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May 2012

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by Linda Seid Frembes

Nothing captures a congregations’ attention more than a rich production filled with videos and imagery. As more and more church productions layer their message with multimedia elements, they must rely on multiple video sources to achieve the desired result. Add to that the presence of high definition (HD) video, and the right video switcher becomes an important component to provide seamless images, crisp video, and the correct output for broadcast or recording.

“When purchasing a switcher, a church has to consider its current A/V production needs, as well as its future growth,” says Brandi Gil, segment marketing manager for Sony Electronics. “One of the most important criteria when making a switcher purchase is the system’s flexibility. Strong consideration must be given to specifica- tions like support for both standard- and high-definition formats, as well as the maxi- mum number of inputs and outputs that the switcher can support. A good system will support a majority, if not all, of the cur- rent video formats, while also providing the end user with enough headroom to grow as their system needs evolve.”

More often than not, a video switcher purchase is based on current—rather than future—needs. But with video formats constantly evolving, it is important to decide on a feature set that meets tomorrow’s needs as well. “This is a difficult situation because church budgets are not based on the forward march of technology,” explains John Stapsy, managing director at Data- video. “Churches are expected to maximize the life of their investment and stay current with technology. Whether it is SD to HD migration or HD1080i to HD1080p migration, new hardware is involved.”

Video switchers for churches are challenging because of the many moving parts of a production, including the various inputs from video cameras, computers, and other video equipment. “In church production there are often video components with dissimilar formats so inputs must all be converted to a common format; that is where delays can quickly add up,” says Nigel Spratling, production switcher business development manager for Ross Video. “There are a lot of switchers in churches that have far too much processing delay for the application, which was only discovered once the product was purchased and installed.”

Key features to consider

That processing delay, also known as latency, can have a jarring effect on an otherwise smooth production. “The biggest challenge churches face when buying into switching systems is getting a system that is right for the live market. While many switchers have great specs on paper, with every feature known to man, they may have a very large amount of latency,” says Erik Iverson, product applications manager of image processing at Barco.

Seth Teates, mid-Atlantic sales manager at Analog Way, agrees, “Low latency in the processor is probably the most important. If the pastor on the screen doesn’t match the real pastor or the audio feed, you are better off without any video screens at all.”

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Linda Seid Frembes is a new contributor to Church Production Magazine. Follow her at twitter.com/avwriter.