Hello all,

It's important I point out immediately that I am an absolute novice at all this. I am trying to self-teach myself the basics by building things but it is a slow slow process. So please bear with me if my questions come across dumb.

I am currently learning how projectors work and decided to look at LCD projectors first as opposed to DLP (DMD) as they appeared to be far more complicated.

My question is this:

With the LCD panels being used in these projectors (3 of them), what are their limitations in terms of light?

Are the panels adjusted based off the lumens output from the light in the projector or is it more a "one size fits all" scenario and no matter how much light you shine through the LCD panel, it will produce the same image, just much brighter or dimmer?

Thanks in advance!

 

Two limitations come to mind.

The first is the on/off contrast ratio. LCD's can not get either totally black or clear.

The second is temperature. When LCD's get hot they can quit working by turning fully black (I think). If they were not too hot they can recover when they cool.

 

Are the panels adjusted based off the lumens output from the light in the projector or is it more a "one size fits all" scenario and no matter how much light you shine through the LCD panel, it will produce the same image, just much brighter or dimmer?

As Richard noted, the LCD can't get totally black (block all light) so the effect of trying to shine more light through the LED is that the light areas will get lighter, but so will the dark areas, so black will no longer look black, but instead appear gray.

Poor black levels have been one of the big limitations of early LCD displays, but they have made large improvements in improving the black levels, particularly in the new LCD flat-panel TVs.
I just bought one recently and the black levels look quite black, much better than my previous LCD flat-panel, where they were somewhat gray.
Not sure how much the LCD projectors have improved though.

 

I should have also mentioned brightness as a limitation. A brighter, more powerful light source will heat up the LCD.