St.Giles’ Church
Just Add Power’s 3G Ultra HD Over IP Ecosystem Powers Video Distribution Throughout Medieval English Church
Client
St.Giles’ Church
Where
West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England
Sector
Technology
Integrator
Wigwam Acoustics
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Background
St. Giles’ Church in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, is steeped in history. Although little remains of the church’s medieval architecture, the existing building is virtually unchanged since the turn of the last century. Over the years, St. Giles has continued to provide its congregants with a place to gather and worship with a mixture of traditional and modern services, including, most recently, live music from a rock band. The juxtaposition of contemporary music and aged stone architecture has made a resounding impression on its congregation. Last year, they wanted to make the experience even more engaging by upgrading its aging PA system. With that decision came the charge to augment the new audio system with video screens that would give congregants and the musical groups the ideal mix of music and presentation. Working with Wigwam Acoustics, the church decided five screens would give the visualization the congregants needed during services. Two 65-inch LED screens were installed at the front of the sanctuary, with two 42-inch displays positioned midway down the aisle, and then a 32-inch flatscreen was installed in the music area.
Challenge
Despite having a clear picture of how they wanted the video system design to look, Wigwam were uncertain if they’d find a video distribution system capable of pushing video signals around the church. They were challenged to find a solution that was affordable, wouldn’t require dense cable runs, and could scale as the church evolved with the times of technology.
“This church had a technically adept AV staff, thanks to its music group,” said Wigwam Installations Manager Tim Mortimer. “That gave us a lot of options when it came to select a high-quality video distribution system. However, we had to keep the church’s budget in mind as well as the age of the building. There was no containment under the floors, it’s solid. That narrowed down our options.”
With no way to run cabling under the floor, the cabling would have to installed along the walls and camouflaged with paint. The solution couldn’t require ropes of cabling, which would distract from the traditional style of the church.
Solution
Wigwam Acoustics decided Just Add Power (J+P)’s 3G Ultra Over IP system would meet all St. Giles’ demands. Familiar with the J+P platform, Mortimer trusted the system to reliably deliver high-quality, low latency video signals to each screen. What’s more, the platform eliminated the need for expensive and bulky traditional video matrixes, only needing one cable to send the signals. Each display only required a small J+P’s BS-HDIP-508 PoE receiver, which could be placed behind the panel and hidden from view. Two J+P VBS-HDIP-707 transmitters connect to two PC inputs — one positioned in the back of the church and another in the music stage area, which would grant them quick access for distributing lyrics to each screen.
The J+P also would meet the demand for the church’s evolving video requirements. Designed to scale as needed, the church would be able to add more screens or sources, such as a video camera, in the future. The addition would only mean adding another receiver for the display or a transmitter for the source. It would also allow them to keep pace with evolving resolution standards.
The staff controls the devices from J+P’s MediaSwitcher software from a PC. A network of HDMI devices can also be integrated with any third-party control system capable of IP or R-232 control, granting further customization and flexibility.
Results
After a quick three-week installation, St. Giles’ new AV system was up and running. J+P added a new chapter in the story of the ever-fluid historical church, giving them video capabilities for the first time. In the future, the church may add more screens to further serve their congregation in the modern era.
“Old, historical churches are nothing new for us, but they’ve traditionally been a challenge to work around,” said Mortimer. “To be able to say to St. Giles, ‘Yeah, we can do that for you,’ and not bust their budget or put limitations on how far they can go, it’s been a great way to keep adding value. J+P checked all our boxes. It was simple. It’s not often you can put historical and simple in the same sentence.”
