Three numbers on a projector’s spec sheet decide whether it can cover your house: the lumens rating (and which kind of lumens it is), the throw ratio, and the operating temperature. The first two set how big and how bright the picture gets. The third decides whether the projector should be outside on the 31st at all.
Pattern Lights Are Not Video Projectors
The ground-stake lights sold as “Halloween projectors” (Gemmy’s Lightshow line, the multi-pattern units that come with a stack of slides) shine LEDs through fixed slides or a rotating wheel. They throw moving shapes onto a wall: circling ghosts, bats, swirls. The two Amazon listings we checked, Gemmy’s Lightshow Whirl-A-Motion ghosts and Aurelema’s 12-in-1 pattern projector, publish no lumen rating, no resolution and no video input, so neither can play an AtmosFX scene or a video file. They do have one thing video projectors lack: some are built for the lawn. Gemmy’s listing says its unit “stakes easily into the ground,” and Aurelema’s listing claims an IP45 design that “can be applied in rainy and snowy weather.”
Every projector in this guide publishes a brightness figure, a throw ratio and HDMI or USB inputs, which is what makes the arithmetic below possible. For pattern lights as part of a yard layout, see the outdoor decorating guide.
Lumens: Which Kind?
- ANSI and ISO lumens are measured on the projected image. BenQ describes the ANSI method as: “Average out the measured brightness of 9 distinct regions of a projection screen.” Epson rates white brightness under ISO 21118 and color brightness under IDMS 15.4, and notes that both “will vary depending on usage conditions.” XGIMI says ANSI and ISO use “nearly identical measurement methods for white brightness, making them generally interchangeable for consumer comparisons.”
- LED lumens and light source lumens describe the lamp, not the picture. BenQ, which sells ANSI-rated projectors and has a stake in the argument, divides LED lumens by 2.4 to estimate ANSI lumens and multiplies light source lumens by 0.04 to 0.06. XGIMI says there is “no official conversion formula” and that LED lumens are “often marketed as being 1.5x to 2.4x higher than the actual ANSI output.”
- Bare “lumens” with no standard attached: AtmosFX warns that “many budget projector brands will use a ‘marketing lumens’ measurement, based on an unscientific estimate of brightness.”
AtmosFX’s own kits showed why the unit matters. In a June 2022 post, it listed the AtmosKIT at $259 with a ViewSonic M1 Mini Plus rated at 120 LED lumens, and the AtmosKIT Plus at $369 with a ViewSonic M1+ rated at 300 LED lumens. By BenQ’s divide-by-2.4 rule, those come to roughly 50 and 125 ANSI lumens. AtmosFX’s projector page now lists the HoliScapes Projector Kit at $229.99 and gives no brightness figure for it. AtmosFX’s projector guide says shadow scenes in a window need fewer lumens than outdoor projections, which need “extra muscle to project on a large space with a lot of ambient light.”
Sources: Epson HC 980 spec sheet, BenQ, XGIMI, AtmosFX projector guide, AtmosFX kit comparison (June 2022), AtmosFX projector prices.
Throw Ratio: How Far Back It Has To Sit
Throw ratio is the distance to the wall divided by the image width, so image width is distance divided by throw ratio. AtmosFX’s rule of thumb is a 1.2 ratio in plain words: “for every 1.2 feet of distance between the projector and the screen, you’ll see a projected image that is 1 foot wide.”
| Distance to wall | 0.49 ratio (short throw) | 1.2 ratio | 1.47 ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 ft | 6.1 ft wide | 2.5 ft wide | 2.0 ft wide |
| 5 ft | 10.2 ft | 4.2 ft | 3.4 ft |
| 8 ft | 16.3 ft | 6.7 ft | 5.4 ft |
| 10 ft | 20.4 ft | 8.3 ft | 6.8 ft |
| 15 ft | past rated range | 12.5 ft | 10.2 ft |
| 20 ft | past rated range | 16.7 ft | 13.6 ft |
| 25 ft | past rated range | 20.8 ft | 17.0 ft |
| 30 ft | past rated range | 25.0 ft | 20.4 ft |
Widths are for a 16:9 picture, which is 0.5625 times as tall as it is wide: a 20-ft-wide image is 11.25 ft tall. Each projector also has a rated range, and the table doesn’t know about it:
- Optoma GT1080HDR (0.49): 15.75 to 133.86 inches from the wall (about 11.2 ft), for images of 36.2 to 307.8 inches diagonal. It fills 20 ft of house from 9.8 ft away.
- Nebula Capsule 3 (1.2): the manual lists 3.48 to 10.43 ft, and soundcore lists images of 40 to 120 inches. A 120-inch image is about 8.7 ft wide, so it can’t cover a 20-ft facade within its rated range.
- Epson Home Cinema 980 (1.21 to 1.45 zoom): a 20-ft-wide image needs 24.2 to 29.0 ft of throw.
- Optoma HD146X (1.47 to 1.62 zoom): a 20-ft-wide image needs 29.4 to 32.4 ft. Optoma’s longest listed distance is 385.83 inches, about 32.2 ft.
Measure from the wall to the farthest spot where the projector can sit on your side of the sidewalk, out of the walking path. If that is under 24.2 ft, none of the standard-throw projectors here can make a 20-ft-wide picture there (the Epson needs 24.2 ft at its widest zoom), and a short throw can.
Aiming up from the lawn turns the rectangle into a trapezoid. Keystone correction squares it up digitally: Epson lists auto vertical correction of ±30 degrees on the HC 980, and Optoma lists ±40 degrees vertical on both of its models here. Epson’s HC 980 guide warns that tilting the projector more than 30˚ can damage it and cause an accident, and says, “Do not operate the projector on its side.”
Optoma GT1080HDR Short Throw 1080p Projector
The small-yard answer. Optoma rates it at 3,800 lumens (ISO 21118) with a 0.49 throw ratio, so a 20-ft-wide picture needs only 9.8 ft of lawn. Rated 41 to 104°F. Plays nothing from USB on its own; the USB-A port powers an HDMI streaming stick.
Sources: AtmosFX projector guide, Optoma GT1080HDR specs, Optoma HD146X specs, Nebula Capsule 3 manual (Anker’s PDF is also mirrored here), soundcore’s Capsule 3 specs, Epson HC 980 placement, Epson HC 980 specifications.
How Bright: A House Front Versus A Window
XGIMI publishes the formula: “Lumens = Foot-lamberts × Screen Area ÷ Screen Gain.” Its targets are 12 to 16 foot-lamberts (fL) in complete darkness and 16 to 22 fL in low ambient light, and it notes that “the SMPTE standard for commercial cinemas is 16 foot-lamberts.”
A 20-ft-wide, 11.25-ft-tall picture covers 225 square feet. On a surface with a gain of 1.0, that takes 2,700 lumens for 12 fL and 3,600 lumens for 16 fL. XGIMI puts a bright white matte wall at a gain of 0.8 to 1.0, and at 0.8 the 16 fL figure rises to 4,500 lumens.
| Projector | Maker’s rating | fL on 225 sq ft, gain 1.0 | Gain 0.8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epson Home Cinema 980 | 4,000 lumens white (ISO) | 17.8 | 14.2 |
| Optoma GT1080HDR | 3,800 lumens (ISO 21118) | 16.9 | 13.5 |
| Optoma HD146X | 3,600 lumens (standard not stated) | 16.0 | 12.8 |
By XGIMI’s formula, all three land between 12.8 and 17.8 fL on a 20-ft-wide picture in full dark, around the cinema target. Those are ceilings: brightest mode, new lamp, and Epson’s own footnote that output varies with conditions. XGIMI’s outdoor table is much stricter than its formula. It lists 3,500 ISO lumens for a 150-inch screen (about 66 square feet) in the dark, and says outdoor setups “typically require 50-100% more lumens than indoor setups.” By that table, none of them lights 225 square feet to cinema brightness. XGIMI’s target also climbs to 30 to 40 fL in moderate ambient light, such as dusk or a streetlight on the wall. At 3,600 lumens that means a picture of 90 to 120 square feet, about 12.6 to 14.6 ft wide; at 4,000 lumens, about 13.3 to 15.4 ft wide.
Image size is the lever that costs nothing. Halve the width to 10 ft and the area drops to a quarter, 56.25 square feet, where 3,600 lumens works out to 64 fL at a gain of 1.0.
Optoma HD146X 1080p Home Theater Projector
The least expensive way we found into the 3,600-lumen class. Optoma lists 3,600 lumens without naming the test standard, a 1.47 to 1.62 throw ratio and images up to 301 inches. It needs about 30 ft of throw for a 20-ft-wide picture, so it suits deep front yards. Rated 41 to 104°F. Its USB-A port powers a streaming stick rather than playing files.
Epson Home Cinema 980 3LCD 1080p Projector
Our pick for a house front, with the brightest rating here: Epson lists 4,000 lumens color (IDMS 15.4) and 4,000 lumens white (ISO 21118). Its 1.21 to 1.45 zoom needs 24.2 to 29.0 ft of throw for a 20-ft-wide picture. The lamp is rated up to 6,000 hours in Normal mode, and the unit weighs 6.83 lb.
The surface. XGIMI says a neutral light gray wall gives up roughly 18 to 22 percent of the white level of a bright white one, that beige walls absorb 25 to 35 percent more light than white, and that eggshell paint makes bright spots in the center where flat paint scatters evenly. No maker we found publishes a figure for brick or dark siding, so we won’t invent one. Aim for the lightest, flattest section of the house: a white garage door, pale stucco, light painted siding. Turn off your own porch and flood lights for the show.
The window. A 5-ft-wide picture covers about 14.1 square feet. At a gain of 1.0, the Capsule 3’s 200 ANSI lumens give about 14.2 fL and the XGIMI Vibe One’s 250 ISO lumens about 17.8 fL. The M1+ at BenQ’s estimate of 125 ANSI lumens gives about 8.9 fL. Rear-projection material passes only part of the light through, and none of the screen sellers publish a gain figure, so treat those as upper limits.
Sources: XGIMI outdoor lumens guide, XGIMI wall color and gain, Epson HC 980 spec sheet, soundcore Capsule 3 specs, XGIMI Vibe One specs.
Window Rear Projection
The projector stays inside and dry, a translucent screen covers the glass, and the audience watches from the street. AtmosFX sells Window Projection Material, a “white, semi-translucent” sheet, at 4 by 6 ft ($15 list, $5 on sale when we checked on September 27) and at 5.5 by 9 ft ($25 list, $10 on sale). On Amazon, the closest match is a 40 by 60 inch white rear-projection screen with grommets and 3M hooks, a little smaller than AtmosFX’s 4 by 6 ft sheet.
A 5-ft-wide picture needs 6 ft of room at a 1.2 ratio, 6.5 ft at the Vibe One’s 1.3, and about 2.5 ft at 0.49. The street sees the back of the image, so text reads backwards and a figure walking left walks right. Look for a rear-projection or mirror setting in the projector’s menu before you hang anything. More window techniques, including silhouettes and backlighting, are in the Halloween window displays guide.
XGIMI Vibe One Battery Powered 1080p Projector
A window projector, not a house projector. XGIMI rates it at 250 ISO lumens with a 1.3 throw ratio and images of 45 to 150 inches (about 10.9 ft wide at most). The battery is rated up to 1.2 hours of video in Eco mode, so plan on the charger for a full night. Rated 32 to 104°F.
Sources: AtmosFX screen prices, XGIMI Vibe One specs.
Hollusion: The Floating Ghost Screen
Hollusion is AtmosFX’s 5.5 by 9 ft gray mesh, with 12 edge grommets and 3M Command hooks in the box. AtmosFX says it is “designed to become nearly invisible in low light, making it easy to create mystifying hologram-like illusions indoors and out.” There is no hologram. The gray mesh catches the projected figure, and with nothing lit behind it and no other light on the mesh, the eye reads the ghost and loses the screen. AtmosFX’s instruction is to “hang this 5.5-by-9-foot piece of material in an open space and project AtmosFX Hollusion decorations.” Pick a space with nothing lit behind it: a dark porch, an open garage, a gap between two shrubs.
AtmosFX lists Hollusion at $35. On September 27 its screens page showed it at $20 on sale, its product page said out of stock, and the Amazon listing was unavailable. The Hollusion-size alternative on Amazon is AtmosFX’s Phantasms bundle, which pairs five Phantasms scenes on USB with a 5.5 by 9 ft gray screen the listing calls “Holographic Rear Projection Material.” The smaller Ghostly Apparitions bundle pairs five scenes on USB with a 40 by 60 inch gray translucent screen the listing calls a “Gray Window Holographic Screen.” That is a door or window size, well short of Hollusion’s 5.5 by 9 ft.
AtmosFX Ghostly Apparitions USB + 40 x 60 Gray Screen
Content and screen, no projector. Five Ghostly Apparitions scenes on a USB stick plus a 40 by 60 inch gray translucent screen with 3M mounting hardware, sized for a door or window. The USB stick needs something that plays video files: a laptop or media player on HDMI, or a projector that plays from USB. The Optomas' USB ports only supply power.
Sources: AtmosFX’s Hollusion description, AtmosFX screen prices.
AtmosFX Scenes: Prices And What The License Allows
AtmosFX sells its scenes as downloads and on USB. The Halloween collection ran from $15 to $60 when we checked. A few examples:
| Collection | Price |
|---|---|
| Ghostly Apparitions 4 | $60 |
| Phantasms 2 | $60 |
| Vampires | $60 |
| Jack-O’-Lantern Jamboree 4 | $50 |
| Nightmares | $45 |
| Zombie Invasion! | $30 |
| Crypt of Creeps | $25 |
| Triple Thrill Pack | $15 |
The license is narrower than owning a DVD. AtmosFX grants “a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license” to show the scenes in “your private residence (i.e., not a place of business) for your personal, non-commercial use,” or at a private event with no admission charge. You “must not directly or indirectly: (a) make any copy of or reproduce AtmosFX Content” beyond what the terms allow. Charging admission to a place where the scenes are playing takes a Commercial License. If every dollar goes to a tax-exempt organization, AtmosFX says it “may waive the license fees,” which is a request you make, not a default. A yard haunt that takes money at the gate for a food bank should settle this with AtmosFX first.
Sources: AtmosFX Halloween prices, AtmosFX terms of use.
Projection Mapping Software
Plain projection throws a rectangle at the wall. Mapping warps and masks the video to fit the doors, windows and trim, so a ghost appears in each window and the siding stays dark.
- Illumibot (sold by AtmosFX): a $400 kit with the device, an HDMI cable, a long-range antenna and “120v power and switch.” AtmosFX states that it “DOES NOT include a projector.” For AI animations, AtmosFX says it “offers animations for $15 per Illumibot, which gives you unlimited image generations,” and tokens are also sold in the app. You photograph the house from where the projector will sit, describe what you want, and its AI maps the result to the surface. AtmosFX recommends a 1080 or 4K projector with high lumen output, naming the BenQ AH500ST, which AtmosFX sells for $1,999. Illumibot’s AI-generated content is “for personal, non-commercial use.”
- Resolume: Avenue is €299 and Arena €799, and mapping is Arena’s feature: “Project video on any surface with Resolume Arena.” The free trial puts “the Resolume logo watermarked on the video output and a robot voice in the audio.” A license includes 12 months of updates.
- MadMapper: in the demo, “a watermark is shown on input, output and output preview” and “loading/saving a project is disabled.” For Windows, MadMapper suggests “6-8 cores CPU, Nvidia 1080 up to 20xx GPU,” and it calls an SSD and a dedicated GPU “highly recommended.” We couldn’t confirm current pricing on MadMapper’s own site, so check there.
- xLights is not mapping software. It is “a free and open source program that enables you to design, create and play amazing lighting displays through the use of DMX controllers, E1.31 Ethernet controllers and more,” which means pixel and light sequencing. It doesn’t drive a projector.
Sources: AtmosFX’s Illumibot page, AtmosFX projector prices, Resolume pricing, Resolume Avenue and Arena, MadMapper FAQ, xLights.
Keeping It Alive Outside
None of these projectors is rated for outdoor use, and AtmosFX says that “using a projector outside will void the warranty on most projectors, including the AtmosFX Digital Decorating Kits.”
Cold. Check the overnight low against the maker’s operating range:
| Projector | Maker’s operating range |
|---|---|
| Epson Home Cinema 980 | 41 to 104°F in the user’s guide (up to 7,500 ft altitude); the spec sheet says 41 to 95°F |
| Optoma HD146X | 41 to 104°F |
| Optoma GT1080HDR | 41 to 104°F |
| XGIMI Vibe One | 32 to 104°F |
| Nebula Capsule 3 | 32 to 95°F in the spec table; the manual recommends 41 to 77°F |
A 40°F night puts both Optomas and the Epson outside their rated range. AtmosFX’s own line is “Do not use in freezing temperatures or high heat.”
Condensation. Epson’s operating and storage specs both say “No condensation.” A projector carried from a cold garage into a warm house, or the reverse, needs time to reach room temperature before you power it on.
Rain. The Nebula manual says, “To reduce the risk of fire and/or electric shock, do not expose the product to rain or moisture.” AtmosFX is blunter: “Rain can permanently destroy your projector. Even a light mist can cause damage.” Nebula also says the Capsule 3’s power adapter “is for indoor use only.”
Airflow. A sealed tote over the projector is the wrong fix. AtmosFX: “Do not block cooling fans or place a projector in a box with no airflow.” Nebula: “Never place this product in a confined space. Always leave enough space around this product for ventilation.” Epson says to “leave plenty of space around and under the projector for ventilation, and do not place it on top of or next to anything that could block the vents.” Heat also costs brightness: Epson’s guide says the HC 980’s lamp “automatically dims if the surrounding temperature gets too high,” at about 95°F.
The workable setups are an open garage, a covered porch, or an enclosure built to be rainproof and ventilated at once. AtmosFX says professional enclosures exist that are “designed to be both waterproof and completely ventilated.” Our weatherproofing guide covers the rest of the yard.
Sources: AtmosFX outdoor setup, Epson HC 980 specifications, Epson HC 980 placement, Epson HC 980 spec sheet, Optoma HD146X specs, Optoma GT1080HDR specs, XGIMI Vibe One specs, Nebula Capsule 3 manual.
Cords And GFCI
The CPSC’s decorating advice covers the power run to the projector: “Check each extension cord to make sure it is rated for the intended use and is in good condition,” and plug outdoor lights only “into a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI)-protected receptacle or a portable GFCI.” The release was written for winter holiday decorating, and the cord and GFCI advice applies to a Halloween projector just the same. For cord gauge and routing across a yard, see Lighting Your Haunt, Part 4. For more projector options, including window kits, see the best Halloween projectors roundup.
Source: CPSC.
