Some churches are early adopters of the latest video display technologies, from laser projectors to LED displays and video walls. But budget constraints prevent most churches from getting their hands on the latest advancements as quickly as the might like or need. Church Production Magazine spoke to manufacturers to understand the forces driving video display usage, the latest upgrade options, and what’s new to help churches create next-level visuals.
Church tech and the video display
“A lot of older houses of worship … are still using 4:3 aspect ratio screens and content,” says Anthony Cianfarano, product manager with Sony Electronics’ Imaging Products and Solutions America, Professional. “So, many of the video display sales are due to churches moving to 16:9 or 16:10 wide aspect ratios and HDTV/4K video resolution. We’re also seeing them moving from lamp-based to laser/LED video projectors that offer exponentially longer-lasting light sources.”
LED displays can also double as interior lighting sources, says Chris Wissinger, Roland Corp.’s global strategic product marketing manager for professional AV. “With creative placement of LED displays, a church can quickly change a space based on the content displayed,” Wissinger says. “This can be as simple as color visuals like virtual backdrops that put the audience in another space and even have flexibility with how IMAG is used.”Beyond these reasons, “churches are focusing more on engaging their worshippers with captivating and moving experiences these days,” says Jolene Yang, sales engineer for Absen. “More churches—especially megachurches—have the budgets to invest in video displays.”
Video display advances help churches speak the language of hungry media consumers
“Better images and more life-like colors from 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR) video displays are making a huge difference in the quality of live church experiences,” agrees Sean Sheridan, regional technical manager for the Americas, with Brompton Technology, manufacturer of LED processors for displays and video walls.
This matters because people attending church in-person see this quality at home and want the same results in their services.It’s not just LED displays that are riding the 4K/HDR wave. “Improvements to laser projection, both in quality of image and in reliability, have breathed life back into the projection market for worship,” says Panasonic Territory Account Manager Timothy Hunnicutt. “Better color reproduction and 20,000 hours to half brightness create a foundation for any video system that will last for decades.”Churches are also buying digital projectors because today’s technology is smaller, lighter and brighter, says Chuck Collins, Digital Projection’s vice president of sales. In addition, he says, “more manufacturers are now incorporating direct R, G, and B lasers into the illumination system instead of lamps or laser phosphor.” This is a change that enhances digital projector performance further still.
The latest from manufacturers
Here’s what manufacturers say they have that’s right for churches in the realm of advanced video displays.
ABSEN | PL Series LED Display
Absen’s focus is on providing houses of worship with LED display panels, which can be used as standalone units or integrated into video walls. “Absen’s indoor PL Series of detachable LED panels is a perfect solution for [churches that] need to reconfigure their displays for various events,” Yang reports. “The PL Series offers fast installation and takedown, plus a high refresh rate that is very camera friendly. Meanwhile, our N Plus and Acclaim series of LED panels are widely utilized by houses of worship for wall-mounted installations.”
Brompton Technology is rising to the challenge by making its LED processors do more for displays and video walls. Specifically, “we have created a new approach to LED calibration that we call Dynamic Calibration,” says Sheridan. In contrast to legacy calibration systems that align performance with the display’s poorest performing LEDs, he reports, “We measure all of the LEDs’ brightness and color capabilities and, instead of limiting them to be uniform, we set all free to perform at their very best. Perhaps most importantly, Dynamic Calibration is the technology that allows for Brompton HDR to be displayed on LED screens.”
DIGITAL PROJECTION | Radiance LED Wall Systems
Digital Projection is offering both digital projectors and LED displays to the church market. In the realm of digital projectors, the company’s new Satellite Modular Laser System (MLS) has separated the illumination system from the rest of the projector to save space, and simplify installation and servicing, “The illumination modules are rack-mountable and can be up to 100 meters away from the projector head,” Collins says. “All of the noise and heat is in an AV closet while a small projector head is all that is visible in the sanctuary.” Digital Projection also offers a range of LED displays and video walls for house-of-worship use. “To address the need for visual systems in outdoor worship spaces, we have a broad range of ultra-high brightness outdoor LED solutions as well from 2.9mm pitch up to 16.0mm,” Collins notes.
PANASONIC | PT-RQ35KU Projector
Panasonic is offering a full suite of high brightness laser-driven LCD and DLP projectors to churches with options for both WUXGA and full 4K resolutions. “Some of our newer products include the new 30K lumen PT-RQ35KU, the smallest and lightest* 3-Chip DLP in this brightness range on the market,” says Hunnicutt. (*As of May 2020, based on dimensions and weight publicly available for laser projectors between 26,000-35,000 lumens.) “We also have the new SQ1H Series displays which are ultra-bright 1000cd/m2 with HDR in 75-inch and 86-inch sizes for smaller congregations, foyers, classrooms, fellowship halls and similar areas where true 4K and HDR are expected throughout the building.”
Roland takes an indirect but effective route to advanced video displays. As Wissinger describes, “Our new V-600UHD 4K HDR Multi-Format Video Switcher eliminates many of the unforeseen challenges that using bright LED panels in creative ways introduces.” First, the V-600UHD supports HDR, which takes care of the challenge of trying to shoot a person standing in front of a bright display where they become just a dark shadow.
Also, the ability to support widescreen DCI 4K lets you connect to LED displays up to 4096 pixels wide and keep pixel accurate resolution.” Geared toward the pandemic-driven necessity and trend towards streamed church services, Roland’s new VC-100UHD Video Scaler sends 4K AV feeds to LED displays/projection systems and provides a streaming output at the same time.
Sony is punching through the ambient lighting inside churches with its new compact VPL-FHZ75/VPL-FHZ70 laser/LED projectors. “Both of these projectors are in the 6,000- to 7,000-lumen range,” saus Cianfarano. For large churches needing truly powerful laser/LED projectors, Sony has released the VPL-FHZ131L, VPL-FHZ101L, and VPL-FHZ91L. Capable of delivering up to an impressive 13,000 lumens of illumination, these highly efficient and low maintenance projectors come with a wide lens shift capability that allows them to be mounted near the top of the projection screen; out of the congregation’s sight lines and free from any possible obstacles. “We offer some of the widest lens shift in the industry,” Cianfarano reports.
