Video Advice by Anthony D. Coppedge Contributing Writer July 20, 2008

CHURCH
“We want to keep the price as low as possible - if possible, under $5000. I was kind of wondering if 800 or 900 lumens would be ok...because I found a projector for $2000 that had a 900 lumen rating.”

Anthony
And we come to the #2 issue that churches typically bring up: price.

ANSI has come up with mathematical equations to determine the size of screen needed, the viewing angles required, the brightness requirements and even the defined ratios based on the type of content. What does all of that mean? That a given room will have unchanging math to measure exactly what type and size of screen you’ll need, the minimum requirements for projector resolution and brightness as well as other essential information.

In the above quote from the church, we can give the $5,000 dollar figure (or any figure, for that matter) proper context. I offer the following analogy:

If a church realized a need for a larger sanctuary, do you think they would hire an architect with the statement, "We've raised $500,000. Say, what kind of sanctuary can we buy for that?" WHAT?!? Of course they wouldn't!

Factors such as attendance, worship style, denominational structural issues (placement of a cross, altar, pulpit, etc.), land availability, growth studies, etc. will be carefully considered to give the architect an idea of the scope of work. With that type of information in hand, the architect would begin defining how the church would use the room and what limitations were involved. Only at that time can the architect come back with a budget figure.

So it goes with technology. To assume a random dollar amount (budgeted through random guesswork or otherwise) for a technology upgrade is EXACTLY the same as the above example for building a sanctuary on a pre-assumed, non-researched dollar amount.

To summarize this thought: The NEED determines the budget, not the other way around. And, as an added freebie bonus thought: "If you can't afford it, then ask yourself ‘can you adjust the need?’ If not – wait and budget!" The church was asking the wrong question: it didn’t matter if 800 or 900 lumens was “bright enough”. Also, the $2,000 budget may have been way too much or not nearly enough. It would be impossible to answer their question without knowing at least the above mentioned facts.

CHURCH
“We need the sanctuary fairly bright, and a lot of light spills on the screen. So the projector needs to be bright...what would you suggest the lumens to be?”

Anthony
We now come to the typical #3 problem most (but not all) churches face: bright rooms.

Allow me to illustrate the importance of light control on the screen. If you’ve been to the local movie theatre, and watched the trailers play with the lights still on – before the movie begins – and then noticed how much brighter the movie looks when the lights are off - you’ve seen this effect firsthand. A projected image will always look better when the light is kept off the screen.

Controlling the light on the screen can save significant amounts of cash on a projector. How is this so? If the screen is protected from lots of direct or indirect (bounce) light, it is possible to use less bright (read: less expensive) projector.

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