March 14, 2017 at 10:01What happened at the ISE-2017 exhibition (displays, LEDs, software for screens)
Each year, the largest hemisphere exhibition is held in Amsterdam, in which various multimedia solutions and everything related to them are demonstrated. We traditionally attend this event - we walk both in the common space and in closed sections for integrators, where you can’t shoot or record video. Below I will tell you what trends in the integration of all these pieces have appeared over the year.
Two-sided video wall (single screen) LG on OLED technology
Briefly about the most important:
1.LED screens are being improved, their production is cheaper. Accordingly, they are becoming more popular. The pixel pitch has already approached the psychological mark - 1 mm. Screens assembled from such modules have a juicy and vivid picture at the level of the top LCD panels. Technological processes for the mass production of what was science fiction 3-4 years ago have already been honed and perfected. These screens can be used both for streets and for internal rooms, for example, for information purposes. For retail, they will also be useful, including external (facade) advertising. Their advantage is brightness. With a certain technical performance, they are not afraid of weather conditions: neither sunlight, nor rain, nor cold.
2.Chinese manufacturers (in fact there are thousands of them, but LightLink, LightKing, Absen, Mignimage, Unilumin) remember the multimedia niche. If, according to my feelings, before the exhibition there were about 30% of stands, now it is 60%. From the breakthrough technology stage, we go to the stock stage, where engineers and developers are important. And there are more qualified engineers in China, thanks to their education system, which has partially grown from the Soviet one, than anywhere else.
3. Demonstrated professional displays on OLED and QLED technologies.
4. There are many interesting software developments for the B2B sector.
This time, there were almost no unusual innovative technologies at the exhibition, except for the closed area of the Samsung stand, where screens were shown on quantum dots.
The LED screen of the next Chinese manufacturer. A juicy picture and simple assembly - what else is needed for happiness?
Each of the manufacturers competes not only in technology, but also in the entertainment of the exhibition stand. This year, Panasonic, the annual show-stopper, made a great show to attract attention. The manufacturer used a bunch: software for mapping and the formation of a single picture with their projectors. If someone still does not know what is probably unbelievable nowadays, mapping is a binding of an image to objects and its dynamic change in space in accordance with the movement of objects. This year, Panasonic screwed up tracking of moving objects "out of the box" and imposed on them the desired picture, taking into account all the perspective and geometric distortions. For the inexperienced, it looks like a miracle, but for several years we have been doing similar tasks in our center of virtual reality, so we were just delighted with the speed of work.
In general, there is software that processes content. Projectors transmit an image to a stitched concave screen. A man comes out on the stand, holding a small board. He does some manipulation, and in accordance with his movements, the content also moves, while always staying on the board. And there are balls that also move around the speaker. They also project content while moving.
Easier to show than to explain)
Here is their cluster of projectors.
Of course, no one will tell what kind of software they used, but Christie and Catalyst have similar solutions. In general, the exhibition had many solutions related to content management: various types of screens and sensors, readers. But they all have their own, without a single holistic standard. The task is precisely to combine everything into a single system.
This year, a noticeable change: a lot of LED screens of various kinds. Let me remind you that five years ago they were used mainly for outdoor advertising and were very expensive. Then they became weatherproof, became a little cheaper, they began to be used in indoor. Further, manufacturers reduced the pixel pitch.
The epic finale we are seeing now - they are already in density, in my opinion, almost like an LCD, but still much more expensive in terms of cost. The pixel pitch is smaller, which means that such screens display the content more accurately. If you place such a screen, for example, in a store, then in the commercial that is shown on it, you can consider everything to the smallest detail, even the texture of the fabric ... Images are more reliable.
LG super thin screen
It’s in a turn
Two-sided OLED info display
LG chose OLEDs that were already familiar to us from the screens of smartphones, and Samsung considered that technological problems with the production of wide matrices were not worthy of attention, and immediately jumped to a new technology - QLED, in other words, quantum dot displays. Here is a description of the technology .
Another trend is the simplification of screen connections. This used to be a real headache, but now the screens are connected very simply. An unusual surface (I mean screens of a non-standard shape, disproportionate, with curved surfaces, consisting of various parts) can now be assembled even by a housewife. Well, at least if she has only one higher technical, and not two, as before.
Here is just an example of an unusual surface - "blinds")
From such screens you can even assemble such
The Mitsubishi booth was very pleased - they made new cubes with almost no seams. Previously, the seam was much larger than the step between the pixels, about 2 millimeters. Now less than one - it is very important for the assembly of large screens of dispatching and situational centers. The fact is that they often show graphic materials with small elements (maps, engineering schemes, piping plans, subsystems of nuclear stations), and there transmission without distortion is important. Cubes are used because it is optimal for a quick understanding of the situation, which is extremely important in emergency situations. LCD panels may give the same size of the assembly screen, but the seams will be larger. Small pixel pitch LED screens are more expensive and not so good in resolution. The result - most likely, such a wall will soon appear in our large control rooms:
This year there were especially many curved surfaces, but they will not surprise anyone particularly. The only important point is that the surfaces of the projection screens allow you to clearly display the resolution of 8K at a fairly small linear size.
If we talk about expensive solutions, then Sony was noted. They put a very large size LED screen on the stand. It is notable for the fact that it is covered with a glossy film and looks as if it is one big screen in its classical sense. Due to the film, pixels are not visible, no cross-links are visible. At the distance of crosslinking between the modules is not visible, but near these boundaries are clearly visible. The film just closes the seams. The effect of one large surface is achieved. The range of applications of such large screens is very wide. They can be used for various installations. When they get cheaper, they are very useful for museums, various exhibition venues, shopping and entertainment centers for space design.
It costs millions of dollars, but the wow effect of wow!
Here is an interesting Barco solution, pay attention to the distance and location of the projectors:
Projectors can be hung from different angles, and the content is combined into a single stitching. They themselves at the initialization see how everything is connected, and they themselves adjust the picture .
Here is a car - a real car on the wall. It is completely white, its projectors are painted in the necessary colors:
Christie has software that allows you to set up projectors in difficult conditions, for example, ice palaces where projectors shine on ice. It often happens here that the setup of projectors (it’s complicated, there is a stitching there) gets off. The software allows you to quickly adjust the projectors again, and for this you do not need to go into the equipment. Everything is done softly, moreover, it is automated (by pressing a single button).
There were several new panoramic stitches. Very large panels - about the size of a man. They are universal and relatively cheap - we will go to broadcast museum and exhibition content. By the way, in Tula there is a military museum where a fighter (projection) appears in the middle of the exposition and begins to tell something, but he is very sensitive to daylight. With these panels it would be more realistic.
There were quite a few retail solutions at the exhibition, in particular, the topic of Digital Signage was actively discussed. I note that more and more technologies appear on the market that allow you to show ads depending on gender and age. As they say, this is the future. In Russia, compared with Europe, such solutions, unfortunately, are not very common. Although there is undoubtedly experience. Not so long ago, we implemented such a technology (I mean the demonstration of content depending on gender) for one large Russian bank. By the way, they also recently introduced Digital Signage at the stadium of FC Krasnodar. There, the information is shown to the fans depending on the location of the screens (there are 350 of them): VIP-box, gift shop, food court.
The traditional LED equipment for building facades has not changed much, but, apparently, there were many complaints about difficulties with maintenance, so now you can even walk on surfaces.
Another interesting fact is that such a screen appeared on top of the LED: a canvas with a certain degree of transparency is hung. It removes some of the negative effects from the LED screen, which has a beneficial effect on vision. This would be useful for schools and institutes: A
useful feature is wireless charging for laptops and phones:
No need to look for cables during negotiations. If your phone supports wireless charging technology, then you can just relax and not worry that it will "sit down" at the wrong time. Well, do not be distracted from the discussion.
There was a bunch of all kinds of fashionable pieces for the retail, which allow you to design any storefront and create a wow effect, for example:
An interesting thing on LEDs:
Content can be played on any surface, even on a post) Again, the retail is useful for attracting attention.
Kicker with the screen:
And finally, the stand where the guys mumbled with the display:
They were probably as offended as last year at the stand of flexible screens when competitors came and broke the prototypes, bending them to the knee.
Two-sided video wall (single screen) LG on OLED technology
Briefly about the most important:
1.LED screens are being improved, their production is cheaper. Accordingly, they are becoming more popular. The pixel pitch has already approached the psychological mark - 1 mm. Screens assembled from such modules have a juicy and vivid picture at the level of the top LCD panels. Technological processes for the mass production of what was science fiction 3-4 years ago have already been honed and perfected. These screens can be used both for streets and for internal rooms, for example, for information purposes. For retail, they will also be useful, including external (facade) advertising. Their advantage is brightness. With a certain technical performance, they are not afraid of weather conditions: neither sunlight, nor rain, nor cold.
2.Chinese manufacturers (in fact there are thousands of them, but LightLink, LightKing, Absen, Mignimage, Unilumin) remember the multimedia niche. If, according to my feelings, before the exhibition there were about 30% of stands, now it is 60%. From the breakthrough technology stage, we go to the stock stage, where engineers and developers are important. And there are more qualified engineers in China, thanks to their education system, which has partially grown from the Soviet one, than anywhere else.
3. Demonstrated professional displays on OLED and QLED technologies.
4. There are many interesting software developments for the B2B sector.
This time, there were almost no unusual innovative technologies at the exhibition, except for the closed area of the Samsung stand, where screens were shown on quantum dots.
The LED screen of the next Chinese manufacturer. A juicy picture and simple assembly - what else is needed for happiness?
Mapping
Each of the manufacturers competes not only in technology, but also in the entertainment of the exhibition stand. This year, Panasonic, the annual show-stopper, made a great show to attract attention. The manufacturer used a bunch: software for mapping and the formation of a single picture with their projectors. If someone still does not know what is probably unbelievable nowadays, mapping is a binding of an image to objects and its dynamic change in space in accordance with the movement of objects. This year, Panasonic screwed up tracking of moving objects "out of the box" and imposed on them the desired picture, taking into account all the perspective and geometric distortions. For the inexperienced, it looks like a miracle, but for several years we have been doing similar tasks in our center of virtual reality, so we were just delighted with the speed of work.
In general, there is software that processes content. Projectors transmit an image to a stitched concave screen. A man comes out on the stand, holding a small board. He does some manipulation, and in accordance with his movements, the content also moves, while always staying on the board. And there are balls that also move around the speaker. They also project content while moving.
Easier to show than to explain)
Here is their cluster of projectors.
Of course, no one will tell what kind of software they used, but Christie and Catalyst have similar solutions. In general, the exhibition had many solutions related to content management: various types of screens and sensors, readers. But they all have their own, without a single holistic standard. The task is precisely to combine everything into a single system.
LEDs, LCD, OLED and quantum dots
This year, a noticeable change: a lot of LED screens of various kinds. Let me remind you that five years ago they were used mainly for outdoor advertising and were very expensive. Then they became weatherproof, became a little cheaper, they began to be used in indoor. Further, manufacturers reduced the pixel pitch.
The epic finale we are seeing now - they are already in density, in my opinion, almost like an LCD, but still much more expensive in terms of cost. The pixel pitch is smaller, which means that such screens display the content more accurately. If you place such a screen, for example, in a store, then in the commercial that is shown on it, you can consider everything to the smallest detail, even the texture of the fabric ... Images are more reliable.
LG super thin screen
It’s in a turn
Two-sided OLED info display
LG chose OLEDs that were already familiar to us from the screens of smartphones, and Samsung considered that technological problems with the production of wide matrices were not worthy of attention, and immediately jumped to a new technology - QLED, in other words, quantum dot displays. Here is a description of the technology .
Connections
Another trend is the simplification of screen connections. This used to be a real headache, but now the screens are connected very simply. An unusual surface (I mean screens of a non-standard shape, disproportionate, with curved surfaces, consisting of various parts) can now be assembled even by a housewife. Well, at least if she has only one higher technical, and not two, as before.
Here is just an example of an unusual surface - "blinds")
From such screens you can even assemble such
The Mitsubishi booth was very pleased - they made new cubes with almost no seams. Previously, the seam was much larger than the step between the pixels, about 2 millimeters. Now less than one - it is very important for the assembly of large screens of dispatching and situational centers. The fact is that they often show graphic materials with small elements (maps, engineering schemes, piping plans, subsystems of nuclear stations), and there transmission without distortion is important. Cubes are used because it is optimal for a quick understanding of the situation, which is extremely important in emergency situations. LCD panels may give the same size of the assembly screen, but the seams will be larger. Small pixel pitch LED screens are more expensive and not so good in resolution. The result - most likely, such a wall will soon appear in our large control rooms:
This year there were especially many curved surfaces, but they will not surprise anyone particularly. The only important point is that the surfaces of the projection screens allow you to clearly display the resolution of 8K at a fairly small linear size.
If we talk about expensive solutions, then Sony was noted. They put a very large size LED screen on the stand. It is notable for the fact that it is covered with a glossy film and looks as if it is one big screen in its classical sense. Due to the film, pixels are not visible, no cross-links are visible. At the distance of crosslinking between the modules is not visible, but near these boundaries are clearly visible. The film just closes the seams. The effect of one large surface is achieved. The range of applications of such large screens is very wide. They can be used for various installations. When they get cheaper, they are very useful for museums, various exhibition venues, shopping and entertainment centers for space design.
It costs millions of dollars, but the wow effect of wow!
Projectors
Here is an interesting Barco solution, pay attention to the distance and location of the projectors:
Projectors can be hung from different angles, and the content is combined into a single stitching. They themselves at the initialization see how everything is connected, and they themselves adjust the picture .
Here is a car - a real car on the wall. It is completely white, its projectors are painted in the necessary colors:
Christie has software that allows you to set up projectors in difficult conditions, for example, ice palaces where projectors shine on ice. It often happens here that the setup of projectors (it’s complicated, there is a stitching there) gets off. The software allows you to quickly adjust the projectors again, and for this you do not need to go into the equipment. Everything is done softly, moreover, it is automated (by pressing a single button).
There were several new panoramic stitches. Very large panels - about the size of a man. They are universal and relatively cheap - we will go to broadcast museum and exhibition content. By the way, in Tula there is a military museum where a fighter (projection) appears in the middle of the exposition and begins to tell something, but he is very sensitive to daylight. With these panels it would be more realistic.
Miscellaneous
There were quite a few retail solutions at the exhibition, in particular, the topic of Digital Signage was actively discussed. I note that more and more technologies appear on the market that allow you to show ads depending on gender and age. As they say, this is the future. In Russia, compared with Europe, such solutions, unfortunately, are not very common. Although there is undoubtedly experience. Not so long ago, we implemented such a technology (I mean the demonstration of content depending on gender) for one large Russian bank. By the way, they also recently introduced Digital Signage at the stadium of FC Krasnodar. There, the information is shown to the fans depending on the location of the screens (there are 350 of them): VIP-box, gift shop, food court.
The traditional LED equipment for building facades has not changed much, but, apparently, there were many complaints about difficulties with maintenance, so now you can even walk on surfaces.
Another interesting fact is that such a screen appeared on top of the LED: a canvas with a certain degree of transparency is hung. It removes some of the negative effects from the LED screen, which has a beneficial effect on vision. This would be useful for schools and institutes: A
useful feature is wireless charging for laptops and phones:
No need to look for cables during negotiations. If your phone supports wireless charging technology, then you can just relax and not worry that it will "sit down" at the wrong time. Well, do not be distracted from the discussion.
There was a bunch of all kinds of fashionable pieces for the retail, which allow you to design any storefront and create a wow effect, for example:
An interesting thing on LEDs:
Content can be played on any surface, even on a post) Again, the retail is useful for attracting attention.
Kicker with the screen:
And finally, the stand where the guys mumbled with the display:
They were probably as offended as last year at the stand of flexible screens when competitors came and broke the prototypes, bending them to the knee.