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Absen Acclaim Series LED Panels
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Allen & Heath ME-500 Personal Mixer
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ADJ Vizi CMY300 Hybrid Moving Light
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Chroma-Q Inspire XT LED House Light
Chroma-Q Inspire XT LED House Light
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JVC PTZ Camera, Controller, Roland V-1HD Video Switcher Solution
The 2017 edition of WFX, the Worship Facilities Conference and Expo was held October 10-12 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. With over 250 exhibitors and more than 3,500 attendees, the event is touted as the largest expo floor for the church market and attracts senior leaders, executive pastors, business administrators, worship and music directors, technical directors and related staff members.
Besides a huge show floor, the event includes over one hundred conference sessions including church tours, concerts, worship services and classes discussing everything from security planning and related technology options to digital audio networking.
The event has grown over the past ten plus years and numerous manufacturers use WFX as a platform for launching new products that are specifically designed for the massive church market. Of the hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of products on display, Church Production staff and contributors selected the following products as the Top 5 Products for Churches from WFX 2017.
Absen Acclaim Series LED Panels
The Acclaim Series from Absen is designed to provide an indoor direct-view LED solution for many of today’s markets, including houses of worship. Available in a wide range of pixel-pitch configurations; 1.2 mm, 1.5 mm, 1.9 mm, 2.5 mm and 3.8 mm, the Acclaim Series meets the needs of many indoor installations and pixel pitches.
Acclaim’s HD aspect ratio and 27.5-inch diagonal size allows four panels to create a 55-inch display like that of an LCD screen, but without mullions. The four panels can be installed with a standard VESA mount and allows the end user to work in a standard 16:9 aspect ratio, a very common aspect ratio in the church market. Systems can wall-mounted, hung or free standing.
With Absen Affinity color calibration, the Acclaim is designed to look uniform in color, brightness and consistency throughout the life of the product.
“As we move deeper into the commercial display market, we are always seeking to develop products that will be needed down the road and the Acclaim Series is an excellent example of just that,” says Gary Fuller, Senior Advisor for Absen Inc.
Allen & Heath ME-500 Personal Mixer
Allen & Heath used WFX 2017 for the first North American showing of its new 16-channel ME-500 personal mixer, which joins its ME personal mixing system line.
ME-500 is designed as a more affordable personal monitoring solution for houses of worship, rental companies and orchestras, allowing musicians to quickly and independently build and control their own monitor mixes from 16 stereo or mono sources.
The new mixer inherits the same compact format as its sibling, the larger 40-channel ME-1, but with simplified setup and controls. The ME system is plug ‘n’ play compatible with Allen & Heath’s digital mixer range and can be used with third party digital consoles via the ME-U hub.
Allen & Heath’s Live Sound Product Manager, Ben Morgan says, “We’re seeing a big rise in personal mixing as venues and tours battle to keep sounds levels on stage under control and try to make the most effective use of precious sound check time. Our established ME-1 personal mixers are superb for environments…, but many customers have been asking for a more accessible alternative that volunteers and first-time users can get great results with quickly and easily. That’s exactly what we set out to create with ME-500.”
ADJ Vizi CMY300 Hybrid Moving Head Lighting Fixture
At WFX 2017, ADJ also demonstrated their new Vizi CMY300 moving head fixture for the first time in the USA. This new moving head not only offers hybrid beam, spot and wash functionality, but also full CMY (cyan, magenta and yellow) color mixing. This means that lighting designers can select exactly the color they require to match décor, video content or simply their creative vision. Offering stage washing, GOBO projection and mid-air beam effects all from one compact fixture, the Vizi CMY300 means that fewer fixtures are required than when separate spot, wash and beam units are used. This not only makes for a saving on initial purchase, but also results in lower cabling and installation costs as well as reduced on-going running expenses.
Chroma-Q Inspire XT LED House Light
Chroma-Q introduced the latest addition to its award-winning Inspire range of house lights at WFX 2017, the Inspire XT. Nearly twice as bright as the previous Inspire version, the new Inspire XT uses DMX control allowing the fixture to dim, even to very low levels. 50,000 hours of life is expected from the new fixture and the camera-friendly technology is designed to eliminate camera flicker, even on HD cameras. A CRI rating of up to 90 is specified
The new fixture incorporates the features of the Inspire range of luminaires, including; fully homogenized beam, theatrical-grade dimming and convection cooling, with an output of 9,544 hot lumens.
Factory calibration ensures every Inspires’ output is color matched. And the Inspire XT’s range of whites, soft pastels and bold saturates allow for creativity, designed for entertainment, houses of worship and architectural projects.
JVC PTZ Camera, Controller, Roland V-1HD Video Switcher Solution
Thought not necessarily a new product for WFX 2017, JVC used the event to show a compelling new camera and control package that it plans on marketing to the church market. The system pairs JVC’s KY-PZ100 robotic PTZ production cameras and RM-LP100 remote camera controller with Roland’s V-1HD SDI 3G-SDI video switcher.
“Not everyone needs or can even accommodate a full-sized, traditional [video production] control room,” says Craig Yanagi, product marketing manager at JVC. “Our solution is ideal for tight spaces and tight budgets. It supports multiple cameras that can be permanently mounted or used on tripods and controlled by one operator. For many houses of worship and other live productions, it’s all you really need.”
Handheld or full-sized cameras with studio configurations from the JVC ProHD and 4KCAM product lines can also be used with the HD system, depending on the needs of the production.
Join us at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, November 14-15, 2018 for the next WFX – Worship Facilities Conference and Expo.
