Two EK-820U 10K WUXGA laser projectors help keep worshippers engaged

Crosby, TX - February 2019...Tasked with the goal of improving the quality of people’s lives by meeting their needs through Christ and assuring they come to know Jesus in a personal, intimate way, Crosby Church aims to foster well-established and well-rounded Christians who understand the fullness of the Word of God. In order to help their congregation get the most out of worship services, church management recently elected to upgrade their sanctuary with the addition of two EK-820U WUXGA laser projectors drawn from the catalog of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA-based Eiki International, Inc.

Hardin Sound, Light & Video of La Porte, TX, an AV design / build firm that focuses on turnkey AV solutions for the worship market, was contracted to deploy the projection equipment at Crosby Church. Company owner / operator Kevin Hardin is responsible for all aspects of his company’s installation projects. He discussed the Crosby Church project and his reasons for deploying the two Eiki EK-820U projectors.

“I originally installed two Eiki projectors and fourteen foot wide screens back in 2001 when the 2000-seat sanctuary was built,” Hardin explained, “and those original projectors lasted nearly 20 years. The church is now using HD cameras for their stream as well as live images and lots of graphics and video material as part of their Sunday morning services. This necessitated newer, more capable projectors—and with their 10,000 lumen brightness, the new Eiki EK-820U projectors, outfitted with AH-A22020 lenses, provided the perfect solution. Their visual output took everyone’s breath away.”

The two Eiki projectors are projecting onto matte white 24-foot wide Draper Cineperm fixed frame screens. With the frames mounted directly onto the sheetrock wall, they have plenty of support for the massive 24-foot span. According to Hardin, “With the aluminum frame being so light, we were able to assemble and pre-drill the displays on the ground, attach them onto the wall, and snap on the surface—making for a secure, streamlined setup.”

When asked about those attributes that made the Eiki EK-820U projectors so well-suited for the Crosby Church project, Hardin offered the following, “During the demonstration, both the Pastor and the staff were very impressed with the brightness that the EK-820U’s red and blue lasers output. This projector keeps its punch all the way to the 24-foot wide screens. I prefer not to use keystone correction, so instead, I positioned the lens in its sweet spot to get the most out of the lens / projector combination. The huge Hi-Def image is the first thing you notice when you walk into the sanctuary. It makes quite a statement. The furthest riser seating is over 125 feet from the stage, so the huge images output by these projectors is really a plus.”

Hardin described how the two projectors are used, “The church does a 3-4 camera shoot for services. Further, the projectors output sermon text, scriptures, as well as some great videos of various ministries or outreach projects. The live video feed comes from a Carbonite camera switcher in the video suite that feeds into a custom-built PC with a Blackmagic capture card. The Church tech uses ProPresenter software to overlay text over video and handle the final output to the projectors.”

“We chose to stay with 16:10 aspect ratio on the screens,” Hardin added, “because the native 16:10 output of the projectors filled them so well and the extra height provided the impact that the Pastor and the staff fell in love with. Further, the camera feed is 1080p, so they can choose to stretch it a little or not, depending on the application.”

Crosby Church’s new Eiki projectors were installed during November 2018 and placed into service immediately after. Since that time, Hardin reports the projectors have proven to be a big hit. “I’ve heard nothing but positive comments regarding the Eiki projectors,” Hardin said. “The Pastor is convinced these two EK-820Us are the last projectors he will ever have to buy for the sanctuary. During the planning stage of this project, he was looking for the wow factor—and he got it! So much so, that now they are entertaining the idea of a third projector for the center position—for a total of three units.”

To learn more about the services provided by Hardin Sound, Light & Video, visit the company online at http://hardinslv.com.