InfoComm, the big professional audio-video trade show, wraps up today in Anaheim. I haven’t covered this show for several years, and the last time I did the "video" part of "professional audio-video" meant projectors. InfoComm was the definitive projection show.

Ken Werner
Senior Analyst and Editor

There are still lots of very impressive projectors at InfoComm, as well as a numbing selection of run-of-the-mill projectors from which dealers and large-volume end users can choose. But what is particularly striking is the large numbers of LCD and plasma displays now aimed at various segments of the professional market, including public information, electronic digital signage, professional monitors, professional video, situation rooms, conference rooms, hospitality (in-room TV and media, public information, and conference rooms), and education.

The old model for servicing many of these markets was that projectors (this is the old model) would be sold through AV dealers or integrators who would install the projectors, along with needed signal and power cabling, controls, and infrastructure. As large flat panels started to replace or supplement projectors, the same model was applied.

But what was very obvious at this year’s InfoComm was the recent formation of professional display companies or divisions by Samsung, LG Electronics, Panasonic, and Sharp, and the production of professional products that have been carefully tailored to the needs of the professional market. That tailoring includes components designed for 24/7 reliability; extensive and often, customizable connectivity; networking options; and (sometimes) touch input.

At least as important as the products is a convincing commitment to service and education for professional customers and high-volume end users. Samsung and Panasonic, in particular, have installed sizeable and highly professional organizations to provide technical and engineering support, as well as sales and marketing. As an example, Jim Noecker, formerly of Plasmaco, has been hired as Director of Systems Sales Engineering for the new Panasonic Professional Display Company.

A significant focus of all of these companies, as well as Sony and others, is electronic digital signage, which includes signs from the very small to the very large. Christopher Franey, Vice President for Marketing & Commercial Sales at Samsung Electronics America summed up what is obviously a shared perception in the industry: Electronic digital signage is at a very early stage in its growth curve, and that growth will be huge.

We’ll be reporting on electronic digital signage at InfoComm in much more detail in the coming issue of Projection Monthly with Flat Panel Coverage.