Light of Christ Lutheran Church Worship Center
Just Add Power Helps Spread the Word to an Expanding Community at Light of Christ’s New High-Tech Worship Center
Client
Light of Christ Lutheran Church
Where
Algonquin, Illinois
Sector
Technology
Integrator
John Ogden
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Background
After 33 years on Hanson Road in Algonquin, Illinois, Light of Christ Lutheran Church (LOC) has a new address, complete with a larger facility designed to accommodate the Church’s growing community and provide room for new ministries. The new LOC Worship Center represents more than additional square footage, however; it’s also a modern space that utilizes the latest AV technology to deliver a better experience for parishioners, while allowing the Church to live stream services on platforms like Vimeo and Facebook.
Challenge
Highlights at the Worship Center include a Dante® distributed audio system; live streaming via a Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro HDMI switcher and HyperDeck recorders; and 28 Samsung displays, and projectors scattered throughout the property — from the lobby and conference rooms to the Sanctuary and children’s ministries classrooms. In addition to three Ross PTZ cameras, two manually controlled Canon cameras, and a Mac running ProPresenter in the Sanctuary, video sources at the facility include a Mac mini, two Apple TVs, a Roku player, two Blu-ray players, two digital signage players — one for announcements and one to provide graphics for the children’s ministries — a computer in the Youth Room, and a Just Add Power VBS-HDIP-759A 3G+4+ video tiling processor, which allows up to four inputs on one screen in different configurations.
To realize the Worship Center’s true potential, LOC required a video distribution system to cost-effectively and reliably deliver any source to any screen or group of screens, in addition to the Blackmagic system for streaming and recording. Furthermore, the Church wanted the ability to play audio from select sources over its Dante network. Finally, the video distribution system’s functionality needed to be largely automated, eliminating the need for an additional volunteer to run it.
Fortunately for LOC, one of its congregants happens to be Jon Ogden, owner of Just Add Software, a developer of configuration and control solutions for the Just Add Power Ultra HD over IP platform. Ogden not only outfitted the Worship Center with a Just Add Power system, but he utilized Just Add Software’s MediaSwitcherÔ to automate key elements of its operation, while relying on the MediaSwitcher WebÔ web-based interface for local control in conference and meeting rooms.
Solution
LOC’s Just Add Power Ultra HD Over IP system offers ultra-low 16 ms of latency from source to screen and supports 4K Ultra HD resolutions and HDMI 2.0 devices with HDCP 2.2. The platform enables seamless switching between any resolution HDMI source as well as uncompressed lossless multichannel audio formats including Dolby Atmos support. Video wall functionality is built-in for displays installed in portrait and flipped configurations, as well as image push, pull, and pop features. An integrated scaler on the receiver automatically adjusts the picture to fit the screen.
The Worship Center’s displays and projectors — as well as the ATEM Mini Pro and Sanctuary Mac — are equipped with Just Add Power VBS-HDIP-508POE and VBS-HDIP-518AVP 3G+ A/V Pro receivers. Sources are connected to a mix of VBS-HDIP-705POE 2GΩ/3G, VBS-HDIP-725POE SDI, and 3G+ 767DSS Dante Enhanced Sound System transmitters. Audio from sources outfitted with the 3G+ 767DSS transmitters can be used as inputs for the Center’s Dante network. The Ultra HD Over IP platform is engineered to provide complete scalability, so expanding the system with an additional screen or source is as simple as adding another receiver or transmitter.
In addition to powering on the Worship Center’s displays every morning and initiating playback of LOC’s announcements feed — while reversing the process at night — one of the more powerful automation features enabled by Just Add Software’s MediaSwitcher solution pertains to live streaming. 20 minutes before the service begins on Sundays, the ATEM Mini Pro starts streaming the Church’s announcements feed, while the audio input changes to music written and performed by the Worship Director. At 10 minutes, the content switches to the program feed, which features announcements and a countdown timer. At five minutes, the HyperDecks begin recording. And when the service starts, the content switches again to the main feed.
For video playback on individual displays in areas such as conference and meeting rooms, Ogden came up with a unique solution using Just Add Software’s MediaSwitcher Web. Each of these spaces features an information card with a QR code. By scanning a room’s code, users can log into its control system and use their own devices to easily select and play any source — eliminating the cost of dedicated panels or tablets.
Results
“LOC loves the Just Add Power system. Not only does it perform flawlessly day in and day out, but it’s exceptionally flexible and easy to use. The end result is a new high-tech haven that blows parishioners away, with AV capabilities that are leaps and bounds beyond those at the previous facility,” added Ogden.
