Sight Unseen?
Make sure everyone in your "gymnatorium" has a good view this Sunday

By Julie Riddle

It's a problem nearly every church member has faced at one time or another.

The house lights dim, the projector screen unfurls, and a spectacular video or PowerPoint^™ presentation is underway. But unlike the majority of the congregation, your view of the production might be limited to a blurry collection of text, light and color. Why? Because you're sitting in a section of the auditorium designed without proper thought to sightlines.

While sanctuaries are specifically designed to combat such issues, gymnatoriums--combination gymnasiums-auditoriums--often are not. So before you set up a projector system in yours, you should know there are plenty of ways to avoid seeing red.

Screening your screen

One of the most important steps in preventing sightline issues is to make sure your screen is big enough. Its size, plus the attendance you expect, has a significant impact on the quality of your presentation.

According to Jon Scott, director of e-commerce at Metairie, La.-based Creative Presentations, a simple formula ensures success. Measure the height of your screen (in feet) and multiply this number by two. This is the minimum distance your front row should be away from the screen to ensure the best view.

And as a general rule, the back row should be no more than nine times this distance. "So, if your screen is nine feet tall, ideally you want your people sitting back at least eighteen feet," Scott explains, "and you wouldn't want the back row any further than seventy-two feet back."

This same reasoning is applied to movie theater seating, he explains. "If you're sitting too close to the screen at a movie, it can be overwhelming. That's a concern with curved seating in churches also," he says. "Some people are sitting six, eight, maybe ten feet from the screen."

If a screen big enough to accommodate this formula makes you leery, you may be in luck. According to Scott, screen prices are always dropping. Depending on what size you want, "relatively nice" models can cost as little as a few hundred dollars, and what he calls "entry-level" systems can be purchased for less than $5,000. ("Even this estimate is kind of high," he points out.)

Tips for the projector selector

The size of your screen also determines what type of projector you need, explains Scott. Generally, the larger your screen, the brighter your projector should be. For a 9- by 12-foot screen, a projector must have enough brightness to fill 108 square feet. "So, people who go from a six- by eight-foot screen up to a nine- by twelve-foot screen double the number of square feet the projector has to fill," he says. "People think it's just a little bit larger screen, but they've got to think in terms of volume. That's a major concern."

Also look carefully at the amount of extraneous, or ambient, light in your space, Scott adds. This is determined mostly by how much light comes in through windows and/or from fluorescent lighting. In a completely dark room, a 1,000-lumen projector would be sufficient, Scott says, even if you have a very large screen. However, if the room has other light sources--plus the light projecting onto the screen itself--then they will compete. In a church with many windows, he adds, even 10,000 lumens will struggle to overcome the ambient light.

Where you choose to position your projector inside the gymnatorium is also key. "Consider rear projection, especially if you're planning ahead," Scott advises. In these installations, allow for space behind the projector that is safe, heated and cooled to preserve your equipment. "It's a bit more expensive, and it requires more planning, as you might imagine," he explains, "but you don't want a projector that costs you anywhere from six to twenty-thousand dollars being anywhere near a basketball, soccer ball or volleyball."

Fortunately, Scott points out that projector prices, like screens, are becoming more affordable. In fact, he adds, it's getting to the point where about 95% of churches--even small ones--can afford them.

No more "cheap seats"

Sometimes, where you sit has a significant effect on what you see and what you don't. Too far off to the side and images become distorted. Too far back and you have to squint to make them out. Scott has a solution to take out the guesswork.

"For the average screen, you want a forty-five-degree viewing angle and no more," he advises. For what he calls "dead zones," he recommends "smaller" technology. "What I mean by that is, you could run televisions and copy the signal by using a scan converter," Scott explains. "This way, you won't inconvenience the people who aren't within the screens' sightlines."

If your gymnatorium is narrower than it is wide, you may be able to get by with one screen, he says, but otherwise, two screens--one on each side of the room--ensure everyone has a clear view.

Mistakes you don't have to make

Because many churches must work within budget constraints, they tend to cut corners or buy less expensive projection equipment. Both moves are ill-advised, Scott says. He cites one church leader who got a "great deal" on a video mixer ($1,500) versus the lowest price Scott could obtain ($4,000). "He has to send it back because it doesn't have a VGA input," Scott says. "It only went out on the lowest grade of signal, so he couldn't even run a computer through the mixer. It was useless.

"You can find a great deal, but is it going to work with your system? Probably not."

Congruency is important, he adds. "If you don't know enough about it, raise up a technology leader in your church," Scott adds. "You've got to dig deeper or you'll encounter problem after problem after problem."