Print Article     Email Article

Video Projection and Digital Signage

How church leaders can help ensure the best placement of video systems

by Dawn Allcot     Added May 28, 2009

Video Projection and Digital Signage

Making the decision of whether or not to use video projection or digital signage in your church—and where to place it, if you do—is the same as many other technology decisions church leaders face.

The first step is to determine why you want to include this technology in your church. In most cases, the answers will be to enhance the worship experience, to convey information and/or to bring congregation members closer together. With these answers in mind, it is easier to start thinking about the “what” and the “where” of video projection.

Limited Only by the Imagination
Many churches want to present congregation members with an entertainment and education experience of the same quality they would get in a secular environment. Churches—and anyone else using video in a public venue today—have an advantage they’ve never before had in history: the possibilities are limited only by the staff’s imaginations—and, of course, the project’s budget.

Want a screen that “wraps around” the front of the sanctuary behind the stage? With warping capabilities, you can do that. Want to hang two screens vertically side-by-side, and edge-blend them together to display one large image? You can do that and, if you use high definition, the result will be an image that is 1920 pixels tall and 2160 pixels across, or as Chuck Collins, vice president of commercial audiovisual (A/V) at Kennesaw, Ga.’s Digital Projection, says, “massive amounts of pixels.”

Do you want to project image magnification (IMAG) on the upper two-thirds and lyrics or sermon notes in the bottom third? That’s entirely possible, and not as pricey as you might think.

Want 3-D? That’s do-able, but it will cost you. Even so, Collins predicts that, as costs drop, we’ll be seeing more and more 3-D in churches within the next five years. In fact, he goes so far as to call this one of the next big trends in projection technology for the house of worship market. Digital Projection recently released eight 3-D projectors in the Titan line at a variety of price points. (For more of the latest technology from top manufacturers, please see the sidebar.)

Consult a Professional
Whatever you decide to do in the way of projection technology, it’s smart to consult an A/V professional in the early planning stages of your church’s renovation or building project. By doing so, you can avoid a lot of the hassles and added costs that come with changing design plans toward the end of your project.

If you intend to install rear projection—that is, the projector is mounted behind the screen, usually within an enclosed chamber—it is crucial that your A/V firm work with your architect or builder to ensure there is adequate space and that the projector’s location won’t conflict with HVAC or electrical systems.

You’re audio-visual company can also work with the architect to plan the best placement of the screen(s) for good sightlines from every seat in the room and to make sure that the projector placement works within prescribed lengths for the cable runs, to avoid signal deterioration.

When Senior Audio/Video Designer Daniel Durst of Fresno, Calif.-based Michael Garrison Associates (MGA) installed a new video system as part of the renovation of the 950-seat sanctuary of Monte Vista Chapel in Turlock, Calif., the contractor had to re-think the location of the confidence monitors for the worship team. “Originally,” says Durst, “we hoped to mount a single rear projection screen at the center front face of the balcony, but we ran into problems with existing structure in the balcony.”

The A/V designer and installer instead hung two 65-inch plasma monitors at the outsides of the balcony face. “Often, in remodel projects, you are not able to implement ideal solutions, so you have to be creative; this approach worked well for the church,” Durst says.

Similarly, choosing the best location for the projectors can be a challenge. Durst explains, “We usually prefer rear projection because the noise from the projectors won’t be a distraction and the image quality will be better in high ambient light conditions.”

If rear-projection isn’t possible and the projector must be mounted in the room, keep it as far away from people as possible to keep distracting noise at a minimum and to prevent sightline problems. Choosing a unit with appropriate lens options and adequate lens shit and/or keystone correction helps makes this possible.

If you are mixing the types of displays you will have in your sanctuary, image quality becomes a significant concern. A three-chip DLP projector, for instance, provides a sharper image with greater color correction and matching capabilities than a 3LCD or single chip DLP projector. However, it also comes with a higher price tag.

Many laypeople will not notice the difference in quality between these technologies except when viewed side-by-side. But next to a flat-screen display, the image from an LCD projector might look dull or dark, or the colors may not be an exact match. This issue will be most noticeable if you are using multiple screens for IMAG, where variation in skin tones can be very distracting. If you can't afford the higher quality projector, try to make sure both screens are not in any congregation member’s line of sight at the same time, to avoid that “side-by-side comparison.”

Digital Signage Placement
While there are only so many places you can hang video screens in a sanctuary, digital signage placement throughout a church represents nearly limitless possibilities. “It really depends on what the church is trying to achieve with the digital signage, along with the architecture of the space,” says Steve Shewlakow, another senior audio/video designer at MGA.

For instance, Shewlakow sites Williamsburg Community Chapel, in Virginia, which used digital signage in every hallway to direct people to specific rooms and events. “Every intersection has four displays,” he says. “The digital signage is set up so it not only gives information about an event or displays a video, but it also gives directions around the building. The signage says an event is happening in a specific room, and then an arrow directs people down the hall to the next sign, and that arrow points them down the next hall.”

More common uses for digital signage includes the display of promotional videos, calendars of events and other information that would traditionally be placed on a church bulletin board or even in a printed newsletter. This information can now be conveyed over the digital signage network and displayed on flat screens placed in the lobby, in hallways, in a green room, in a cry room or other overflow spaces, in the entrance to the children’s area, in the fellowship hall, and inside a bookstore, café or other public meeting space.

Pocono Community Church in Tobyhanna, Pa., for instance, hung four plasma displays in the lobby, with one each above the bookstore and café doors to provide information about those areas. Dual displays in the children’s area offer information about children’s ministry programs and also receive a live feed from the sanctuary during services. The conference room and green room also include displays which can receive a feed from the main sanctuary.

Your audio-visual company can work with your architecture and design team to determine high traffic areas that would be conducive to a video display. You can even create gathering spaces by adding monitors in specific spots. Be careful not to create a logjam by hanging a monitor in a space where you don’t want people to linger, such as entryways and exits that should remain clear for safety reasons, or small hallways where having too many people would break fire code regulations.

Many LCD displays today offer a variety of mounting options—tabletop or on the wall. Sony Electronics’ new 42-inch and 47-inch LCDs, the FWD-S42H1 and FWD-S47H1, respectively, are tailor-made for digital signage applications. The 1080p HD-ready flat screens offer remote operation capabilities over IP, and have invisible speakers and rear control buttons. A Sony HD receiver can mount behind the unit. Both models can accept DVI HDCP IN with audio in (stereo mini), RGB/Component in/out (D-sub15pin) with audio in (stereo mini), S-video in, and composite Video in/out (BNC) with audio in (stereo mini), while optional adapters add the possibility of HDMI, HD-SDI/SDI inputs and more.

When your church is selecting LCD displays, keep input options in mind, especially if you plan to increase your digital signage capabilities in the future.

Planning for Tomorrow
If you're creating a digital signage network on a limited budget, remember you don’t have to do everything today. However, it is far less expensive to install the infrastructure while you are completing the current upgrade or new building project rather than to realize you need wires pulled after the sheetrock is hung and the walls are painted. “It’s easier—and less expensive—to have infrastructure in place than to add it down the road,” Shewlakow advises.

In fact, planning ahead saved Pocono Community Church significant time and money. When they realized almost immediately after the building project was complete that they wanted a flat panel display in the Fellowship Hall to use the space for overflow services, MGA had already installed the infrastructure. The church just needed to purchase a plasma screen.

SIDEBAR: Shedding Light on New Projectors for Worship

By Dawn Allcot

As price points drop for projectors, big, bright, high-resolution images that many churches may have thought were out of budgetary reach are now affordable. Additionally, inorganic optic systems—rather than those made from organic and inorganic hybrid materials—are available in many new projectors. By strict definition, an inorganic compound is a substance that does not contain carbon. Projectors with inorganic optics are hailed by their manufacturers to be more durable and longer lasting.

Here’s a look at some of the latest offerings in the world of video projection.

Digital Projection – Digital Projection’s new TITAN HD-600 uses the latest dark metal, three-chip DLP technology for more color saturation and accurate color reproduction. Compact and ultra-quiet, the Titan HD-600 provides 8,000 lumens of light and a 1,800:1 contrast ratio. Six standard inputs accept nearly all video and computer formats, including HDCP-compliant DVI, so you won’t have to worry about compatibility with new or existing equipment.

Hitachi – Hitachi Home Electronics (America) Inc. Business Group opens its 3LCD Professional series with the CP-X10000 projector, with 7,500 ANSI lumens of brightness and a 2,500:1 contrast ratio. Adding to its value are long-lasting inorganic optics and a 10,000-hour filter. Six bayonet-style lens options offer a wide-range of throw distances, while RS-232 connectivity provides remote maintenance and management.

Christie – Christie’s new LX700 LCD projector employs four inorganic LCD panels, which help create a “natural black” for sharper images and increased contrast ratio. The four panels (vs. three in most projector models) offer a 20% increase in color gamut. The projector has a 2,200:1 contrast ratio, an auto-filter system that rolls out a new filter every 1,000 hours (up to 10,000 hours) and true digital connections with full A/V inputs.

Barco – Continuing the trend of green projector options (reported on in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of Worship Facilities Magazine), Barco has increased the lumen output of its FLM series projectors, the HD18 (now the HD20) and R22, by 2,000 lumens while decreasing the power consumption. These projectors remain excellent rental or installation options for large sanctuaries and fellowship halls, offering bright native HD images, a compact size and near-silent operation.

Dawn Allcot is the work-at-home mom of Ashley Lyn, born October 12, 2008. A full-time freelance writer and editor, Dawn is a regular contributor to Worship Facilities and Church Production magazines.