AVS Forum banner
  • Get an exclusive sneak peek into our new project. >>> Click Here
  • Our native mobile app has a new name: Fora Communities. Learn more.

Which light meter for projector

4542 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Ron Jones
I posted this in the Display Calibration forum, but didn't get much of a response. One guy suggested an AEMC CA813 which is good to 200,000 lux, but I was wondering if the cheaper CA811 (20,000 lux max range) would work just as well. I'm getting an LS10000 and want to track its brightness as the laser ages.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Darrell
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
You probably don't want to go any lower than an i1Pro.
Darrell, get the CA813. I have one and measured it against my lab calibrated Minolta T10 and it's quite close. certainly good enough for tracking light output on the Epson.
Darrell, get the CA813. I have one and measured it against my lab calibrated Minolta T10 and it's quite close. certainly good enough for tracking light output on the Epson.

I have a CA813 too, which I've been using for 6 + years. Good light meter.
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Ooops, sorry. I was thinking for calibration....not just tracking light output.
I have a CA813 too, which I've been using for 6 + years. Good light meter.
I might need to grab one of these myself.
What's the downside if I get a CA811 instead? Do I need the CA813 for making near-field contrast measurements?
Even an inexpensive lux meter, model LX1330B (see link below), sold under several brand names, will work well for tracking dimming of a projector over time. These inexpensive meters may have more unit to unit variations in accuracy, but in one published test the model in the link below was as accurate as the CA813 for measuring a projector's light output.


http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Meter-Digi...UTF8&qid=1426033730&sr=8-1&keywords=lux+meter
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Even an inexpensive lux meter, model LX1330B (see link below), sold under several brand names, will work well for tracking dimming of a projector over time. These inexpensive meters may have more unit to unit variations in accuracy, but in one published test the model in the link below was as accurate as the CA813 for measuring a projector's light output.


http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Meter-Digi...UTF8&qid=1426033730&sr=8-1&keywords=lux+meter

Yes, good recommendation, I have the same one, it works great!
Great, thanks for the info guys.
One of the problems with the accuracy of lux meters in general is they are generally designed for providing the highest accuracy at or near the color temperature of incandescent light. If the look at the spec. for the CA813 (link below) its rated at +/- 5% (some other places it says +/- 3%) at 2856K but for other color temperatures the spec'ed accuracy is only +/- 11% (for what AMEC calls common light sources). Also the AMEC spec. sheet, which covers both the CA811 and CA813, notes that the CA813 "has a better spectral response to common light sources, Model CA811 is used to measure incandescent light sources" (so don't use the CA811 for measuring the light output of projectors). The challenge is for a 6500K light source where the accuracy of the meter's silicon photodiode at the tails of its response curve become very important while for lower color temperatures, not so much so. Even those meters with calibration against a NIST certified source does not assure high accuracy for a 6500K source unless it is specifically calibrated ensure high accuracy for the tails of the response curve, especially for the shorter wavelengths. All this is to say you cannot directly compared the specific results for a projector lumens obtained with one meter against the results obtained with a different meter as they can easily be 5%, 10% or even 20% different.


http://www.aemc.com/products/pdf/2121.21.pdf
See less See more
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top