We caught up with Iiyama at the show where the focus was completely on touch monitors. Although the firm has a mainstream desktop monitor business (with #11 ranking in the European market and sales of around 1.5 million units per year according to Meko’s DisplayCast service), it is more interested in developing its speciality monitors with touch as this is much more profitable.
Iiyama has been pushing its Procap monitors for a while and had new 32″ (295 cd/m², AMVA, €1,300), 42″ (335 cd/m², IPS, €1,800), 46″ (420 cd/m², AMVA, €2,400) and 55″ (380 cd/m², AMVA, €3,300) monitors using the technique and with edge to edge glass. Staff told us that metal mesh materials are being used for the touch sensor and this means that it has been able to avoid moiré artefacts. The monitors are competitively priced, but do not skimp on professional features including 12 point touch. The protective glass used is 7H 4.2mm thick and the designs are suitable for portrait, landscape or flat “tabletop” applications. The new monitors are also treated for anti-glare.
Jeffrey Pettinga of Iiyama told us that the company has recently switched from EETI controllers to using Sharp controller chips which has considerably improved the performance of its touch systems.
On the commercial side, Iiyama has recently appointed a new full time sales person for Italy and hopes for good sales in that region, although it sees the DTM market as very tough. “Look at the Misco pages”, Pettinga said. “In the North of Europe, only one monitor will be below €100, but if you look at the page from Misco Italy, only one is above €100”.
