SMART recommends a CC40R filter, but I want to use a 30R so I wont lose too much light. Is this a good idea?
If you measure the loss of red light through a CC30R and a CC40R filter it is essentially the same, e.g. ~15%, and probably largely due to losses from reflections. Of course, blue and green are more strongly attenuated with the CC Red filters and with the 40 more than the 30. When using SMART however, you are asked, based on the measurements, to increase the gain for the blue and green colors to restore color balance and compensate for the blue and green light loss due to the filter characteristics. So the key is to chose the right filter for the projector, the one that corrects the lamps color imbalance and ideally allows all LCD panels to be driven equally. That is the only way to get the maximum contrast ratio possible. With the 11HT, the 40R is the most common filter, and when appropriate, it will cause no more light loss than a 30R on that same projector, as the additional 10% attenuation of the blue and green light will be compensated for by 10% more light coming through the blue
