The practical solution was in full effect at InfoComm 2014. While most of the show floor bemoaned the lack of “wow factor” with dry product reveals and an underwhelming Microsoft booth, many people I spoke to felt this year’s show was more about evolution and less about revolution. I couldn’t have agreed more, and to be honest, that was exactly what I’m looking for.
Photo credit: John Staley
- Collaboration was king this year as a majority of booths displayed solutions designed to enhance collaboration at a conference table, flipped classroom, or even with remote locations. There were impressive collaboration products at all price points, from FSR’s HuddleVU to PRYSM’s Cascade. If I had to choose, Oblong’s Mezzanine might have been the standout product of the show (although, for my applications it is not the most practical solution, but man it is seriously cool.)
- InfoComm 2014 proved that lampless projectors are finally more useful and economical than their less evolved counterparts. After viewing lampless projectors from several different manufacturers last year I was completely underwhelmed by the brightness, the clarity, and the contrast; it was probably one of my larger disappointments. This year, the quality of lampless projectors improved significantly, now producing incredibly bright, crisp, and clear images at a reasonable cost. With the latest developments I’m looking forward to never getting on a ladder to change a lamp again. If budget isn’t a consideration, Digital Projection's 12,000 ANSI Lumen 4k Projector was absolutely gorgeous.
- Unfortunately, on my quest for the practical audio visual solution I wasn’t able to see everything I wanted, including micro speakers; nor did I see any manufacturer touting big data. But perhaps my favorite part of this year’s show, was the fact that we were no longer talking about convergence.
