State-of-the-art projection systems brighten Northview Church services
Over the past several years Northview church has seen substantial growth. With seven campuses in greater Indianapolis and up to 2,200 attending services on the main campus in Carmel, the church leadership relies on technology to reach its expanding flock. But the technology team noticed that the 10-year old projection system was losing its brightness. The screen they use is 80x30 feet and is a large focal point for the worship service, so this was no minor issue. It’s been proven that brightness increases saliency, meaning brighter screens can help viewers retain and recall what they see. This is particularly important in a House of Worship, whose congregants want to access the Sunday spiritual experience all week long.
Travis Carpenter, Production Service Manager for Northview Church, knew he needed to move quickly to address the brightness issue before it detracted further from the weekly worship experience. Carpenter oversees the overall production value of the weekend services and was feeling limited by the inflexibility of the current technology. He knew that it was time Northview moved to a more versatile system.
The benefits of projection are crystal clear
Carpenter and his team initially looked to replace the system with LED panels, but the project quickly became cost-prohibitive due to infrastructure issues. Carpenter moved his search to projection and, in doing so, sought the expertise of Jon Cawston, owner of JNE Productions. In addition to having worked with Northview in the past, Cawston brought a specialty in design and integration specific to church applications. After researching a variety of projectors at trade shows, Carpenter decided on Barco’s UDX 4K32 projector—an attractive option because it is laser-based and super-bright.
For a multi-location church like Northview, there’s another benefit to the UDX. The laser projector eliminated the need to monitor lamp hours. With each of the church’s locations having a minimum of three projectors, this greatly streamlined maintenance for Northview’s technical staff. The Constant Light Output mode also lightens the maintenance load by extending the life of the system. So unlike Northview’s previous system, it will never lose brightness.
Superior image and control
The installation only took three days, so no Sunday services were interrupted. The process included installing hydraulic lifts, adding additional voltage and adjusting the image blending across the six projectors so that one large seamless image is displayed. The church also acquired three additional projectors for special event use around the building allowing the church to use projection technology at more events without the expense and hassle of using a rental house.
Carpenter also upgraded their screen management to Barco’s E2 Master system. This product provides superior image quality, exceptional input/output density, expandability and durability. Supporting native 4K input/output, the E2 is the first and only screen management system leading the market that can manage a 4K projector blend with refresh rates up to 60Hz
Since the installation of Barco projectors, Northview Church reports that their services have never looked better, and their congregation is more engaged than before.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
