Choosing the Right Projector

Have you ever sat in a church service and not been able to read the lyrics on the screen? Or have you shown a movie on a projector only to be disappointed by the quality? There are many different elements to consider when purchasing a projector. In this blog, we’ll look at brightness and contrast ratio and how they affect the quality of the projected image.

Let's look at contrast ratio first. We know that a ratio is a comparison between two quantities or values. Contrast ratio is the ratio of light to dark, or the number of shades of gray between white and black. If a projector claims to have a contrast ratio of 500:1, that projector uses 500 shades to define the difference between white and black. Obviously, the higher the contrast ratio number, the better the image. Typically, projectors with high contrast ratios have been geared toward home theater applications. This is because a higher contrast ration will produce a higher degree of image detail which is most noticeable in recorded or live video images. I've seen movies, such as Lord of the Rings or The Passion of the Christ, shown on brighter projectors with a low contrast ratio. While the image was nice and bright, there wasn’t enough detail in the darker sequences which made the projector seem to struggle to project the image.

Now, let's talk about brightness. The American National Standards Institute or ANSI is an organization that oversees product standards in the United States. This organization developed a standard by which the brightness of a projector should be measured and marketed, which involves averaging several measurements taken at various positions. This has been the standard for choosing projectors for many years and is still the means by which most projectors are purchased today. A lumen is a unit of luminous flux, which is the measure of perceived power of light energy. As is the case of contrast ratio, the higher the ANSI lumen number, the better or brighter the image. As moving images become more popular in backgrounds for worship, a bright projector is critical for displaying words (such as song lyrics or scriptures) that the audience can read.

So, which specification is more important, brightness or contrast ratio? Well, that depends on your application and budget. There's no question that we're seeing projectors today that are brighter and less expensive than we could have imagined five years ago. And now, some of those projectors have contrast ratios up to 10,000:1.

If you are in the market for a new projector, ask yourself (and your team) three questions:

1. What's the budget?
2. What's the purpose?
3. Where's it going?

The first question is self-explanatory. The second and third, maybe not so much. You need to define what the machine will be used for. If your main focus is on song lyrics and sermon outlines, you should be more concerned with brightness than contrast. If your intent is to use lots of videos (and possibly live video), you should be concerned with both brightness and contrast ratio. The last question, where’s it going, will answer the question of brightness. If your room has uncontrollable ambient light, such as large windows, brightness will be your main concern, even if you are using video clips or live video (IMAG). If you have complete control over the room lighting, your projector choices will not be as limited.

This is the first in a series of blogs that will cover the different aspects of choosing the projector that is right for you.

No time for a sound check…

A few years ago, I was running sound in a large church. On a particular Sunday morning, the Worship Leader’s wife was to sing a solo. She arrived at the church late and, because we had worked together many times before, we both agreed that a sound check would not be necessary. BIG mistake!

This was at a time when solo tracks came only on cassette and the tape contained the demo track on one side and the solo track in two or three keys on the other side. I had worked with these tracks many times and felt quite certain that a quick spot cue would be sufficient. BIG mistake!

The service progressed and the time came for the big solo. The music started at the perfect time and the audience waited with great anticipation to hear this lady lift up an amazing praise offering to our Lord. However, what they heard was a duet that included a very surprised soloist and the superstar that recorded the demo track.

I immediately stopped the tape and the Pastor took the cue, went to the pulpit and spoke for a minute to give me time to re-group. Without looking to see how the tape was inserted, I pulled the tape out, made sure I was using the correct side, cued the tape, and restarted the song.

Again, the congregation waited, and again they received a duet instead of a solo. By this time, the Worship Leader was on his way to the sound booth (never a good thing) and I was completely frustrated. Again, the Pastor got up and spoke to give us time to sort out this painful situation.

As it turned, out the tape had been mislabeled and the solo tracks were on the side of the tape labeled demo. A quick sound check would have prevented this disaster and quite a bit of humiliation. As the sound engineer, I should have insisted on at least a mic check with a minimal track check. If I had done this, I would have realized that the tape had been mislabeled and saved myself and the church much embarrassment.

Sound checks are not just for the performers - they are for everyone involved. Here are some things that should be done during a sound check from the engineer’s perspective:

1. Make note of the mic(s) being used
2. Make note of the levels - monitor and house
3. If an accompaniment track is being used, make note of the track number and/or track key to be used
4. If the track is on a cassette tape, cue the tape
5. Make sure the performer is comfortable with what they are hearing and confident that you, the sound engineer will make them sound good

As a sound engineer, we need to work closely with the Worship Leader to eliminate the possibilities for errors. Not only does this create embarrasing situations, it is very distracting to the congregation. Remember, this might be the only opportunity we get to relay the Gospel of Jesus Christ to someone whe needs it, so let’s make sure we don’t blow it with a preventable mistake!