Video projection was once considered a luxury for mega facilities," says Derek Clark of Church Multimedia—one of a growing number of firms dedicated to providing video support for the worship environment. "Now it's a part of ministry for almost anyone involved in the local church." Video projectors continue to proliferate through sanctuaries large and small as well as youth rooms, children's areas, and even nurseries.

Projectors: • Table 1: Portable • Table 2: Small Sanctuary • Table 3: Mid-size Sanctuary • Table 4: Large Sanctuary

Fowler Productions, another company pioneering visuals for church use, is an example of the trend toward worship-specific technology solutions. Fowler employs dozens of seasoned professionals with backgrounds in broadcast, theater, video, and fulltime ministry. In fact, the company has been in existence since the dawn of the lcd projector in 1992. According to Fowler's Ron English, "We are here to help churches incorporate media into their facility so they can communicate the Message more effectively."

Worship market newcomer Liesegang is actually a century-and-a-half-old German manufacturer of visual systems designed for industrial use. Following decades of success with slide and overhead projectors, Liesegang is now dedicated to building high-quality video projectors with a decidedly Continental flair. Their innovations in automatic ambient light sensing and simplified menu programs have made Liesegang projectors the first choice in education circles. Those same features are now leading to a warm reception from the worship community.

Shepherd Ministries in Irving, Texas, also understands the need to simplify video systems and educate the user. Their pioneering approach to the issue revolves around multimedia seminars held throughout the country in familiar and comfortable environments surrounded by the latest equipment and software. The seminars are designed to ease entry into the world of video through demonstrations of effective video usage, free custom project design, and hands-on training with the best presentation software packages.

Since projection is now a mature technology, the current trend is toward interface innovation, with simple command structures and automated cycling of mundane tasks. Projectors are also becoming quieter, meaning they can be placed in closer proximity to the audience without the need for muffling systems. Finally, video projectors continue to exemplify the general technology trend of more performance for less money with each new generation. To unclutter the cornucopia of choices we asked the experts to give us their recommendations for projectors best suited for use as a room-to-room portable, a small sanctuary model, a mid-size permanent, and a large-scale permanent solution. The following chart provides their answers and should make the search for the "right" projector an easier task.

Kent Morris (kent@worshiptech.com) is a media system designer in Atlanta.