Nineteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty-five. That's the official attendance of InfoComm 2003, the professional audio/ video industry's largest annual trade show, held in Orlando, Florida in June.
Six. The number of people I met from churches that attended the event. Sure, I didn't meet everyone, but I did spend a few hours at the Church Production Magazine exhibit, and this is where I met three of the six church attendees.
It's safe to say that most of the nearly 20,000 people were not at the trade show on behalf of their churches. This show has such a great technology offering, though, that it makes me wonder why more churches aren't sending representatives to spend at least one full day learning about the technology so many of them are installing in their facilities.
Projectors
InfoComm is famous for showcasing just about every display known to man, and
projectors were still the main technology on the carpet.
Texas Instruments, maker of the DLP processor common in many projectors, showcased its new Mercury project -- the light engine of the 3-chip DLP. "Mercury is a program that allows TI to become a component manufacturer for the projector manufacturers," explains Wayne Reynolds, business development manager for DLP products. "With this new business plan, our partners can develop their own processing, optics, and boards to work with our core product -- the light engine." In addition to lowering the cost of the 3-Chip DLP projector lines, this new initiative will enable each projector manufacturer to focus on the features and options that they believe will best address the market. In fact, some speculate that this new line of projectors will be in the mid to high $20,000 range, opening up high-brightness DLP machines to a broader market.
In speaking with several of manufacturers, it was clear that building a product specifically for the church market hadn't crossed their minds. Instead, they pointed to existing products that could "work" in churches. There's a good bit of truth to this; churches need to project data and video images onto screens just like other users. The difference is that most churches work is in significantly high ambient light conditions and don't always need the same feature-sets that corporate training rooms do.
One manufacturer seems to understand the need for bright projectors with the modular input connectivity options that are commonly required by many churches. NEC's GT5000 and GT6000, says public relations specialist Chris Gelbach, "offer features that we believe will fit well into the church marketplace."
NEC also showed a product that has the potential to become the future of shortthrow rear projection: lensless projectors. The prototype WT600 uses aspherical mirrors to create a "lensless" projector, resulting in 40-inch diagonal images from only two-and-a-half inches from the screen, or a 100-inch image from only 26 inches from the screen! It boasts 3,000:1 contrast ratio, 1,500 ANSI lumens and XGA resolution. It also incorporates NEC's ImageExpress wired and wireless networking technologies for communicating from a PC to the projector through a wired LAN system using a 10-base, or a wireless system via 802.11b. The WT600 is slated for delivery in August at a list price of $6,995 (U.S.).
Gelbach also talked about dual-lamp technology, where two lamps are used inside a projector to either increase brightness (the GT5000's dual mode = 6,000 ANSI lumen) or provide longer lamp life and increased redundancy (the GT5000's single mode = 3,000 ANSI lumen).
Other manufacturers, such as Sanyo, Christie, Barco, Proxima, Eiki, Canon, Epson, and Sony also have multi-lamp systems. Each company offers unique firmware (on-board software) that allows for even usage of the lamps or full-blown brightness, depending upon the need.
Says Sanyo's Thomas Emlinger: "Church services can have the same mission-critical features that corporate users need for presentations where the show must go on, and these multi-lamp projectors allow for that user confidence."
Another trend is the inclusion of modular connectivity. Acknowledging the convergence of IT (Information Technology) and A/V, manufacturers are supplying networkenabled devices and optional input cards with their projector lines.
Epson, and others, showed optional network adapter cards for several new, high-brightness projector lines. Similar to connecting a PC to a network, the projectors accept a standard CAT-5 network cable and are IP-addressable (they can be seen individually on a network). This type of interface allows for not only direct control of the unit, but also serves to provide all of the standard menu controls on a browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) window without displaying the on-screen menu on the projected image. Features such as "on/off," "input selection," "picture-in-picture," and "freeze" modes are all becoming commonplace.
In the education market, features such as anti-theft detection are oft-hyped; if the cable is removed, an email or pager notification is automatically sent to alert the user. This same need exists for churches with open facilities that are not monitored by an employee.
Many devices also include the ability to set reminders for lamp replacements based on hours of use, saving the inevitable "change lamp" reminder that seems to always pop up during a service.
Christie Digital announced a new product, the DS30. A single-chip SXGA projector weighing 6.6 lbs and featuring 3,000 ANSI lumens, this product boasts a contrast ratio of 1,000:1. Also unique is the sealed optical engine: this filter-less, all-glass design eliminates dust and contamination on the chip or internal optics, theoretically providing trouble-free maintenance.
Of course, InfoComm wouldn't be the same without the massive behemoth projectors weighing in at over 200 lbs. and providing between 10,000 and 16,000 ANSI lumens. Barco, Christie, Digital Projection, NEC, Panasonic, and Sony exhibited these massive screens, but with price tags starting at over $100,000, they're not for the budget-minded.
Control Systems
Crestron unveiled its Media Manager software/hardware. The company's new QuickMedia
transport technology links intelligent wall plates and table-top media controls
to a series of all-in-one, compact Ethernet-based control systems. Media Manager
delivers built-in switching, mixing, and amplification. A direct link to the
LAN provides facility-wide control with Crestron's free RoomView management
software. With QuickMedia, installation and cable costs can be reduced, since
eight video cables and four pairs of audio cables are combined in a single
CAT 5e cable.
The newest AMX touch panels (Modero and TPI/4) and TPD4 software now include "computer control". By plugging any laptop into the control network, and connecting the AMX Computer Control USB stick to the laptop, full access to the laptop is gained through the AMX touch panel, enabling any AMX Modero touch panel to remotely view and control any networkattached computer. This allows the graphical display on the computer to be easily transported over the network connection and displayed on the Modero touch panel. The user can then view the computer screen as if he was seated directly in front of the computer itself, a potentially helpful device for churches.
Signal Processing
Extron's booth -- at 9,000 square feet, the largest of the expo -- showed the
largest collection of signal processing, amplification, routing, conversion,
and control at the show. The RLP 2000, a new interface for the manufacturer's
ISS and SGS series seamless switchers, looks like a video mixer, but instead
controls the seamless switchers, replete with "T-bar" and smooth dissolves.
Also new from Extron is the MPS112 Media Presentation Switcher. When combined with the DVS204 scaler, this device acts as a 12-input switcher with a single scaled output to the projector. And at a combined list price of $2,700, churches have a very affordable solution for integrating all of their video and computer sources.
FSR introduced the Compass S2. The S2 offers a number of unique features, including full motion video transitions and video preview, made possible by the product's dual scalers. With a list price of $7,995, this unit promises seamless switching between any of the computer or video inputs in real time, with a "preview" output for cueing up videos, DVDs, or computer software.
Not to be outdone, Altinex introduced the SR1401XL. A stand-alone video scaler for video signals, this unit is capable of switching between the composite, S-Video, or component (Y Pb Pr) inputs, and select one for output to either RGBHV format or high-definition Y Pb Pr. It even comes with all of the input cables and a wireless remote control. With a list price of $1,199, it's well within reach of almost any sized church.
Screens/Displays
This year, the screen manufacturers were out in full force, with long time
favorites Stewart, Da-Lite, Draper and DNP each showcasing their newest products.
Reversa, HoloPro, Hurley Screen Company, Large Screen Displays, AV Stumpfl,
Vutec, and The Screen Works were also present.
It was interesting to see the new large format ascender (that come up from the floor) screens as well as new greymaterial high-contrast front projection offerings littering the show landscape. Of course, the matte-white electric front projection screen -- seen so often in churches -- still reigned supreme as the most ubiquitous format at the show.
Of note are the new translucent "holo screen" technologies prominently displayed at Reversa, Holo Pro and Draper. Says Jim Dougherty, regional manager for Reversa, "Digital signage has become a very hot commodity, and the ability to hang a screen that can be viewed equally well from both sides really lends itself to foyers, building entrances and kiosks. This technology was invented in large part because today's projectors are so bright and crisp that we have clients using the screens in full daylight or in building windows." I was impressed with the variety of these screens, some of which were simple diffusion screens, like Reversa offered, or truly holographic screens such as those shown by HoloPro. This technology could easily replace TVs as the main information display technology for digital signage in today's churches.
Plasmas are still en vogue, and the new crop of 60-inch to 63-inch mega-plasmas were prominently on display. Samsung, makers of the world's largest plasma -- a whopping 63-inch diagonal image -- is also making new large flat-panel LCD monitors. Rey Roque, vice president of marketing for Samsung Electronics, described the company's Pattern Vertical Alignment technology, which is used in these new large LCD monitors: "It improves our contrast to 600:1, while giving 170 degrees of viewing angle and 50,000 hour life spans." Impressive, considering plasma monitors are susceptible to burn-in, whereas LCD is not. The only hitch so far: these large format LCD displays cost about twice as much as a similarly sized plasma display. Even so, Roque points out, the life span and the elimination of burn-in issues make the investment quite sound for people who can't guarantee that static images don't stay on a monitor.
Finally, NetTV caught my eye with its 32- inch digital display monitors. These TVs look nearly as good as computer monitors. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that they were, in fact, autosync monitors. NetTV's CEO, Cliff Jenks, filled me in on the technology: "The displays have a builtin ability to show data on video, picture-inpicture and picture-by-picture [split screens]." With XGA-resolution inputs, component video (DVD), S-Video and composite video inputs, these full-featured displays really shine. The 32-inch display lists for $1,200 -- well below what a computer monitor of this size would normally cost.
Accessories & Add-Ons
Navitar, which purchased Buhl Optical -- a company that started in 1930 making
opthalmic or eye correcting lenses, then later slide projector lenses, and
wound up creating the first long-throw LCD lenses for Epson and Sharp -- had
a nice booth showcasing some of its new shortthrow and long-throw lenses. Chuck
Rafoth, vice president of North American sales, notes that churches account
for 25- 30% of the company's overall LCD lens business. "We're a very church
market savvy company, with years of experience listening to the needs of our
dealers and end users," he declares. Indeed, several projector manufacturers
don't offer their own optional lenses; they simply offer Buhl's options for
their projectors.
Chief manufacturing, makers of display mounting hardware, came out with a great new product for churches that congregate in multipurpose facilities, such as gymnasiums. The PG-1 projector guard is a metal cage that surrounds a projector, but leaves enough openings for airflow and the projected image to pass through unobstructed. Paige Garber, Chief's director of marketing, described the product as "horrendously user-friendly. It works with over 90% of projectors, so retro-fitting is a snap," she says. It mounts to any standard threaded pipe or to existing ceiling-mount kits attached to a structure, such as unistrut or red-iron. This item, so simple in concept and design, is a boon for many churches.
As usual, there was too much too see and not enough time to cover it all, but what I did manage to take in was reflective of the growing influence that churches have on the audiovisual industry. While churches can still enjoy technology intended for other applications, some manufacturers are starting to produce church-specific products. It is encouraging that manufacturers and dealers alike are starting to notice the significance of this market.
Anthony Coppedge, CTS, (www.anthonycoppedge.com)
provides consulting to churches, manufacturers, and dealers.
