After exploring this forum for a while, I found people tend to be fooled by bright and colorful screen shots. The brightness of a screen shot can not told by the brightness of the pictures, and neither is the color. What is seen of the screen shot is only what is picked up by camers. For most point and shot cameras, the screen shots tend to be more colorful than it really is. For high end digital camers, the screen shots is close to what they really are, except in brightness. In order for people to estimate the brightness, the aperture, exposure time, iso and camera type should be posted with the shot. I think the brightness of DIY projector is the biggest isse with DIY projectors, and I hope people who start to build their own projector should be informed about this.

What would (if any) the ideal settings be, by chance? Then maybe we can all try to get some standard going for those that can and know how to change their camera's settings.

I agree with the thread starter, the camera DOES NOT see what your eyes see. However, if you have a good camera you can keep adjusting the settings until you find something that closely represents real life.

I know on my camera (SONY DSC-P7) I adjust the OEV, the ISO and White Balance to try and give you guys the most accurate pics. I will post a quick movie for you to watch to see what happens with cameras and brightness, it should give a clearer understanding of a camera's faults. I just have to find it.

MOV953 -Watch this video to see the problems camera's have in giving us true brightness. The only thing moving in this pic is the camera's position. Pay attention to how the wall goes from pitch black, to off white.

voovoo,
I'm not sure i'm following you here... people are "fooled" ? How so ? Many (most) people indicate just the opposite, that the pictures don't do the actual results justice. Also the camera is much less forgiving when it comes to light distribution. The posted pics often show the light drop-off at the corners, where-as if you looking at it yourself, the eye's don't see the dropoff the way the camera does... it is much less pronounced.

I agree that posted screen shots can mean very little where color, brightness, and light distribution are concerned, but no one is trying to "fool" anyone, they are just generally proud of their work and want to share it with others. Yes, brightness is an issue (for some), but especially for those who would like to use their PJ in an enviroment where you cannot control ambient light. There are people working on this issue: new reflector designs, higher wattage lamps, LCD anti-glare removal, condenser lenses, etc... the search goes on for improving brightness and light distribution.

Yes, I agree that reporting camera settings (iso, shutter, f/stop, white balance [for digital]) would be of benefit for comparison sake. However if we really want to compare, the best thing to do is an ANSI lumens measurement... this requires a luxmeter calibrated to the CIE curve (represents the response of a human eye), and a stanardized procedure of measurement for everyone.

I think voovoov said that the image would show up brighter in the camera than in real life. The film showed me just the opposite. The bright spot on the wall was either darker or equal to real life depending on where the camera was pointing (no way a concentrated MH bulb would put out what looks like a 20 watt lightbulb spot in the film). The vast majority of people who take pictures say that in real life the image is brighter and the colors more vibrant.

This is opposite what voovoov said. What is everyone elses experience about this.

Also, it really is a pain to constantly hear people complain about brightness when I am able to watch my TV with all of the lights in the room on. It is especially annoying to hear people who have not built a projector complaining about the brightness of their projector. As a DIY project there are bound to be builders who build crappy projectors and complain that they can't get a bright enough picture. The better builders here have no problem with brightness.

I will agree with Voovoov to the extent that the brightness of pics can be misleading, but with the right settings it can give you a pretty good ballpark of what it looks like in real life. I think the pics are more important for gauging overall quality -- sharpness, contrast, color, etc.

I'll also side with Gadgetsmith that pics will accentuate flaws such as dark corners. However, this comes in handy... it's easier to figure out what you have to tweak.

Him -- there's no 'one setting fits all.' Each camera and projector is different. But here's what worked for me:

Aperature = F5.6 (shooting with a higher F-stop seems to capture the 'filmic look' I get in real life better)
Film Speed = 200/400 ASA (slower speeds will give you a less grainy picture)
Exposure Time = 2-4 seconds (a slower exposure time compensates for the aforementioned F-stop and Film Speed)

True, we're exposing each shot longer than your eye sees it, but it comensates for your eye's ability to perceive image quality (better than a camera). Play with these three variables until you get something that 'feels right.' It's still up to each member to post images that reflect what they're seeing in real life.

I just want to add one thing, from my experience the camera makes screenshots look darker, not brighter. I do believe though that a person could wash out the image and make it look brighter with the right settings and the right camera.

Yes, cameras are different. Monitors are different. We just need to do our best to trust what people say about the image.

But then again, eyes are different...

For me also my pics are close or darker to the real thing. They are never brighter. I am using a 4 megapixel Kodak with the Night Setting and the flash turned off.

The real one is close but a little bit brighter than this one.

This is the one taken by my camera automatically.

Amost all digital cameras use a CCD sensor. CCDs generally produce high-contrast images. This is because they can only 'see' about 5 f-stops from no signal to full signal (black to white), and your eye can see 6.5 f-stops in a given moment. It may not seem like a big difference, but each higher f-stop doubles the amount of light from the previous one. You can see from black to white 2.8 times the amount of light the CCD sees from black to white. This is why screenshot corners are dark. Our projectors produce more than 5 f-stops worth of light. The CDD's dynamic range makes whites look whiter and the blacks look blacker, but it cuts off the shades of gray that you see above and below.