Top 7 Best Projectors for a Church Sanctuary (2023)

If you’ve been to a church sanctuary with a projector, you know what a difference it makes. The congregation can follow along as the preacher shares the scripture, sing along as the lyrics are projected, and have a good visual of any videos or message points displayed.

But not every projector is good enough for a church sanctuary. You have to consider the ease of setup, connectivity, brightness, and sound quality. We have done that and rounded up the top options in the current market.

Read on as we review each in detail and go deeper into the factors you should consider before buying the best projector for a church sanctuary.  

Specifications Comparison Table

	Optoma ZU606TST-W	Epson Powerlite 1781W	Epson Powerlite L610W Laser	Panasonic PT VZ580U	ViewSonic Pro 9500	ViewSonic PG800HD	Optoma X600
Native Resolution	1920 x 1200	1200 x 800	1280 x 800	1920 x 1200	1024 X 768	1920 x 1080	1024 x 768
Brightness (lumens)	6000 ANSI	3200 ANSI	6000 ANSI	5000 ANSI	5000 ANSI	5000 ANSI	6000 ANSI
Contrast Ratio	300,000:1	10,000:1	2,500,000:1	16000:1	3500:1	5000:1	10,000:1
Throw Distance	1.6 - 17.1 ft	3.5 - 9 ft	7.9 – 47.6 ft	8 – 12.5 ft	4.9 – 29.9 ft	2.5 – 32.7 ft	3.2 - 36ft
Size of Screen	28.7”-305.5”	50”-100”	50” – 500”	30”-300”	30”-300”	30” – 300”	25" – 80"
Built-in Speakers	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lamp Life (hours)	20,000	4,000	20,000	5,000	3,000	2,000	2,500
Dimensions	4.7"x14.6"x11.8”	1.9"x11.4"x8.3"	17.3” x 4.7” x 12”	4.7” x 15.4” x 13”	3.9” x 15.7” x 12.6”	5.5” x 18.5” x 12.2”	4.3” x 13” x 10.2”
Weight (lbs)	12.3	4	18.7	1.9	10.4	13.7	8.2
Connectivity	• RCA • HDBaseT: RJ-45 • HDMI • RS232 • S-Video • USB • VGA	• HDMI • VGA • RCA • USB • Wireless Networking	• RCA • RJ-45 • HDMI • RS232 • USB • VGA	• RCA • HDMI • RJ-45 • RS232 • USB • VGA	• RCA • HDMI • RJ-45 • RGB In: BNC • RS232 • USB	• RCA • RJ-45 • RS232 • USB • VGA • S-Video • HDMI	• HDMI • VGA • USB • RCA • RJ-45 • Forest – 232C
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Best Projectors for a Church Sanctuary: Our Top Picks

Here are our top picks for the best projectors for church sanctuaries:

Best Overall: Optoma ZU606TST-W

We selected the Optoma ZU606TST-W as our best overall projector because it meets almost all the requirements for a church sanctuary.

To begin with, it delivers excellent image quality. It boasts a dynamic contrast ratio of 300,000:1, a brightness of 6000 ANSI lumens, WUXGA resolution, and HDR compatibility. This implies that you’ll get bright and detailed images during the day when there’s a lot of natural light streaming in through the church windows and at night with the lights on. The congregation won’t have a problem reading the displayed text.

Secondly, installing it should be a walk in the park. It has a short throw lens, which makes it ideal for small churches as well as large churches, and can display images of over 300 inches. Moreover, it has features that make positioning and picture alignment easy. They include +/-21% vertical lens shift, vertical and horizontal keystone correction, and manual focus.

Thirdly, you can monitor and control more than 250 projectors at once using the Creston RoomView software that is built-in. That means that you can display the same scripture, song lyrics, or message to different projectors at the same time in the church from one computer as well as get alerts.  

Lastly, the Optoma ZU606TST-W comes with two excellent-quality onboard speakers that can produce sound with enough volume for a small congregation. Plus, it has an audio mini jack for connecting external speakers for a larger congregation.

Pros

• WUXGA resolution
• Amazing dynamic contrast ratio
• High brightness that can stand ambient light
• Easy to install
• Several connectivity options
• Dual internal speakers that are loud enough for a small audience

Cons

• Hefty

Best Budget: Epson Powerlite 1781W

If you’re looking for a decent projector for a small church that won’t break the bank, then the Epson Powerlite 1781W is what you want. It isn’t as excellent as other options on our list, but it will deliver images with good-enough quality for a small congregation.

It’s one of the lightest projectors you’ll ever come across with an incredible look. Combine that with features like horizontal and vertical keystone correction, 1.2 x zoom, and manual focus, and you have yourself a projector that is easy to set up and travel with. For convenience, you’ll also get a soft carrying case when you order it.

The image quality isn’t the best compared to other options on our list but it isn’t the worst either. You get pictures with WXGA resolution, a dynamic contrast ratio of just 10:000, and a brightness of 3,200 ANSI lumens that is sufficient for use in a church with not so much ambient light.

Sound-wise, the Epson Powerlite 1781W has one internal speaker that produces a decent-quality sound that isn’t something to write home about.

It supports wireless networking and its HDMI port is MHL-enabled. That implies that you can directly hook up your phone or tablet and screen mirror any scripture, message, or song lyrics you like.

Pros

• Sufficient brightness for daytime or light-on use
• WXGA resolution
• Supports wireless networking
• Simple to set up
• Portable
• Good-looking

Cons

• Limited image size (100 inches)
• Low lamp life (4000 hours)

Best for Large Churches: Epson Powerlite L610W Laser

A high contrast ratio, brightness, and image size make the Epson Powerlite L610W the best fit for large churches. It has a dynamic contrast ratio of 2,500,000:1, which is excellent for maintaining detail on dark parts of images and general brightness, and no other option on our list comes close to it.

Its brightness is 6000 ANSI lumens which are high enough to battle ambient light in a large church and it can deliver images of up to 500” in size from a distance of around 46 feet. In other words, you’ll get large, clear pictures and text that can be read easily by any member of your congregation from almost any position.

When it comes to setup, it has most of the features you’d want to see in a church projector; +/-50% vertical and +/-20% horizontal manual lens shift and horizontal and vertical keystone corrections. Centering and squaring the image should take you only a few minutes.

The Epson Powerlite L610W offers many connectivity options including HDMI, VGA, USB, and RCA. You’ll appreciate the fact that one HDMI port supports MHL for easy screen mirroring of messages, lyrics, and scriptures. Something else you’ll also like is the Crestron RoomView software that enables you to control and monitor the performance of up to 250 projectors from one computer.

It has an onboard speaker that generates good sound quality but not to a volume that a large congregation would clearly. Luckily, you have an audio port to link up external speakers for a higher volume.

Pros

• Many connectivity options
• Easy Setup
• WXGA resolution
• High brightness for use with ambient light
• Long light source lifespan
• Exceptional dynamic contrast ratio

Cons

• Hefty

Best for Small Churches: Panasonic PT VZ580U

With a small church, you don’t have that much space to work with. For that reason, most projectors would struggle to produce large enough images. We chose the Panasonic PT VZ580U as the best option for small churches because it can produce an image of up to 300 inches from a distance of only 12.5 feet.

In addition, it has an impressive 5000-lumen light source and delivers a decent contrast ratio of 16,000:1.

When it comes to setup, the +/-40% vertical lens shift, 1.6 x zoom, manual focus and horizontal and vertical keystone corrections will come in handy. This projector also has the lowest weight value on our list of just under 2 pounds. That will make positioning seem like child’s play.

You’ll get a multitude of connectivity options with the Panasonic PT VZ580U ranging from HDMI to RJ-45. As it features the Creston RoomView software, you’ll be able to control many projectors from a single computer and monitor their performance.

Finally, it comes with a 10W built-in speaker that delivers clear sound for a small congregation. But as I’m sure you know small is relative. If you feel your audience will struggle to hear the sound coming out of it, you can hook up an external speaker via the audio ports to boost it when displaying videos and other media.

Pros

• WUXGA resolution
• Short throw lens
• Easy to set up
• Lightweight
• Many connectivity options
• High brightness

Cons

• Short light source lifespan

Best 5000 Lumen Projector: ViewSonic Pro 9500

5000 lumens is a sweet spot for church sanctuary projectors. It’s no surprise that many guides online will recommend it as ideal for churches. And the reason is that it allows projection in almost any lighting condition without compromising image quality.

We determined the ViewSonic Pro 9500 to be the best 5000-lumen projector for a church sanctuary. It produces images with 1024 by 768 resolution and a static contrast ratio of 3,500:1. That means that the projected images will be clear and the congregation will be able to easily read any text.

In terms of setup, the Pro 9500 supports a vertical and horizontal lens shift, vertical keystone correction, and 1.7x manual zoom and focus. In other words, you’ll be done with the installation before you know it.

You can connect it to various devices or content sources, thanks to a set of ports it comes with including HDMI, USB, VGA, RCA, and RJ-45. Something you’ll find interesting is that it allows the stacking up of projectors which can yield double the brightness from each pair.

For small congregations, the dual 8W internal speakers will be sufficient. But for large congregations, a boost may be necessary by hooking it up to external speakers.

Pros

• High brightness
• XGA resolution
• Low noise
• Large image size
• Good-quality onboard speakers

Cons

• Short lamp lifespan

Also Great: ViewSonic PG800HD

If there’s something the ViewSonic PG800HD excels at, it’s image quality. It produces pictures with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, a static contrast ratio of 5000:1, and a brightness of 5000 lumens. Furthermore, it features ViewSonic’s exclusive SuperColor technology that ensures it projects images that are akin to real life.

It boasts a +7% vertical lens shift whose lens is centered, vertical keystone correction, 1.3x zoom, and manual focus. These attributes combined with an acceptable 10-pound weight make installation simple. The centered lens feature in particular eliminates the need to adjust ceiling mounts or screens when replacing the existing ones.

And when the time for lamp replacement comes (and it will come quicker than expected), the top design is easy to open to access the bulb and other accessories.

Similar to other options on our list, you’ll get many connectivity options to hook up various compatible devices. They include HDMI, RCA, Audio, S-video, and USB. You also get access to Crestron RoomView software that enables you to have control of many projectors in the church from one computer.

This projector comes with a pair of 10W speakers that produces good sound quality and volume for a small church. For large churches, you can use the audio jack to connect external speakers so that every member of your congregation can clearly hear lines of dialogue in video presentations.

Pros

• Good sound from dual internal speakers
• HD resolution
• Simple installation
• High brightness
• Large image size

Cons

• No horizontal keystone correction
• Short life lifespan

Also Great: Optoma X600

We saw it fit to include the Optoma X600 because it has some features that you’ll find valuable when it comes to a church sanctuary. To start with, it has a lumen rating of 6000 ANSI lumens, a static contrast ratio of 10,000, and an XGA resolution. These features are necessary for clear texts and messages on a screen. However, you will get images of only up to 80 inches which limits you to small churches.

Setting up the X600 is a breeze. And that is thanks to 1.3x manual zoom and focus and vertical keystone. Sure, it lacks other features like lens shift that would make installation much simpler but what it has is enough for anyone familiar with projectors.

Where this projector doesn’t come short is connectivity. It offers a variety of options including VGA, HDMI, USB, S-Video, and RJ-45. Moreover, you get to use the Crestron RoomView software to watch over more than 200 projectors from a single computer. It also supports forest-232-control that uses hex as well as ASCII commands.

When it comes to sound, the built-in speakers are loud enough for a small congregation. If you need a higher volume or quality, the audio mini-jack port is there for hookups to external speakers.

Pros

• High Brightness
• Multiple connectivity options
• Easy setup
• XGA resolution
• Portable

Cons

• Image size limited to 80 inches
• Short lamp lifespan

Choosing the Best Projector for a Church Sanctuary: Buying Guide

Here are the factors you should consider when choosing the best church sanctuary projectors:

Brightness

In our experience, most churches consist of many gigantic windows to let in natural light. And while that is great for daytime use, it may distort the projected image. It’s why we recommend a lumen rating of at least 3,000 ANSI lumens because that amount can withstand lots of ambient light. For large churches, however, that may not be sufficient. You’ll need a minimum of 5000 ANSI lumens to retain image quality.

Ease of Installation

As is evident in our projector reviews above, some features like lens shift, vertical keystone correction, and zoom can ease installation by a significant amount. Some projectors will have all those features but others will be a fraction. You want to get as many of such features as possible, especially since you will be installing more than one in big churches.

Don’t forget the weight, if you intend to travel with it sometimes.

Connectivity

Medium and large churches make use of more than a projector. And most times, they are daisy-chained to project the same thing. That’s where network management software like Crestron RoomView comes in. You can monitor them all from one computer.

Also, look for as many ports as you can get to give you flexibility over the video sources you can hook up. They include HDMI, USB, VGA, and audio mini jack ports.

Sound

Projectors come with either one or two internal speakers that produce a sound of varying quality. As you can guess, dual speakers will deliver more volume compared to a single one. For a small church, the internal speakers may be loud enough for the congregation. But for large churches, you will have to boost it with external speakers.

So be sure to look for the presence of audio mini-jack ports for that.  

Final Words

Projectors are a necessity for modern churches. Not only do they increase engagement but they make services more interesting for the congregation. In this post, we’ve covered the best church sanctuary projectors based on the factors we’ve discussed.

Don’t hesitate to let us know which projector you end up buying!