FAQ | Can I use the PCA-100+ Projection Color Analyzer to calibrate laser projectors?

Find out how to use the PCA-100 Projection Color Analyzer to get laser projectors calibrated accurately.

Updated at May 17th, 2023

Answer


As a general rule, the PCA-100+ should work with most 2K laser projectors, but newer 4K projectors may pose issues. Consult the product documentation of the laser projector. If the manufacturer recommends a spectro-radiometer with an optical resolution of less than 3.96 nm, the PCA-100+ might not be suitable.

More Information
Unlike xenon digital projectors (which use a white arc light source, DLP mirror arrays, and color filters), laser projectors use new technology involving very narrow-band red (630 nm), green (532 nm ), and blue (465 nm) laser light sources scanning the screen in an ultra-high resolution raster pattern. The laser wavelengths correspond with the sensitivities of the color photoreceptive cells ("cones") in the human eye. Compared to lasers, on the other hand, the color filters used in xenon projectors are relatively wide-band.

The PCA-100+ is a spectro-radiometer used to calibrate a cinema projector by measuring the color of the light reflected from the screen and then using the measurements to adjust the projector's light engine. However, if the optical resolution (the bandwidth of the red, green, and blue colors) of the projector is too narrow—less than 3.96 nm—the PCA-100+ might not be able to make an accurate measurement.