Everyone’s looking for a new normal after the pandemic, even churches. Will the new normal look like the old normal, or will be something completely different?
The new normal looked refreshingly like the old normal at the 2023 InfoComm show held this past week at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The show announced registered attendance of about 36,000 people, nearly double the 20,000 people who attended in 2022, and within striking distance of its 2019 – pre-Covid attendance of about 44,000.
Regardless of the statistics, for us InfoComm veterans, InfoComm 2023 felt normal. It was a very vibrant, well-attended show with about 700 exhibitors.
Now if you’ve heard the stats from the NAB Show, you might think that InfoComm sounds small. Don’t let that fool you. InfoComm is a fantastic tradeshow and conference, that’s focused primarily on technology for live events – everything from a conference or classroom to a full-on performing arts center or house of worship, and everything in between.
The Church Production team receives hundreds of press releases about new products leading up to every major tradeshow. With those announcements in mind, we attend numerous tradeshows each year to see these products in person and gauge their quality, ease of use, and affordability for the church market. What follows is Church Production’s “Top 5 Products for Churches from InfoComm 2023” in alphabetical order.
Barco G50 Projectors
Adding to its G-Series of projectors, Barco announced three new G50 projectors. Each of the three new units offers a laser phosphor light source with a lifetime of about 20,000 hours, WUXGA (1,920x1200) resolution, swappable lenses, remote management, and more. The primary difference between them is light output. They range from 6,400 to 8,900 lumens and are available in white or black cases. Find out more about the Barco G50 projectors here, and here.
An honorable mention goes to Barco’s PDS-4K, an affordable, easy-to-use seamless switcher for up to four screens. PDS stands for Pretty Darn Simple and it looks to be a great option for small to medium-sized churches, or secondary venues in larger churches. Check it out here.
Pliant Microcom 900XR Wireless Intercom Headset
With churches as a major target market, Auburn, Alabama-based Pliant Technologies introduced the Microcom 900XR Wireless Headset at InfoComm 2023. It’s an all-in-one wireless intercom headset that requires no base station. Available in single-ear or dual-ear versions, the Microcom 900XR Wireless Headset offers two intercom channels with a dual listen option, and support for up to ten full duplex users with unlimited listen-only or shared users. It offers SmartBoom Pro capability – boom down to talk, boom up to mute, or listen only. It’s compatible with Pliant’s 900 MHz Microcom XR beltpacks and other wired headsets. A new drop-in charger will charge up to six of the new Microcom 900XR Wireless Headsets without having to remove the battery or plug in a USB charging cord. Learn more here.
Renkus-Heinz Omnibeam Beam Steering Technology
Omnibeam isn’t really a product on its own. It’s a technology that Renkus-Heinz will be incorporating into its digitally steerable line arrays, which include the Iconyx Compact, Iconyx Gen5, IC Live Gen 5, and IC LiveX series of loudspeakers. The company introduced Unibeam steering technology several years ago, and the new Omnibeam capability offers system designers additional control to achieve the best possible audio coverage regardless of the room geometry. “It’s like a giant ‘easy’ button for configuring steerable arrays,” says Renkus-Heinz, product manager, Brandon Heinz. Chief Technology Officer, Ralph Heinz adds, “By taking the rocket science out of simulating and commissioning steerable arrays, Renkus-Heinz has demonstrated how beam steering is suitable for more than just reverberant spaces. They’re as simple to deploy as point and shoot.” Learn more about Renkus-Heinz Omnibeam here.
Visual Productions CueCore3 Lighting Controller
Lighting controller is a tame description for the CueCore3 from Visual Productions, based in the Netherlands, and distributed in the United States by ACT Entertainment. It can store and automate almost any AV-related function that could be run on a DMX, GPI, or MIDI cue, or from its internal controller. It can even be networked together with media servers, audio players, and more. It’s a remarkably capable little device that’s easy to program and can be controlled by a six-button wall plate that's capable of controlling over 300 scenes or functions. The street price is about $1,800. Learn more here.
Yamaha DM7 Series Digital Mixers
In one of the year’s most anticipated launches, Yamaha debuted its new DM7 Series of digital audio mixing consoles. Seeing it in person for the first time did not disappoint. The full 120-channel version comes in a comfortably compact footprint. The control surface is intuitive, efficient while at the same time inspiring. We won’t go into the full list of features and capabilities. You can read more about that here, and here. It’s more than competitive in this price range. One thing that was striking seeing it in person was the different frame sizes and the expandability options. For example, a single DM7 control surface can be split into two sides for mixing monitors and front-of-house or streaming and front-of-house. It’s so much better than mixing monitors of the live stream from auxes. Also, a DM7 expansion control wing can be added to help in programming user-defined keys, scene memory, and much more. Expect it to be showing up in a church near you soon. Prices start at about $15,000
