The advancement of technology has placed church streaming on a whole new level; also it continues to grow rapidly that if you don’t tag along immediately, you would get lost. Church live streaming equipment is something you do not want to joke about. Neither will you want to condone trial and error in the course of its setups and connections. In this post, I would like to carefully run through a list of equipment relevant for church live streaming. Here you will get the description of various kinds of streaming equipment. Also, you will understand the method of connection that will give you the most efficient result. Regardless of your knowledge about this topic, this article is intended to help newbies.
Six Important Equipment for Church Live Streaming
#1 PC System:
Apart from the desktop, the laptop is a better device to acquire for streaming setups. Getting the best is a priority as its durability is very important. The reason is that we want it to last for at least 3-7 years. You should invest in a high-quality laptop that allows one to focus on creating engaging content without getting frustrated by annoying sounds and unnecessary slowdowns.
Minimum configuration requirement for streaming laptop
- RAM: 16GB (minimum)
- Graphics Card: (2GB Minimum)
- Screen: at least 15 inches.
- USB Ports: Very Necessary (4 would be great)
In live streaming, data is collected, sent to an encoder, compressed, and sent to a video player just after the encoding is completed.
#2 Cameras:
Various kinds of cameras are used for church live streaming; this ranges from webcams to, DSLRs, mirrorless, PTZ, action cameras, and camcorders. All of which have their strong suit but always one type is better suited than others. Sometimes the budget plays a major role in procurement, and sometimes it comes down to consumer preference.
#3 Tripods:
This is essential to achieve a clean coverage and transmission that is void of unnecessary instabilities caused by the camera movement that can make viewers uneasy, it also aids hands-free screaming which is stress-free.
#4 Cables:
Before setting out to purchase or inserting cables into the ports of your live streaming equipment, it is very wise to understand the several ports available on your PC and the cable that would work perfectly on it. The most essential cable types are; USB, HDMI, display port, SDI, Ethernet, thunderbolt, and audio cables.
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#5 Adapters/Converters:
Except you have an HDMI input on your computer, you would need an HDMI capture card to convert HDMI to USB for your church live streaming to work properly.
#6 Internet connection:
Internet connection is very essential for the service procession to go live on air, you need to get from a reliable provider with an effective speed of 10mbps.
To stream Live, you need social media platform or you can use your church website. Read more on how to build a church website
Basic Connectors for Church Live Streaming Equipment
USB is very popular to us as we make use of USB ports and cables in our daily activities, connecting keyboard or mouse to our computer. its importance can not be overstated, and its diversity calls for its multiple functionalities, they can also be used to capture video sources such as HDMI/SDI and convert them through capture card into USB connection accessible to the computer.
Different types of USB and their Uses.
USB-A
The most popular type of USB standard is Type A, which you can see at one end (the end that goes inside the slot of the host device) of almost every USB cable nowadays. Typical type A ports appear in host devices such as desktop computers, game consoles, and media players.
USB-B
Type-B connectors are at the other end of a typical USB cable that plugs into a peripheral device, such as a smartphone, a printer, or a hard drive.
USB-C
Type-C has a similar size to the existing Micro-B USB system, measuring 8.4 mm by 2.6 mm, and because it’s tiny, a lot of the smallest peripherals we use these days are compatible with it.
USB and Thunderbolt were once competing for standards. But the most recent version of Thunderbolt (Thunderbolt 3) changed to adopt the same shape as USB Type-C. which means that every Thunderbolt 3 port will work as a USB Type-C port. Note USB Type-C device plugged into a Thunderbolt 3 port will work as normal, but Thunderbolt 3 devices won’t work if plugged into a USB Type-C port.
One of its many benefits over other existing systems is that it allows reverse plug orientation, this means that you will always be correct on the first try, whenever you plug in your USB cable! Its plug is built in such a way that you may plug it into the port without worrying whether it is upside down.
HDMI to USB converter
This is pretty where most people get lost, but it’s really simple and straightforward. If you are to connect your church live streaming system and you discover that your PC does not have an HDMI port. Then all you need is to get a capture card also known as a dongle as I mentioned earlier. There are varieties of capture cards befitting church live streaming. They range from those that will capture 4k stream to those of 1080p and below, some of them include:
- AV.IO 4k
- AV.IO HD
- Elegato Game Capture HD
- Elegato Game Capture HD60S
- Magewell USB Capture HDMI Plus
Connection Approach for Church LStreaming Equipment
To start connections, it is wise to consider the available ports on the computer
USB 2.0
USB 2.0 cables are used for low bandwidth with a transfer speed of about 480mbps, devices such as keyboards, webcams, audio mixers, etc. It is the USB most of us are familiar with. You can use it to charge or backup your phone battery, send print commands to your printer, connect a mouse or keyboard, connect a portable drive, etc. They do provide power though the amount may vary on the computer it is plugged to.
USB 2.0 Works with USB-A ports and cables
USB 2.0 cables are fashioned in a way that it also works with the wall chargers, even though it can only function as a charger. The major limitation of USB 2.0 is the speed and quantity of data it can process. It is enough for basic tasks but can not handle things like live HD video.
USB 3.0
category of USB cables is used for higher bandwidth with a transfer speed of about 4800mbps, used in connecting devices such as professional cameras and capture card
USB 3.0 works with some USB-A ports and cables plus USB-C plus a modern Thunderbolt.
USB 3.0 can be used interchangeably with USB-C. That is because most latest machines are built with USB-C ports using USB 3.0. However, you can also notice USB 3.0 ports using USB-A-type hardware. Most new PCs now come with multiple USB-A ports, a few USB-2.0, and one or more USB-3.0 You have to observe to tell the difference.
Thunderbolt ports and cables work with USB-C (Note that Thunderbolt 3 only works with USB-C)
On several PCs and Macs, there are USB-C ports that may function as both Thunderbolt and USB-3.0. Please note that all USB-C ports that are Thunderbolt can work best with USB 3.0, but not all USB-C ports with USB-3.0 do work with Thunderbolt.
To wrap this up, church live streaming equipment connection is not rocket science. It just needs your interest coupled with careful observation to master the basic application steps involved in the process. I don’t think that it will be a problem for you, you should also check out our Simple Church Live Streaming Setup. It will increase your knowledge in putting up standard church live streaming equipment.
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