As the dust settles after the 5th edition of Integrated Systems Europe, Chris Fitzsimmons reports from the biggest show yet, reflects on the week that was and concludes that ISE really is a show that stands and delivers.
With each passing ISE event, it’s less possible to rely on one’s own perceptions to report on it, and more necessary to seek the views of others on a show that grows ever bigger. This year, the total area covered was 38,500m2, half as much again as last time around.
The major upshot of this was that there was much more to see and it took longer. ISE is no longer a “two day show†- whilst the halls were noticeably emptier on Thursday I don’t think that will be true next year as people realise the sheer amount of companies to get around. I certainly didn’t get to see as much of the show this year but what I did see, was again very impressive.
Most significantly from the standpoint of AV integration was a marked increase in the number of audio suppliers present. The likes of Martin Audio, Audica, Meyersound, Biamp, Tannoy, Community, Duran Audio and Harman Pro were all present, either on their own booths or via European distributors.
Technology-wise the headline grabber was always going to be Panasonic’s new 150†plasma display, which made its first appearance in Europe. Undoubtedly impressive to look it, it does however remain without a firm availability date or even a price.
Elsewhere on the display front, projectiondesign gave a debut to its new WUXGA DLP projector, a world first using Texas Instruments latest chip. Mitsubishi presented Resolia, its 4mm pitch LED screen-in-a-box intended for digital signage or similar purposes. There were also new screen launches from Planar, who introduced a 70†LCD panel and Samsung who introduced a 40†slim bezel LCD model for video wall use.
Away from the headline display launches, the pervasive technologies continue to be about delivery and distribution. Our methods of reproducing content – the displays and loudspeakers, are well established, the ways of moving it around are the key fields of innovation at the moment. Avocent gave a first viewing to its Emerge MPX wireless HDMI extender, which features RS-232 control over the same transport for the first time. This whole area of unifying AV interfaces over a single transport continues to be of great interest to a number of integrators I spoke to throughout the week.
The InAVate booth again proved to be a focal point for intelligence gathering efforts. Anyone dropping by to sample our selection of fine wines and sandwiches was liable to be asked what they were doing at ISE and what they thought of the show. As always we attracted a good mixture of readers, with a particularly strong Norwegian contingent this year.
Amongst them was Terje Gudmestad, Director of AV Systemdesign who nicely reflected the views of many of those stopping by: “We’re really just here to keep up to date with what is going on. Of course we have some specific meetings with suppliers, but the main thing is to browse and keep an eye on new technologies and products.â€
That is one of ISE’s key functions, to allow the European market to keep up to date. It is highly unlikely that the show will ever surpass InfoComm for new product announcements unless the European AV market becomes more valuable to manufacturers than the US.
Jon Hunnisett from UK installer Sound Advice had a much more specific reason for visiting. “Although we’ve traditionally been an Audio installation outfit, more and more our customers are asking us to handle the video aspects. We’re here looking for video distribution solutions for a local government client.â€
Another Briton, who made just a day trip, is Paul Malpas – occasional contributor to InAVate and now working for media consultant Comms. Whilst impressed with the show he commented that he hadn’t seen anything earth shattering technology-wise.
Another Norwegian on the booth was Sven Erik Nisja, sales manager for visualisation specialists Cyviz. His organisation shared a stand with countrymen projectiondesign with whom they regularly work.
Having travelled somewhat further was Sami Nazal from INTE in Jordan. He was in town interested in digital conferencing solutions with a view to finding a new supplier.
The exhibitors themselves also seemed extremely happy with both the turnout and format of the event. Dale Miller, VP EMEA for Christie Digital pronounced himself extremely happy with traffic to the company’s booth.
Representing the audio fraternity for the first time was Tannoy. Marketing Manager Tim Lount said:†We are more than pleased with our experience of exhibiting for the first time. We came here in the hope of meeting new potential clients rather than the same old, same old people. We’ve definitely achieved that at ISE.â€
Apart from the business of meetings, there were a number of other distractions this year. First up was the manufacturer’s forum, which took place on Tuesday afternoon. Having seen these at InfoComm I was interested to see the format brought to Europe as it seemed, were a large number of other people. Facing a packed room were the Presidents and Senior executives of Barco, Crestron, Extron, Mitsubishi, Speakercraft and Tandberg moderated Gary Kayye. Despite having such a knowledgeable panel I felt that this was somewhat of a missed opportunity. Half the panel was American. I accept the need to balance charisma of the panel members with market knowledge, but I think at future events it would definitely benefit from having a wholly European make up.
The main things that came out of the discussions for me were the differences in approach to the market between the major players. Another interesting remark came from Mitsubishi’s European President, A.C. Ter Meulen when the discussion turned to digital signage. He emphasised the importance of co-operation between suppliers in offering customers a complete package through shared VARs.
Another new innovation for ISE 2008 was ExpoTV. A network of screens was distributed throughout the RAI showing looped interviews with various people, as well as weather and news information. Whilst this is a promising idea, it wasn’t as polished as the implementation at the US shows. I didn’t observe many people watching the content for any length of time, but in its defence I suspect that was because they, and or I were to busy to hang around long. Definitely room for improvement there, but a good example of the organisers making efforts to bring some of the best innovations from InfoComm to ISE.
The headline attendance figure for the show was 22,199 – an increase of almost 8000 on last year. Commenting on the increase, ISE MD Mike Blackman said: “Responding to our exhibitors requests we made a concerted effort to attract more specifiers and end users. We also made a big push on the southern European nations. I think that has paid off in terms of an uplift in visitor numbers.â€
Small gripes aside, there’s no doubt that this year’s ISE has been a great success. It has delivered an unprecedented feast of technology and ideas to a record audience of visitors. If you weren’t there this year, you should have been. It has now been confirmed that ISE is booked at the RAI for the next five years. The 2009 event takes place between 3rd-5th February.