Installers turn out for Midwich Tech Exposed 2016

Installers turn out for Midwich Tech Exposed 2016
Over a thousand technology professionals gathered at Mercedes Benz World in Surrey, UK from September 21 to 22 to see the latest offerings from 60 partners in the Midwich portfolio at Technology Exposed 2016.

The 6th edition of the two-day event saw a number of new products and partnerships unveiled to end users and resellers of Midwich brands. As well as the main showcase, visitors could experience the LED offerings from Samsung and Absen in a real-life setting at the PSCo ‘LED zone,’ and see LED projector offerings from manufacturers including Barco and Epson at the 'laser arena.' Panel discussions were also held on each day to explore the latest trends in the videoconferencing and display market.

Product debuts

At Technology Exposed Hitachi introduced its ultra solid engine LED projector, the LP-WU3500/WX3500, offering 3,500 lumens of brightness and 30,000:1 contrast ratio, with 20,000 hours of system life. The range offers a 1.7 zoom and is equipped with equipped with HDBaseT and two HDMI inputs. The manufacturer also displayed its first 8,000 lumen single-chip DLP Laser projector, the LP-WU9750B, providing edge blending and warping, five inputs and 7 lens options.

Samsung Electronics showcased the latest additions to its line of UHD QM anti-reflective displays. Available in 49-in, 55-in and 65-in models, the displays offer multi-screen splitting for great videoconferencing and full 60Hz Content playback via DisplayPort 1.2. Meanwhile, LG Technologies demonstrated its focus on being a leader in the transparent display market and showcased its self-lighting technology with its 55EH5C dual-view flat OLED signage, the 55EH5C wallpaper OLED signage and the 65EE5PC dual-view curved tiling OLED signage. Sony focused on showing its 75-in 4K BRAVIA display.

Exterity demonstrated the uses of its recently enhanced IPTV and digital signage platform ArtioSign, in addition to ArtioPortal, which allows operators to created tailored viewing interfaces for TV, VoD and interactive devices. The manufacturer recently announced 4K support across its product portfolio.

The focus at the BrightSign stand was its updated line of digital signage media players. New features including an M.2 interface for Wi-Fi antennae or a solid-state drive (M.2 SSD) and a H.265 video decoding engine capable of 4K HDR 10-bit video playback were showcased at the range’s first European outing. Appearance was a key feature BrightSign wanted to enhance in the range, therefore all models now have a smooth aluminium finish and a slim profile under 1-in in height.

Dexon used the event to present the capabilities of its latest switcher and video processor offerings -including the DIMAX 4K scaling matrix switcher family, the DIVIP 4K video processor family, and the DXN500 video wall controller family – providing platform independent remote control.

Elo demoed its range of smaller digital signage options suited for wayfinders, kiosks or side-by-side interaction. Display content can be updated in seconds, with card readers, near field communication and scanners amongst the possible add-ons.

At the event, PSCo also announced a vendor agreement with display manufacturer Leyard to bring its products to the UK market.