What are "lumens" and how do they measure brightness?

Lumens are a measurement of the light produced by your projector's light source. There are many different types of lumens measurements, so if you're comparing projector specifications it's important to find out which type is being used.

Most projectors today use an LED light source, which are accurately measured as "LED Lumens". However, some projectors still use an outdated system called "ANSI Lumens", which is a measurement standard based on old filament-bulb projectors. LED and filament bulbs are very different technologies and require different types of measurement, which means ANSI Lumens are often inaccurate. For example, many budget projector options will use a very large lumen rating number that may be very misleading. 

The AtmosKIT Plus includes a projector from ViewSonic, which has written this in-depth article about LED lumens if you'd like to learn more.

If you have a projector with a lower lumen count, you can still create some stunning digital decorations; picking out the right decoration for your projector is the key. For example, decorations with shadows and silhouettes such as Zombie Invasion! and Tricks and Treats can look very effective using a projector with a lower lumen count.

The key consideration here is how well you are able to control surrounding light. Street lamps, passing cars, porch lights, and other outside elements will compete with your projector’s brightness, potentially leading to a washed-out display. If you don’t have much light to compete with, projector models with lower lumen counts can work just fine.