Image: Vanguard LED Displays
The primary objective of a church is to disseminate its message to congregants as effectively as possible.
To accomplish this, many church teams use the highest quality speaker arrays, top of the line lighting, specialized microphones, and live music to achieve their fundamental goal of making services inspiring, appealing, and truly engaging to both live and online audiences.
Visual communication, by far, is the most effective method to reach out and impact a congregation. Being exposed to a visual message creates a lasting experience.
For AV consultants and integrators, the following are the key areas to consider and communicate to a church team looking to achieve the utmost impact from LED video display:
- The technical advantages of direct view LED video displays over projection
- When to use 16:9 native aspect ratio cabinets and situations where square cabinets are advantageous
- How to select the right pixel pitch
- Video camera specifications that can help avoid latency in a live feed
- The options LED displays offer to hit a desired budgetary number
On a very fundamental level a church has basically two choices with respect to displaying images—projection or Direct View LED video.
LED Video Display Advantages
Learn more at Vanguard LED Displays.
There is no doubt that LED video walls offer a far superior image quality than projection, have none of the disadvantages of projection, and are a much better investment. In addition, the lifespan of most LED displays is 100,000 hours. In the church setting, an LED video wall can have a lifespan of 25-35 years! Another important consideration is that LED video walls have no costly lamps to replace each year. Most high lumen projectors, on the other hand, require multiple lamps that need to be replaced annually. The lifespan of a projector is only about 4-5 years.
The technological advantages of LED video displays far outstrip those of projected images. The images of LED video walls can achieve Full HD, 4K, and 8K, depending on the number of cabinets used and the number of LEDs per cabinet. In combination with state-of- the-art processors, LED video screens can produce 18-bit grey scale and 24-bit video processing.
Vanguard Chromium Series
The images of LED video walls can achieve Full HD, 4K, and 8K, depending on the number of cabinets used and the number of LEDs per cabinet.
Another critical consideration in the church setting: The colors emanating from an LED screen are very vivid and intense. LEDs produce high contrast images which make content really “pop”! The brightness of an LED screen simply cannot be matched by projection.
Michael G. Wiener, CEO & Founder, Vanguard LED Displays
Photo: John Staley
This superiority is magnified even more in environments with ambient light. Most sanctuaries have windows and, therefore, have ambient light. Ambient light has no effect on the images displayed on a LED video screen. But projected images appear washed out in a venue with ambient light. Colors will be muted and not distinct. Entertainment lighting will similarly affect projected images.
Pixel Pitch, a Church Project’s Make-or-Break Factor
The key decision a church has to make when selecting a direct view LED video display is what pixel pitch to choose. A pixel pitch represents two things—the distance in millimeters between the LEDS, and it also denotes the distance in meters at which the viewer will not see pixels. Let us use the example of P4. This means that there are 4mm between each pixel or bulb. It also means that at 4 meters, or 13.12 feet, the viewer will not see the pixels on the screen. Beyond 13.12 feet the images only get better. P4 has been the most popular pixel pitch used for church sanctuaries, since most congregants will be at least 20 feet from the screen. We are seeing a movement to P2.5, which means that even at 8-10 feet no pixels will be visible to the naked eye.
The video which is being shot in 16:9 is reproduced exactly as shot without any need to manipulate the images to fit the display cabinets.
In addition, there are basically two sizes of cabinets to consider, one being 600mm x 337.5mm (23.6 inches by 13.29 inches), which yields a native 16:9 aspect ratio. This means that the video which is being shot in 16:9 is reproduced exactly as shot without any need to manipulate the images to fit the display cabinets. A 16:9 native aspect ratio cannot be achieved with projection. The other size is a 500mm x 500mm (19.7 inch by 19.7 inch) cabinet. Many churches are using this square cabinet to change the shape of the display on the main stage on a continuous basis. Square cabinets can achieve the desired shape better than a rectangular shape. Many churches are actually acquiring three displays. Two 16:9 native aspect ratio cabinets for the side walls and a LED video wall using square cabinets for the main stage.
Marrying Video Cameras and Displays
If a church is using video cameras for live feed during its services, a number of critical issues need to be taken into account there, as well. Latency or frame delay occurs where the speaker, band and music, and the video shown on the display are out of sync. This is a frustrating and annoying issue for attendees. To offset and avoid this problem, the video cameras used must be carefully selected. The cameras should have Global Shutters as opposed to rolling shutters, and the cameras must use CCD sensors as opposed to CMOS sensors.
Critical Big-Picture Takeaways
-LED video displays are noiseless, while big, bright projectors require fans for internal cooling.
-LED video screens generate almost no heat and use a fraction of the electricity required for projection.
-Current LED screens are mostly front service, so they can be installed against a wall.
-LED video walls offer unlimited options with respect to size, brightness, and shapes.
-LED video displays can be straight or curved inward or outward. Note that curved walls will require frames in order to attach displays to a wall.
-LED displays can be configured in many shapes. They can be separated and reassembled depending on specific design objectives. As such, an LED video wall allows for unlimited creativity, enabling the design of visually stunning presentations.
-An LED video screen provides a seamless display. Projection requires edge blending to create an extended image. In addition, maintaining an edge-blended image in place is very difficult and requires constant adjustments.
-Replacing a burnt-out LED with a replacement module takes seconds. Replacing sending cards, IC drivers, and power supplies is a very easy task using on-hand spare parts.
The Ever-Present Bottom Line
Many churches, due to budgetary constraints, feel they have to opt for projection. Yet, LED video displays should not be eliminated out of hand. There are many options that could reduce the cost of an LED video display, such as a slightly larger pixel pitch; using copper wire as opposed to gold wire; and opting for less expensive LED bulbs, IC drivers, power supplies, and receiving cards. Hands down, a LED video display will be a much better investment, from both a cost point of view and in its ability to effectively deliver the message.
If a church does have adequate funding, its team will be best served by buying the highest quality components it can afford. The images projected through LED display will be stunning, and a five-year warranty and 5% spare parts will protect their investment.
To sum up, LED video screens give a church end user unlimited options that will allow an LED video screen to be built to the exact needs of a venue, such as choosing a pixel pitch depending on the distance to attendees, size of screen needed, placement of the screen, and a multitude of fine-tuning options needed to tailor each LED video screen to the specific needs of each individual installation. In projection, by contrast, the only adjustments possible are for brightness and resolution, which is extremely limiting.
To learn more about the benefits of LED video display for your church clients, visit Vanguard LED Displays.
