Citipointe Church is one of the largest pentecostal church movements in Australia with campuses across the country and internationally. Its main campus is in Brisbane, where it has an auditorium that seats 2000+ people.
The church invests in technology for the long term. Its purchases are carefully planned and staged under the guidance of Technical Director Chris Poulton and the church executive. A big investment in a d&b V-Series loudspeaker system in recent years will meet its audio needs for many years to come. Even more recently the church has made a large investment in Absen LED display technology, a key technology plank in contributing to the church’s vision: “In a church setting, the way we communicate the message, the heart of the church, and God’s Word has to go beyond just audio from loudspeakers,” says Chris Poulton. “When you add a visual component to an auditory message, the communication becomes clearer, more impactful, and is retained longer.”
THE CHALLENGE
The chief challenge of this technical upgrade was cost. No one was in any doubt that the church would benefit from LED in the role of a main backdrop display: “We have a modern, contemporary setup with concert lighting, which would constantly overpower the projector output,” notes Chris Poulton. “It was clear we needed a better solution for presenting lyrics, scripture, announcements, and visuals.”
The ideal LED screen to replace the ageing projection system would fill most of the 18-metre stage width and be at least 3.5m high. Such a LED screen is a huge investment for any organisation.
The church was resolute in its commitment to not cut corners or make short-term costs savings by buying direct from the factory. Chris Poulton explains: “When we finally decided to make the investment in LED, it wasn’t just about getting a screen that looked good today, it had to be something that would perform well for at least 10, ideally 15, years. We also needed a reliable partner who could support that investment over time. That’s where BSG (Brisbane Sound Group) came in, playing a key role in ensuring longevity and support beyond just installation.
“We could’ve sourced directly from China, but when things go wrong, who do you turn to?”
THE FIX
Citipointe Church worked closely with BSG to arrive at the best possible LED solution, balancing budget consideration with load and engineering considerations – determining the size of screen the church could literally and financially bear.
Chris Poulton and his team has plenty of experience working with hired LED, although almost always outdoor solutions: “We’ve hired a lot of outdoor LED screens over the years and it was clear to me that that approach wasn’t great. Turning outdoor screens down to less than 5% brightness can cause issues, like out-of-control moiré, washed-out blacks and random pixel blooming. With this indoor product from Absen, everything looks great – it can easily compete with our stage lighting but it’s still operating in its optimal range.”
The indoor LED solution from Absen has a 1000-nit output, which allows the church to run it at around 35% brightness – as mentioned, comfortably in the product’s optimal range of operation.
After deciding on an indoor model of display, the next biggest consideration was the size. “As far as the dimensions of the screen goes,” comments Chris Poulton. “We would’ve loved to fill the whole (18m-wide) backdrop, but structural limitations and budget constraints made that impossible. Initially, we planned for a 12m x 3.5m ground-mounted screen due to budget constraints. However, after committing to BSG for the project and working closely with them prior to installation, we jointly found a solution that allowed us to go up to 12m x 4m while staying within the agreed project cost by modifying the mounting system. Their assistance and willingness to pivot on this was incredibly valuable.”
The pixel pitch was also a crucial decision. As Chris Poulton describes it, “there were many opinions” and there was plenty of support for specifying the finer 2.9mm pixel pitch but Chris stuck to his guns and a 3.9mm alternative won the day: “The extra cost of 2.9mm would have resulted in a reduced screen size without improving image quality for the congregation.”
THE RESULT
Citipointe Church may have been a late adopter of LED but it now has an exceptional display destined to provide many years of service with the reassurance of top quality support from BSG and NAS. Chris Poulton couldn’t be happier with the result: “The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Our graphics and video department love the fact that their content is displayed accurately, with high resolution and clarity. The congregation can engage more with what’s being presented, especially when it comes to readability. The larger screen and higher-quality visuals have made a significant impact on how people absorb the message.”
And whilst the Absen LED display is a very significant investment in technology, it’s an investment that has made sense to the church executive, saving the church money on hiring-in LED and making the auditorium a more attractive proposition for those wishing to hire it for events. Chris Poulton explains: “The business case was a big part of the decision. We host large productions, and the cost of hiring an LED screen for each event adds up quickly. Having our own screen makes the space more attractive for external hires, as clients don’t have to worry about bringing in their own equipment. That additional revenue stream helped justify the investment. In fact, it was a no-brainer really.”
