InfoComm, LED, LED, and LED

How many people took a left in the Exhibit hall and noticed the insane amount of LED? I have to triple-take, and not from the glare of all the screens. Brian Smith, CTS, CSP , and I were amazed by how much this year was available.

Yes, from a LED 'guys' perspective, there was a TON of LED in-house this year. It seems it's becoming more accessible and easier to bring in, whether due to a covid bounceback or importing becoming slightly more accessible.

Now, one thing to remember is that not all LED is created equal. (Literally) These days, that's a tough sell per se. It's so easy to buy 'cheap' LEDs, throw them on a wall, and call it a day, all without worrying about service or ROI as a significant cornerstone to the purchase. And trust me, that happens way more than you would believe. As a side note, one of the great reasons why Watchfire is so well positioned is due to its attention to quality, robustness, and forward-looking approach to the LED market. (Go ahead, think about it, DM me if you need to know more...) This, in turn, means we're not just 'slinging' LED on the street and worrying about what happens on the backend. From our supply chain efforts to the insane attention to detail after the fact, we're explicitly different from our competitors.

Granted, with LED being more accessible, it's entirely possible it will start creeping into areas we typically don't see or haven't thought of. I witnessed many incredible pieces like mesh or smaller retail pieces that will become more prevalent in the coming years. I 'feel' that from the sports side (and mind you, not a ton of sports players were there since this is a heavy A/V show), we'll start seeing some of these players try to creep into the sports scene since, you know,

"it's just like hanging a TV and plugging the cable and power up..."

(Yes, I've heard that in the last few months.) If you take anything away from this article, it is NOT that easy. We see so many vendors (on the sports side) that throw numbers/projects/etc. out and forget the small details. Those details cost someone, at some point, guaranteed.

Along with seeing the wild amount of LED, we got to catch up with a few partners that recently assisted us with the Houston Astros Halo Ring Project. WALLBOARD , BrightSign LLC , and Datapath were all onsite with their unique capabilities on hand. (Big shoutout to John Kesinger , Linda Pennington , and Christine Nielsen for their time!) They have some fantastic products from the CMS/Integration POV that came through for us!

Another sports partner we had a chance to chat with was Dan Skirpan, CTS at JVC . Dan always has a great product line and recently announced their new Connected Cam Studio with additional control surfaces that will be a slight game changer in certain venues/verticals of sports. The Connected Cam Studio line will be a great piece in the smaller production scene with scalability up for shows that try to push the envelope and create a larger show. They also have some of the best PTZs in the market.

Nevertheless, #infocomm23 was fun, great, and enticing. Witnessing where technology is heading and adapting those solutions to your vertical is always fun. Watchfire had a full team onsite checking out the different technologies, diving into new technologies for the betterment of Watchfire and the LED industry. (Namely, Glen Nemitz , Colby Landis , Jeff Morgan , Michael Cox , and many of our other partners.)

If you want to learn more about Watchfire, the industry, or how I can help you, shoot me a note!

#watchfire #avtweeps #venues #leddisplay #ledtechnology #broadcast #sports #sportstech