We are living in a world where large video screens are just about everywhere. In the entertainment world you can't go to a concert without a giant video screen behind the stage projecting abstract images and live image magnification (IMAG) of the artists so everyone in the area can see. You see them on television shows as essential elements of scenery. You even see them in your living room where 60-inch, high-definition television sets are now selling for less than $1,000. And yes, you see them in houses of worship to project verses from the Bible, lyrics for worship songs, and live IMAG images of the worship team. Projectors are perfectly fine for churches that have controlled lighting that keeps the area around the projection screens dark, so that ambient house and stage lighting does not wash out the projected image. But what if your worship space has large windows that allow all that glorious daylight to flow into your sanctuary? That daylight will no doubt wash out the intensity of your front or rear projection screen. Also, as you add more lighting to your stage area the need for brighter projection increases. This is where high-powered modern LED screens have a huge advantage.
When I was at NAMM this past January, I stopped by the Elation booth and saw its new EZ4 LED high-definition projection screen hanging above their booth. I knew that I had to get my hands on one of these to see if it was as good as it looked. Elation kindly agreed, and within a couple of weeks the crates holding the screen and the media server arrived at our theatre for testing and review.
Hands-on Trial
The E4Z came in two crates, one holding the 15 individual 19.7 by 19.7 by 2.9-inch (500mm x 500mm x 75mm), 22 pound LED panels, and the other containing the hanging hardware and cable jumpers. The media server was built into its own road box. I was first quite amazed that only two crates held the screen, but upon opening the crates I discovered how thin the panels were. They were all housed in individual vertical compartments to keep them protected while on the road.
The screen was extremely easy to build. In fact, we just lowered a system pipe in our theatre and hung the first row of five panels on the pipe. The panels are constructed of a die-cast aluminum frame with high-precision CNC machining techniques, creating a very precise, square panel that allows for a flat and seamless LED video wall construction. The panels easily interconnected with a turn of a wrench. We then hung the second row of panels. Again, the turn of six nuts interlocked each panel into the top row and their side neighbors. Finally, the last row was hung below the second row. After connecting the panels with the included Neutrik Powercon/Ethercon linking connectors, we were ready to power up. This entire process took the two electricians about 20 minutes.
After construction, the final screen looked absolutely seamless. The interlocking mechanism is not only easy to operate, it really does the job. Elation tells us that these panels are light and sturdy enough to be floor mounted. In any case, we can see how easy and quick it is to assemble and disassemble the screen, making it useful for portable as well as permanent installations.
Yes, upgrading to an LED video screen IS expensive, but the difference in image quality and intensity is indescribable.
In-use Impressions
When we turned on the screen from the media server, we were blown away. The brightness of the screen was truly impressive. It lit up the entire theater. The brightness level of the EZ4 is 1,200 nits. For those who have no idea what a “nit” is, then take it from us, it is bright. The black face LEDs offer a 1,000:1 super high contrast, adding to the perceived brightness of the screen. We ran the screen at about half intensity, otherwise the brightness was overwhelming [to] our eyes.
What was most impressive, though, was the resolution of the screen. Elation has several screen models at various resolutions for different applications. The rule of thumb is the farther away the congregation is, the lower the resolution is needed for the image not to look pixelated. The EZ4 is Elation's highest resolution screen. It has a 4.81-millimeter pixel pitch, meaning that each LED is spaced at only 4.81 millimeters from each neighboring LED. There are 10,816 pixels (104 x 104) in each panel. When we built the screen of 15 panels—three high and five wide—it gave us a total screen pixel resolution of 520 x 312. After we scaled the images we had via the media server Elation supplied which were made for 1,920 x 1,080 to fit the screen size, from a distance of 20 feet the EZ4 looked like a high-definition television screen. For those who don't need such a super-high-resolution screen from such a close distance, Elation also offers the EZ6 with a 6-mm pixel pitch. I doubt you could tell the difference from 40 feet away, and the larger the screen you build, the better it looks with either resolution screen.
We performed several video tests with the screen, and we found absolutely no flicker when shooting video with the screen in the background. This is especially crucial for worship spaces that use both broadcast and IMAG video. The color consistency of the panels was so consistent that the image transitioned from panel to panel, creating a seamless and unified image. The fade of the LED pixels was stepless, with very smooth up and down intensity fades.
Specs For Geeks
The panels easily interconnected with the turn of a wrench.
For the video geeks who love specs, the viewing angle for the screen is 110 degrees horizontal and 110 degrees vertical. The processing depth is 14-bit. The screen has a grey scale of 65,536 levels, a refresh rate of 1,200 Hz, a minimum viewing distance of 10 feet (3M), and very wide operating temperature of -30c to +40c with an operating humidity of 10%- 90%. The power supply is 100-240v AC, 50/60 Hz—with auto-sensing multi-voltage. The max power is 230 watts with an average power of 150 watts. Typical of LEDs, the life of the LED elements is 50,000 hours, but when you are running at 50% output like we were, you will certainly realize an even longer LED life performance.
The extremely thin depth of the screen (2.9 inches) makes this screen quite useful for many existing church applications. Almost as thin as a modern flat screen TV, the EZ4 can be placed where your exiting video screen is. If you are presently using a rear projection screen, imagine all that space you will be saving by using a flat LED screen.
You will need some type of video media server to send video data to the screen. Elation sent us its EZ6 VSC2 Media Processor rack along with its Zeus media server. For those who are nervous about learning new software, the good news is that Elation has created a very easy user-friendly media server. It offers many of the video scaling and special effect features of much more expensive media servers, including 3D mapping, wrapping and scaling. The Zeus has so many features that we will leave it for another article. Let's just say that I highly recommend that you consider this server for any projection application for your church.
So the question is:
Who needs such a bright, high-resolution screen? If you wish to drastically improve the brightness and resolution of your projected images, then you owe it to yourself to check out the EZ4. Yes, upgrading to an LED video screen is expensive, but the difference in image quality and intensity is indescribable. Like the first time you laid your eyes on a high-definition television, my bet is that once you see these screens in action, you will realize the possibilities of high definition in your worship space.
