Underscoring its ongoing commitment to safeguard the projector market from misleading brightness claims, Epson America has announced it has reached an agreement with Philips and Screeneo Innovation that all future Philips NeoPix projectors designed, manufactured, and sold by Screeneo will use the ISO brightness standard.
Epson states the agreement is a result of its proactive campaign to highlight deceiving advertising that does not use industry standard specifications.
“This is another big step forward for projector shoppers and the market as a whole as consumers upgrade their home viewing solutions to big-screen projection solutions,” emphasizes Mike Isgrig, vice president, consumer sales and marketing, Epson America.
“When just one brand improperly quotes light output with non-standard metrics like ‘Lux’ or ‘LED lumens’, it causes customer confusion. The recent agreement with Philips is part of Epson’s ongoing campaign to eradicate false and misleading brightness claims in order to help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions.”
Epson says ISO Brightness Standard Helps Consumers
Epson explains that as more households turn to at-home projection solutions for everyday viewing and entertainment, the agreement helps equip shoppers with a consistent way to compare projector performance. Projector brightness, measured in lumens and tested according to industry standards, is the number one specification used by consumers in the purchase process to compare performance.
Epson says it has worked diligently to ensure its projectors meet industry standards and that misleading public claims by other manufacturers are corrected.
The company advises that shoppers need to be cautious of misleading metrics listed as ”Lux,” “LED lumens” or “Lamp Brightness,” that fail to provide the customer useful information about on screen light output performance. Measurement for projectors is defined by internationally recognized standards groups including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Committee for Display Metrology (ICDM). The ICDM publishes the Information Display Measurement Standards (IDMS) where the methodology for measuring projector color brightness and separately white brightness are fully defined. The ISO standard which defines projector measurement methodology is 21118:2020. When these standards are followed, there is zero ambiguity regarding how projectors are to be properly measured and compared.
As part of the agreement, Philips and Screeneo, Philips’ brand licensee for projectors, will commit to advertising the brightness of projectors using the agreed upon ISO lumens standards in advertising and on product packaging using the ICDM.
In addition, Epson America will remain focused on ensuring a fair marketplace with accurate information for consumers, including recently filing suit against four projector brands sold on Amazon – Vankyo, WiMiUS, GooDee, and Bomaker – for misleading brightness claims in advertising.
In 2019, Epson reached a settlement with Curtis International Ltd. and Technicolor in its lawsuit alleging the companies falsely advertised the lumens of projectors manufactured and sold under the RCA and ONN (Walmart) brand names. Curtis agreed to advertise its projectors only using the industry standard ISO/ANSI lumens and to modify its packaging to reflect the accurate lumens ratings. In addition, in 2018 Epson obtained a permanent injunction and damage award for $5 million as a result of its successful litigation against iRulu for falsely advertising lumens ratings.
“Epson will continue to work to create a market where consumers can easily get the specs and information that necessary for making informed purchasing decisions,” adds Isgrig.
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