Projector Point can help you select the right projector or display for your place of worship. Just give us a call to find out just how easy it is to select the right projector or display along with projector screens, projector mounts and cables to make your installation professional and cost-effective.
When choosing a projector for your place of worship you will want to take the following points into consideration.
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Screen Size
This is probably the most important place to start, knowing the layout and viewing distance is important so you can ensure that your congregation are able to see the display properly. Please call us with the dimensions of your church layout, and we’ll check the screen size most appropriate for you.
Brightness
Brightness is an important consideration in selecting the right projector for your place of worship. Some places of worship tend to be very bright environments, without the ability to control or dim the light entering the room. It is therefore recommended that you choose a bright projector that will be able to cope with this. Alternatively if mounting a projector and a screen is difficult then a large format display may be more suited to your environment.
Projector brightness is measured in ANSI lumens. Projectors suitable for places of worship are typically rated from 4000 lumens to 15000 lumens.
If you have very low ambient light and can control the light entering the church, you can save money buying a projector with a lower ANSI lumens rating. As a guide, 5000 lumens is generally the most popular brightness as a starting point for churches.
If you can’t control the ambient lighting in the church and can’t do anything about it, you could opt for high brightness, high contrast projector. In really bright conditions, though, we would recommend you opt for a projector over 10,000 lumens.
Contrast Ratio
Contrast isn’t a major factor when deciding what projector you need for your church. It is measured as a ‘contrast ratio’, e.g. 400:1. This tells you the difference in brightness between a ‘fully on’ pixel and a ‘fully off’ pixel. For instance, on a projector with a 1000:1 contrast ratio, and (for simplicity’s sake) a 1000 lumen brightness rating, ‘fully off’ pixels would actually be 1 lumen in brightness.
(Incidentally, you may be wondering why a ‘fully off’ pixel has any brightness at all. Unfortunately, there is some ‘leaking’ of light with all projectors which means black is not actually pitch black, which is why we keep putting quotation marks around ‘fully off’!).
So that’s the technical explanation over. What does contrast actually mean to you?
Essentially, the higher contrast on a projector increases the perception of depth in the image and means subtle colour variations show up more clearly. Hence subtle textures are more visible. It also means that dark scenes don’t look washed out.
Looking for a projector with a high contrast ratio wouldn’t be too important if you are running song sheets through a computer, although it could be a deciding factor if you are looking to run ‘film nights’ from time to time.
Keystone correction and lens shift
Nearly all of the projectors at Projector Point have a vertical keystone facility. (‘Keystoning’ is the name given to the effect on the projected image when the projector sits below or above the centre of the screen. Keystone correction counteracts this effect by digitally compressing the image at the bottom or top, resulting in a more rectangular image.). Some projectors feature vertical and horizontal keystone (known as 2D) some even have the ability to just adjust one or more of the corners to the image (known as 3D or cornerfit). Look out for these types of keystone correction in the spec.
With digital keystone correction, there is always a reduction in the quality of the image, where possible we would always avoid using keystone correction or keeping it to an absolute minimum. To completely avoid any reduction in the quality you are better off looking for a projector with a lens shift feature. Lens shift allows you to move the optics of the projector so the image moves up or down. As it’s an optical adjustment rather than a digital adjustment there is no loss in quality unless you use the lens shift correction at its extremities.
Mounting Options
There are many options available to you and your place of worship. Places of worship tend to have very high ceilings so there are several ways to complete your installation. Our ceiling mounts can be made to order, catering for most drops. If it’s not convenient to ceiling mount the projector there are a range of wall mounts available or special mounts that can connect to girders or rigging.
If you are unable to mount the projector in front of the screen, another option would be rear projection. Our sales staff have extensive knowledge in getting the right solution for you.