Top 5 Professional Display Trends from ISE 2023

Following Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) the world’s largest AV trade show, Omdia ProAV analysts – Tay Kim, Hidetoshi Himuro, and David Chai share highlights of the event and upcoming key display trends here.

Transition between display technology by segment, application, and usage accelerates

An obvious shift from LCD to direct-view LED display technology was a major trend for many public display vendors. Many Tier 1 LED video display brands—such as Unilumin, Leyard, Absen, Barco, LG Electronics, and Samsung—exhibited LED video displays with cutting-edge technology such as <1mm pixel pitch, high picture quality, easy installation and calibration, and low power consumption with common-cathode LED drivers. Meanwhile, some typical LCD-based set brands—such as Philips, Vestel, ViewSonic, etc.—exhibited fine pixel pitch (FPP) LED video walls or modules in conjunction with LCD super-narrow-bezel video walls. The production schedules for newly announced FPP LEDs are a little far-off, so this does not mean LCD video walls will be directly phased out. However, it will be difficult for LCD video walls to position themselves for certain applications and survive in the market moving forward.

In the past, the control room market was mainly dominated by rear projection video walls. However, with the advent of LCD video wall technology, the rapid shift to LCDs occurred since these displays offered both high resolution and high brightness. Currently, FPP LED video walls are replacing their LCD counterparts due to the lack of bezel gaps. According to Figure 1, LCDs accounted for more than 80% of display area within control rooms in 2019. However, direct-view LED video walls have quickly caught up to LCDs significantly from 2021, and this trend clearly continues and was apparent at ISE 2023. 

Figure 1: Flat panel displays vs. direct-view LED displays in control room 

Source: Omdia

LED pixel pitch goes finer, and all-in-one LED display solutions grow more popular in terms of user convenience 

Unilumin and Ledman unveiled their 0.47 mm pixel pitch, 81-inch 4K LED video displays and Aoto boasted 0.39mm pixel pitch prototype product. 

Several major LED video brands—such as Unilumin, Leyard, Absen, Samsung, LG Electronics, etc.—revealed a new “super-fine” pixel pitch (smaller than 0.7mm) for LED video displays used in indoor solutions, claiming the inclusion of technologies such as Micro LED, 4-in-1, COB, flip chip, GOB, etc. Meanwhile, outdoor LED solutions were showcasing displays utilizing smaller than 5mm pixel pitch. 

Omdia also noticed that all-in-one LED video displays are emerging among Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese brands to compete with large-format LCDs that are larger than 100 inches. All-in-one LED video displays enable easy and simple setup, while also being affordable. At the same time, they are available in a wide variety of sizes and resolutions—such as 4K, 8K, dual 4K and 16:9, 21:9, and 32:9—and use pre-calibrated LED modules shipped in a single package with other components. 

Virtual production applications are emerging in many ways

Regardless of the display application and its approach (whether LED or projector, video camera, and software), more than 10 brands—including LG Electronics, Unilumin, Absen, Sony, Canon, Epson, Panasonic, Macroblock, INFiLED, Polymotion, Mo-Sys, etc.— demonstrated virtual production or virtual studio solutions at ISE 2023. Virtual production refers to videos that simultaneously record both a background picture (displayed via an LED display or projector) as a virtual space and the actual subject before combining them into one image. These solutions will expand video creation capabilities and enable higher flexibility in terms of setting and creativity for not only movie creation, but also live studios.

IFP (Interactive Flat Panel) displays solution battle continues and software platform competition getting severe 

As reopening from the pandemic is progressing around the world, online education and remote work situations are encountering greater changes for hybrid work and school environments. Many brands such as LG Electronics, SMART, Hikvision, and CVTE showcased IFP touch solutions. Philips, ViewSonic, and Hisense focused on smart blackboards for education, with higher expectations for demand to come from the education and corporate markets this year. Aside from infrared scanning used as a major touch technology among IFPs, several brands promoted projected capacitive (PCAP) touch technology, claiming better performance and greater affordability. 

IFPs with software platforms highlighted collaborations with Microsoft Teams and Zoom while also claiming compatibility with Intel’s Smart Display Module (SDM, an OPS reference design). Furthermore, Omdia observed several wide-sized IFPs, such as a 21:9 105-inch display, allowing for a larger amount of working area to promote collaboration among remote and in-person employees for corporate and conference room settings.

Sustainability and energy efficiency becomes more essential

As the climate crisis continues and is impossible to ignore, sustainability considerations become even more critical in new technology, with solutions ranging in scale for global, business, and personal applications.

Sustainability is now a key approach in Samsung’s sourcing and production, which are represented from light-weight diffuser plates, non-etching PCB, and low-carbon resin. For this, innovative designs for light-weight molds reduces the amount of steel used in the mold, while size-optimized rear chassis reduces the amount of scraps. LG Electronics introduced a solution managing energy usage, and Philips showcased the world’s first e-paper signage that eliminated power cords and dramatically increased energy efficiency.

For more ISE2023 highlights recapped by the Omdia ProAV analyst team,  please click here.