to the ceiling, there are a few good options that have a good balance of high lumen and high contrast ratio that would be a good fit for someone with a bright room. However, keep in mind that the screen will be far more beneficial than the projector.

Ultra short throw projector options

An ultra short throw projector is going to be the best option for someone with a bright room. Ultra short throw projectors sit directly under the screen and requires a special screen that rejects most light that does not come directly from the projector itself. Because of this specialized screen, ultra short throw projectors are a great option for brighter rooms.

Ultra short throw projectors are also a great option for anyone with a smaller living room or dedicated home theater space. They are also easier to set up because you do not have to worry about running any wires or getting power to your ceiling.

Projector screens engineered for bright rooms

While a bright good quality projector can help fight the ambient light in your room, the more crucial part of your system will be the screen. A projector can only do so much to fight light, but there are screens that are manufactured to reject ambient light.

Standard screens v. ambient light rejecting screens

Standard screens come in two options either white or gray. They are usually made of a vinyl material and do not offer any assistance with light rejection. Standard screens are best for rooms that have no windows or uncontrolled lighting.

White standard screens are only meant to work in dark rooms. Gray standard screens have better blacks, and can help make up for a lower contrast ratio in your projector. Gray screens give you a slight advantage if you are in a brighter room, but they are not specifically made for bright rooms.

If you have a bright room you should get an Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screen. ALR screens are made of special materials that are made to reject light and only reflect light from your projector. These screens tend to be much darker than the standard white and gray screens.

Premium ambient light rejecting screen options

Long Throw

There are two companies making premium ambient light rejecting screens. Screen innovations and Stewart Film Screens, these two companies are industry leading screen manufactures.

Screen Innovations Options

Screen Innovations makes a wide variety of screens in all different sizes using different materials. Which material works best for you will depend on a few different variables. The main variables include the type of projector your using, how bright your projector is, and how much light you have coming into the room. If you have a very bright room and a not so bright projector you would want to opt for their Black Diamond material. The Black Diamond material rejects the most light and would be great for a space with a lot of light.

Similar to what we discussed above, the ultra short throw projector screens will give you a great result for a bright room. Since ultra short throw projectors project upwards rather than out, the ultra short throw screens are designed to only accept light from below and block out any light come towards it from any other direction. If you have your ultra short throw projector screen right in front of a window with the sun coming in, it will reject the light that it coming directly towards it and only accept the light being projected from your ultra short throw projector below.

Screen Innovations provides a multitude of different calculators and tools that can help you determine the best screen for you. However if you are considering purchasing a high-end screen, you would be better off going to a dealer who can go out to your house, see your space and recommend the right size and type of screen for you. To have a great experience you want to make sure you purchase the right screen to pair with your projector.

Stewart Film Screen Options

If you want a high quality option that you can shop for online, you want to check out Stewart Film Screens. They provide a screen finder tool that can help you determine the best option for you and your space. The screen finder tool takes into account how much you can control the light in your room.

If you have no control of the light entering your room and it is a bright room you would most likely want to opt for the Phantom HALR or FireHawk materials to help fight off the ambient light in your bright room.

Similar to Screen Innovation, Stewart Film Screens has some screens that work best with ultra short throw projectors. Unlike Screen Innovations they don’t have screens that are dedicated to ultra short throw projector use. When you’re shopping on their website it can be hard to know which screen would work with your ultra short throw projector. You want to make sure you look at the minimum throw distance for the screen your considering purchasing and make sure it will work with your projector. Stewart Film Screens has provided a nice explanation on their website that may help you know what to look for.

How to determine how bright your image will be

If you are trying to determine how bright your image will be with your projector and screen combination you will need to multiply your projector’s lumens and the screen gain will equal the amount of lumens in which is being reflected off of your screen.

Other alternatives to help with bright room viewing

While having a good projector and projector screen that are made to work better in bright rooms, adding some light control elements to your room may be a better route. You can do quite a few things to help decrease the amount of ambient light that comes into your room.

Shades

There are multiple shade solutions you can use to help eliminate incoming light from windows. Shades are a great option because they can be automated so you don’t have to get up and manually pull them down. Many shades also roll up and are well hidden when not in use.

Shades can be customized to your windows to make sure they fit perfectly into your space. You also do not have to change any window treatments you may currently have in your house because they will fit right into the top portion of your windows.

If you have set aside a certain budget for your home theater set up, it may be worth looking into putting some money aside for shades. You could opt for a more classic projector and screen set up that may be a bit more cost effective since you do not need to worry about fighting off so much light. While having the right projector and screen can help you get a better picture in a bright room, being able to control the light coming into the room can ultimately lead to a better viewing experience overall.

Blackout currents

While shades will give you great automated lighting control without changing the aesthetics of your windows, they can be somewhat costly, especially if you go with some of the custom options. Blackout currents can give you almost the same amount of lighting control by blocking out a large amount of light coming in from your windows without the high cost.

However, blackout currents usually are not custom fit to your windows you could have some potential spots where light may still get in. They are not automated which may require you to manually draw your currents prepare your room before you start using your projector.

Television Alternatives

Maybe a projector isn’t the right solution if your room is super bright, it may be advantageous to get a large TV in that space. There are televisions can get brighter than the projector and may be a better solution in a bright room. You may have to sacrifice viewing size going from a projector to a TV, but the image quality is worth the sacrifice.

For example, OLED TV’s are great for bright rooms. OLEDs have a light behind every pixel which creates high contrast and fights off ambient light in your room. There are also many great anti-glare TV options that have become available recently that can help reduce any glare that may result from direct light exposure.