CPM recently spoke with a range of projector manufacturers to get their thoughts on how once high-end features in projectors are now making their way into more affordable projectors—and allowing for more sophisticated productions in smaller house-of-worship (HOW) environments.
“Ministries today are doing incredibly innovative things, incorporating higher levels of audio and video into their services, and presenting better-resolution images to their congregations,” says Wally Mohri, marketing manager for professional projectors at Sony Electronics in Park Ridge, N.J. “Warp correction and edge-blending features are also now available in projectors for small- to mid-sized churches. They are useful for correcting image geometry or creating seamless blended images.”
Paul Foschino, senior manager of visual communications with Ricoh Americas Corp. in New York, finds the trickle-down effect exists for projectors, just as it does for many other forms of AV electronics. “Greater flexibility for installation and connectivity is offered today with a broader range of connection options. It's not just VGA anymore; most of our line now includes HDMI, USB, RGB as well as networking options. Features like auto-keystone, video mute, color correction, and eco modes are now common to most projectors. Some of the higher-end features like interchangeable lenses and lens shift have come down in price, but still remain in the upper end of the line.”
“Projectors' features are always evolving,” comments Douglas Grant, manager of marketing programs for Christie Digital Systems in Cypress, Calif. “New high-end features are being created continuously, allowing users to push the envelope of what's possible, [and] allowing products to be used in more applications—and making complex tasks easier to do.”
Chuck Westfall, technical advisor with Professional Engineering & Solutions at Canon USA Inc. in Melville, N.Y., comments on the trends that Canon has been seeing for this market segment. “Over the past few years, the availability of HD video content and high-resolution laptop computers has increased to the point that they have become the predominant sources of input for virtually all projector users, including small- and medium-sized churches. However, legacy projectors often top out at 1,024x768, 4:3 XGA resolution that reduces image quality from high resolution sources. So demand has grown recently for high-resolution, widescreen, 16:9 projectors with HDMI inputs that produce better image quality from modern laptop computers and HD video sources. In addition, small- and medium-sized churches tend to have limited budgets for AV equipment, so the demand for high-performance yet reliable and affordable projectors with good warranty coverage has increased.”
Phong Phanel, product manager of projectors with Epson America in Los Angeles, adds, “Projector technology continues to advance, with features available across a wide range of projection solutions, from large-scale installation to more portable projectors. Features that are becoming more prominent across the board include high brightness, networking, and connectivity features.”
Mike Morin, manager of strategic sales development at Los Angeles-based Hitachi America, comments on what he is finding. “We also see digital inputs becoming more ubiquitous, specifically HDMI (DVI, Display Port). Higher resolutions are also becoming more common—specifically WXGA and WUXGA, so there's a migration toward aspect ratios of 16:10, moving away from 4:3 (XGA),” he notes.
It works both ways
What's interesting is that it's not just a one-way street. “High-end feeds down to affordable products, but at the same time, a lot of features are being added to high-end projectors from the consumer-level products where change happens at a much greater pace, and some new technologies are tested out for market acceptance,” Grant points out.
The manufacturers list some of the high-end projector features that are now available and affordable for small- and medium-sized churches. “High brightness, warping, blending, advanced color matching, high native resolution, 3D capability, digital connectivity (3G-SDI, DisplayPort, HDBaseT), and intelligent power management,” are some that Grant specifically mentions.
Canon's list includes native support for high resolution. “Widescreen content is definitely the most popular feature for new projectors today,” Westfall says. “This feature was once restricted to expensive high-end devices, but it is becoming more affordable and [more] widely available than ever before. Other popular projector features for small- and medium-sized churches include automatic setup to minimize or eliminate common problems, such as keystoning, [as well as] easy maintenance for standard consumable items such as air filters and projection lamps.”
Phanel contends that one of the main features that Epson sees as key is connectivity, including 3G-SDI and HDBaseT. “With 3G-SDI, users can transmit 4K video and sound. Further, houses of worship can benefit from SDI because of the secure cabling—most, if not all, AV companies use SDI cables to run their AV equipment [because] it is an industry standard, and HDBaseT is the digital version of the same technology.”
Phanel adds, “Additional features that were once considered high-end but are now available across a wide range of projection solutions are optional lenses and lens shift capabilities. Because they give added flexibility for projector placement, many houses of worship with unique structural and decorative architecture can benefit from these features, [because they] allow for the projector to be placed in an optimal location. Optional long-throw lenses give users the flexibility to position the projector as far back as needed, and lens shift provides the up/down, side-to-side flexibility to project around a pillar or from a side wall, for example.”
Bright outlook
Projectors offer more lumens per dollar today. “This means a smaller church on a tighter budget can still get a nice bright image at a more affordable price,” says Foschino. “Many useful features like digital zoom, magnify, auto keystone, password protection, auto brightness control, closed captioning, and Crestron RoomView are now included in even the basic models. New technologies like HD, 4K, and alternate light sources tend to be offered on higher, more expensive models and may not be needed in a small- to mid-sized HOW.”
Mohri agrees that the lumens-to-dollar ratio is much improved these days, and adds, “Higher brightness and resolution are the two major features which are now affordable. Historically, projectors over 5,000 lumens light output had high price tags. It was the same with HD (1,920x1,080) resolution projectors. With the innovation of display device manufacturing, projectors are getting brighter and more portable, which means lower costs. Projectors are also being used to create environmental projection, or ultra-short-throw projectors can be used to create large projections in limited spaces. Network capabilities that can expand image projection throughout a ministry are also being developed. The goal is to help enhance the worship experience, facilitate interactive teaching, or solve complicated installation challenges—all at lower operational costs. So, we are seeing further technology development in making maintenance time, energy efficiency, and lamp life more effective.”
When it comes to projection in the HOW market, the goal is to help enhance the worship experience, facilitate interactive teaching, or solve complicated installation challenges—all at lower operational costs. “We are seeing features including picture quality (color and brightness), installation flexibility (lens shift, flexible zoom, geometric correction) supported by low maintenance, and longer lamp life design (even laser) are critical,” says Mohri.
Brightness is a critical feature that buyers should take into consideration when making purchasing decisions. “Many houses of worship are bright with a lot of windows, so they require a projector that will stand up to the ambient light and display bright, vivid images,” says Phanel. “3LCD technology and color brightness allows for the brightest display to inspire your congregation without breaking the bank. Compared to 1-chip DLP technology, 3LCD can be up to three times brighter.”
In addition to brightness, contrast, and resolution, there are a few other key features that the projector companies see as important for the small- to medium-sized HOW market segment.
For Grant, these include: “A full lens suite to choose from, accurate color reproduction, collaboration software, and wireless capability via apps, iOS and Android-based control.”
For Hitachi's Morin, he feels that “brighter projectors are crucial, along with a good screen designed to pop based on the technology of the projector (resolution, 3LCD, DLP, laser).”
Digital inputs—HDMI is the standard and can be adapted to most environments, according to Morin. He also adds that there's more software on the market, designed specifically for eye-popping images and video in churches—LiveWorship Presentation and MediaShout, for example. “There are many. Basically, they combine visuals with audio for the music ministry and sermons that put standard PowerPoint presentations to shame,” he states.
More and more HOWs are added every year and their AV needs continue to grow. A wider range of projector products will be needed to address each new environment. Brighter and smaller projectors with greater flexibility will continue to be developed to meet these requirements. Once high-end features will continue to trickle down to more cost effective projectors.
As these technologies get wider usage and the manufacturers get the technologies amortized across a wider range of products, the smaller and mid-sized HOWs will benefit.
Feel free to contact CPM at editorial@churchproduction.com and let us know how your HOW is taking advantage of projection to enhance the worship experience.
