Heralded by industry leaders as one of the top technology events in the Northeast United States, the Vistacom Tech Expo serves as the space where our community can learn in a practical way how advanced technologies in audiovisual and unified collaboration can help solve today’s most complex business challenges and uncertainties.
After years of unprecedented and rapid digital transformation—the core mission of Vistacom’s 2022 Tech Expo was to show stakeholders, technology managers and business leaders alike how they can move past continuity planning and transform their next-gen technology visions into reality.
Building the future of organizations and adopting new ways of collaborating came into focus at this year’s expo, with 58 of Vistacom’s preferred technology manufacturer partners exhibiting the latest innovations and greatest solutions to help people gain first-hand knowledge, insights, and inspiration.
Below is a snapshot of the 7 technology trends and takeaways from the Vistacom Tech Expo 2022:
1) LED display technology continues to improve and impress.
Just three years ago, “direct view” or “micro” LED display technology was just starting to see widespread interest and gain traction in the world of professional AV, driven largely by the exponential advancements in pixel pitches and costs gradually becoming more affordable. Essentially, what this has come to mean is that seamless picture quality, or near-zero pixilation effect, and the brightness and vibrance that LED offers are no longer considered mutually exclusive.
At this year’s Tech Expo, micro-LED has clearly become more mainstream and accessible to all types and sizes of organizations—replacing LCD in certain large format and video wall applications. We saw some of our premier LED display manufacturers showcase impressive new pixel pitch offerings as low as 0.8mm, getting at why, although LCD, QLED and OLED all offer stunning visual quality, the rising popularity of micro-LED technology boils down to one unquestionable advantage: no seams, even compared to ultra-narrow bezel flat panel displays.
2) Video innovations are transforming how, when, and where people collaborate.
It’s clear that the dominate video conferencing platforms don’t want your organization to invest in technologies from their competitors. But, that’s a fantasy. The reality is that every organization has invested in or may likely require an array of video conferencing technology peripherals that need to work together in harmony. This, perhaps, is the modern manifestation of unified collaboration.
Attendees at this year’s show saw first-hand how it’s quite possible to not only save time and resources, but also extend their technology investments by ensuring seamless integration of video conferencing systems with each other. Vistacom has recently fostered partnerships with true innovators in video collaboration, allowing AV and IT technology managers to realize a seamlessly connected ecosystem for their hybrid or newly distributed workforce, including all the tools, systems, and programs already in-use to get work done.
3) Camera technologies have become intuitive and purpose-built for hybrid environments.
Integral in allowing us to communicate and share information across distances, new and innovative camera technologies evolved at an unbelievable rate since remote and hybrid work became prevalent.
It was fueled by not only the increasing need to conference, stream, broadcast, and record successfully and with life-like quality, but also to create video experiences that demand similar levels of engagement and impact as in-person presentations. Out of this speedy innovation came a few advancements in camera technologies that were showcased and demonstrated at this year’s Tech Expo:
- Auto-tracking, or presenter tracking, has become an innate feature in some new cameras, perfect for stage settings, auditoriums, classrooms or training spaces, where a PTZ camera optimizes video capturing for superior tracking using adaptive, AI-based tracking algorithms.
- Different but equally impressive, auto-framing has brought more ease-of-use to users everywhere, using AI to immediately identify all occupants of a meeting or group and adjust the cameras to either center everyone or separate streaming frames for more natural video interactions inclusive of all meeting participants.
- Zoom! (no, not that Zoom). Some of the latest developments in PTZ cameras, especially in specialized settings like healthcare, include motor design and zoom capabilities that make a tremendous difference in the quality of your video, particularly as the maximum zoom on cameras increase and stable video fluidity becomes essential.
4) Digital signage solutions modernize organizations and deliver more impactful experiences.
From software to powerful media players, the Vistacom Tech Expo 2022 had no shortage of digital signage solutions to see, hear, and touch. One thing’s for sure, the best digital signage software and streaming solutions make it simple and easy to utilize dynamic digital content to advertise, entertain, inform or impress.
Moreover, the key trend of advanced, multiple-screen control is now an important feature that’s improving signage in so many different applications today. Drag-and-drop interfaces, significant increases in the number of templates for touch interactive screens, and full cloud-based platforms are a few other trends that spurred interesting conversations at the show.
5) Signal distribution and control of audiovisual information has its moment.
Getting your AV where it needs to go. A simple goal, yet incredibly multi-faceted. In recent years, AV distribution, signal management and control has trended towards AV-over-IP, or transmitting audiovisual information over the network, which requires careful engineering tailored in specific ways for different applications.
When you pair this with supply chain setbacks that have caused an assortment of reliable products to become the sore thumbs of pro AV, this year’s Tech Expo inevitably included manufacturers “coming out” with surprisingly robust and capable AV distribution technologies. Many of these were developed and refined as a result of perfecting solutions that enable organizations to transition to a network-based infrastructure without worrying about interoperability, product availability, security risks or deployment complexity.
6) Mounting and AV accessory options become more diverse and cutting-edge than ever.
Ceiling Mounts. Wall Mounts. Adapters. Storage. The list goes on of items that can sometimes be an afterthought. Yet, at this year’s Tech Expo, it was clear that many of the pro AV industry’s most innovative minds and engineering-driven manufacturers have produced spectacular new ways of augmenting how the bright and shiny AV devices are physically supported and function in a space.
Think display mounts that can hold 100+-inch displays and meet ADA requirements; or beautiful, aesthetically pleasing storage cabinets that look intentional but change how we approach AV racks that isn’t just putting lipstick on a pig.
7) Audio devices are aligning with the reality: there’s no communication without being heard.
If content is king, then audio is the crown. The Tech Expo 2022 had some of the most exciting new audio products that came out of InfoComm 2022, but the throughline of this year is this: whether you’re building hybrid meeting environments or a large auditorium, the user experience is nothing without good sound quality.
Too often, environmental noise considerations and room audio are not given the appropriate priority in AV system design. Particularly when talking about including remote participants, the Tech Expo 2022 aimed to elevate advancements in microphones and speakers:
- New beamtracking products track voices as they move around the room, simultaneously identifying and steering their focus toward talkers, delivering superior audio experiences for those on the virtual side.
- Turnkey conferencing bars feature high fidelity speakers, beamtracking mics, even high-quality conferencing cameras, as well as automations that streamline usage and help lower equipment costs.
- Conferencing microphones now boast advanced speech intelligibility while highlighting natural voice through targeted amplification and also reducing noise by defining exclusion zones, creating the ideal audio for hybrid video conferencing and in-room audio, classrooms, lecture halls, training spaces and boardrooms.
Experience the Expo
Always stay abreast of the latest innovations in pro AV technologies by attending, for free, the Vistacom Tech Expo, where modern-day business leaders and AV/IT professionals see first-hand the latest developments—just like the aforementioned 2022 technology trends and takeaways—to help them improve their user experiences, realize the power of collaboration tools and achieve greater business and operational outcomes.
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