Equipment Recommendations

Having a quality worship experience requires the necessary equipment for audio and video. Congregations will have different needs depending on the size and attributes of their worship space. Below are some basic recommendations that should work for most typical settings.

Dave & Jeremy Explain: Low Cost Worship Technology

Video

Churches can choose between either a projector or large TV screen for their primary worship video source. Each has its drawbacks and advantages. For most congregations using a large screen TV will be the best choice. TV’s are familiar technology to most people and do not require the additional adjustments a projector will. Additionally, they can be mounted on a cart and then easily used in other areas of the church.

Size
The basic rule is the bigger the screen the better. Currently, 65” TVs are available for less than $700.

Multiple
For some worship spaces, it is reasonable to use multiple TVs each showing the same content.

1080p or 4K 
The current standard for TVs is 1080p. This should be sufficient for most worship spaces. If you can afford the additional cost of a 4K TV that could extend the useful life of your equipment, but is not a requirement.

Sound

Having quality sounds is actually more important than quality video. People will forgive content they cannot see well more than they will forgive content they cannot hear well. There has been great progress in sound technology in recent years that has both decreased cost improved features. Do not rely on the built-in speakers on your TV. They were not designed to fill even a small worship space with sound. Speakers with integrated amplifiers are both simpler to setup and easier to use.

Playback

Once you have video and sound you will want some way to playback your content. Modern TVs all use HDMI as the way to connected sound and video. The Mission Aligned Worship process will deliver worship content as a PowerPoint file so you will need a way of playing it. The easiest and least expensive way would be an Intel Compute Stick. This is a complete computer on a device that looks like an oversized USB drive. It plugs directly into an HDMI port on your TV and can easily be taken home to download new content. The other option would be an iPad with the PowerPoint App installed.