The ultra-portable, one chip DLP and the LCD projectors generally measure out at around 800 ANSI lumens. However, despite the honest ANSI rating, these numbers can still be a little misleading when it comes to video applications. Video sources usually cannot use all the available white put out by the DLP projectors without the image being completely washed out and lacking in any kind of detail. The other digital designs suffer from this flaw as well, but to a lesser degree (except plasma, which is similar to CRT in the way it emits light). Generally, you can count on at least 300 ñ 400 less overall ANSI lumens output if youíre using the projector primarily for standard video or HDTV. Compared to the typical high-end CRT projectors at around 200 ñ 275 ANSI lumens, this is still quite acceptable and will serve well for most home theaters and light controlled conference rooms.

If, the room the projector is to be used in has a significant amount of ambient light, say some fluorescent lights in a conference room that are not dimmable, then you would need a minimum of 2000 ANSI lumens to be able to adequately see the image. Large venue applications (stages, concert video, trade shows) using enormous screens benefit from a minimum of 4000 ANSI, climbing all the way to 12,000 or higher depending on screen size and ambient light.