Hello Dears Readers,

today we would like to share our thoughts about Contrast VS Projector VS Environment you are projecting in.

The contrast is always a result of the native contrast performance of the projector AND the room you put the projector in.

Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Here, we compare 3 projectors in 3 different price categories.

The Benq W1070 (a small FullHD 3D DLP unit selling for less than 700 €)

The Epson EH-TW9200W ( a high end FullHD LCD 3D projector selling for about 2500 €)

The Sony VPL-VW520ES ( the very high end SRXD 4K 3D projector selling for 10 000 €)

You will notice that there is a factor 4 in the price between each “upgrade”.

Using the patterns we created after looking at the brightness distribution of movie pictures in our ADL study:

Here are the contrast results we found for each projector depending on the room conditions:

We see how dramatically the room effects the contrast performance of the projector. However, we clearly see that the more expensive the projector the higher starts the contrast curve.

The red curve for a room with white walls drops very quickly for every projector…and it SEEMS even quicker as you move up to higher end projector.

Under 5% ADL

Let’s look closer at the results under 5% ADL (50% of all movie pictures) for a “room with white walls” and an “optimized room” how the projectors compare to each others:

What can we see?

The native contrast (ON-OFF) contrast stays unchanged while projecting in a room optimized or with white walls AS LONG AS no other lights enter the room (windows, ceiling, candle, smartphone etc…)

The 1% white contrast drops a lot more in the “room with white walls” than in an optimized room. However, if we compare the Benq W1070 and the Sony VPL-VW520ES, there is still quite a world between them, EVEN in the room with white walls . In the optimized room: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 6 times the contrast of the Benq W1070 In the room with white walls: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has still 2.5 times the contrast of the Benq W1070

However, if we compare the Benq W1070 and the Sony VPL-VW520ES, there is still .

For the 2% white contrast , the difference is still large between the “low end” and “very high end” projector even in a white room: In the optimized room: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 4.4 times the contrast of the Benq W1070 In the room with white walls: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has still 1.7 times the contrast of the Benq W1070

, the difference is still large between the “low end” and “very high end” projector even in a white room:

Above 5% ADL

Let’s now look closer at the results above 5% ADL (50% of all movie pictures) for a “room with white walls” and an “optimized room” how the projectors compare to each others:

For the 5% white contrast , the difference is still large between the “low end” and “very high end” projector in an optimized room, but not so much in a white room: In the optimized room: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 2.9 times the contrast of the Benq W1070 In the room with white walls: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 1.3 times the contrast of the Benq W1070

, the difference is still large between the “low end” and “very high end” projector in an optimized room, but not so much in a white room:

For the 10% white contrast , the difference is still large between the “low end” and “very high end” projector in an optimized room, but almost not existent in a white room: In the optimized room: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 2.1 times the contrast of the Benq W1070 In the room with white walls: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 1.1 times the contrast of the Benq W1070

, the difference is still large between the “low end” and “very high end” projector in an optimized room, but almost not existent in a white room:

For the 20% white contrast , there is still a difference between the “low end” and “very high end” projector in an optimized room, but the contrast is the same in the white room (170:1): In the optimized room: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 1.6 times the contrast of the Benq W1070 In the room with white walls: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 1.0 times the contrast of the Benq W1070

, there is still a difference between the “low end” and “very high end” projector in an optimized room, but the contrast is the same in the white room (170:1):

For the 50% white contrast , there is still a difference between the “low end” and “very high end” projector in an optimized room, but the ANSI contrast is the same in the white room (67:1): In the optimized room: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 1.6 times the contrast of the Benq W1070 In the room with white walls: the Sony VPL-VW520ES has 1.0 times the contrast of the Benq W1070

, there is still a difference between the “low end” and “very high end” projector in an optimized room, but the ANSI contrast is the same in the white room (67:1):

ANSI contrast

Let’s talk a bit of the ANSI contrast. This is a checkerboard pattern with 50% white and 50% black. The contrast is there measured by dividing the “average white” by the “average black”.

Many people believe that the ANSI contrast is what brings “pop” in bright pictures even if the projector is located a room with bright walls.

Let’s face it, this is totally untrue when projecting in a living room with white walls.

And here is why: the ANSI contrast in such a living room is around 60:1 and DOES NOT depend on the projector anymore, but solely on the light pollution due to room reflection.

So the “pop” some people see on a DLP projector in a living room with white walls in a bright scene is NOT due the “high” ANSI contrast of their DLP projector…but more likely the combination of high brightness with high sharpness of the DLP technology.

On the following pictures you can see how the ANSI contrast pattern looks in a room with white walls and in an optimized room. The ANSI contrast jumps from 60:1 to 295:1!

Optimizing our room multiplied the ANSI contrast of our Epson EH-TW9200W by 5!

And afterwards, you can really see the “pop”.

However, you should not forget, that the ANSI contrast also tells you how good black can be displayed just next to white.

Conclusion

On-Off contrast

A projector with a higher native (on-off) contrast will perform better in every room than a projector with a smaller native contrast.

In a room with white walls the higher on-off contrast translates in better dark scenes.

In an optimized room a high on-off contrast will have a positive effect not only on dark scenes, but also on brighter scenes

ANSI contrast

In a typical living room with white walls the ANSI contrast is almost equal for all projectors (in most cases under 60:1)

In a living room with white walls, the room is the limiting factor due to wall, ceiling and floor reflections leading to light pollution on the screen

While considering bright scenes the ANSI contrast is only relevant in an optimized room.

However, for dark scenes the ANSI contrast tells you how good the projector can display black just next to a white spot. ANSI contrast can truly bring some pop to dark scenes as long as they have some bright spots (like the skyline of a city at night)!

Last thoughts

If you have a living room with white walls, a high end projector with a higher native contrast will bring you a contrast performance boost in dark scenes. However, it will not help the contrast in bright scenes at all, even if the projector is supposed to have a high ANSI contrast.

If you choose to optimize your room, you will get a much better contrast performance out of any projector for dark and bright scenes. In this case not only the On-Off contrast but also the ANSI contrast of your projector plays an important role!