A Calvary Lutheran Church in the US has been re-fitted with Crystal Screens in a challenging audiovisual upgrade implemented by Oregon’s Diamond Support Services.
The church wanted to update their ageing sound and video systems with something more modern. However, due to the building’s floor-to-ceiling glass walls producing a large amount of horizontal ambient light, this proved to be extremely tricky.
Controlling the natural light coming into the church wasn’t an option. Thankfully, Diamond found a solution. The company ordered two 120″ Crystal Screens, an anti-reflective display with holographic patterns, originally conceived for the aerospace industry. Thanks to the product’s Reflect 3.0 material, images can be clearly viewed at an angle of up to 70°.
The screens are connected to two 8,000 Ansi lumen dual-laser Eiki projectors, mounted above the entrance. They are also used to display sermon notes and hymn lyrics where appropriate. An LED video wall was considered for the project, though Diamond now believes that this would have easily doubled the cost of the installation, to the detriment of video quality.
Steve Diamond, owner of Diamond Support Services, said:
“Horizontal light is the enemy of video. Even the best projector and screen couldn’t compensate for that much ambient light.
An LED video wall was out of the question, because it was beyond the church’s budget and was too flashy for the tranquil interior. Diamond suggested options to control light, such as motorized shades, curtains, or even window tinting. But Calvary Lutheran Church project manager Larry Weaver said he knew it would not go over well with the congregation.
It was all about the gain. We didn’t think that such a high gain screen could possibly have a wide viewing angle, but these screens do. We walked around the room and were amazed that images were still clear from every pew.”
Weaver commented on his team and congregation’s response to the finished project.
“These screens are absolutely radiant and exceeded everyone’s expectations. After we played the first video, the entire congregation erupted with applause, and several people commented that they could finally read the words. That’s a good feeling”.
