Planar takes River Church’s services to new heights

USA:

River Church in Anaheim, California has installed a Planar LED videowall solution to elevate its worship services. The Pentecostal church is a member of the Assemblies of God that primarily serves the surrounding Latino community. In addition to hosting a vibrant live crowd every Sunday, the sanctuary also broadcasts its live services to an online viewership of up to 50,000, with recordings reaching over a million views each week following the services.

The 3,000-seat venue, which features a 360° stage, was once a theatre for live performances and events. For several years, the church relied on front projection technology for its display needs during services. However, River Church executive pastor Daniel Darling noted that as the projectors were from different manufacturers, it was a struggle to maintain colour consistency across them. In turn, the sanctuary decided to look for another option, which eventually led to its investment in a Planar solution.

“Planar’s website caught our attention because it’s so well done – we could tell that it was a professional, well-established company,” said Darling. “We looked at the products and knew this was what we wanted.”

The church now boasts a four-sided cube installation featuring four 4m x 2.4m (WxH) Planar CarbonLight CLI VX Series LED videowalls with 2.6mm pixel pitches, supported by a truss system and mounted prominently above the 360° stage. The Planar videowalls are used to display a variety of content, from live camera feeds of Pastor Dante Gebel, a renowned Argentine writer who leads the congregation, to videos showcasing the church’s missionary work around the world.

“Once the service started and we began using the videowalls, the atmosphere was really enhanced,” noted Darling. “The image quality is so natural and vibrant and the colours are perfect – they all match across each screen. In terms of production, it gives us peace of mind as we don’t have to worry about a display going out. The quality of the videowalls is exceptional and it makes a real difference in the perception and engagement of our congregation.”