ISE 2024 Review. What did you think?

I received an email invite to an ISE networking event in which one of the discussion topics was to be “The convergence of video production and the world of AV”. Really? This genuinely surprised me, because it’s a strapline I probably heard for the first time in 2010ish, and then at every IBC and ISE that I’ve attended since. Having spent three days at ISE2024, I think that term may finally be redundant. It’s happened, we’ve converged! I’ll expand on this point later as it needs to be noted up front what a logistical, visionary and experiential success story ISE has become.?

The energy and scale of ISE was something to behold and far exceeds anything that IBC can muster. Facts speak volumes in this post-truth era; IBC received just over 43,000 attendees in September, compared to ISE’s 74,000 last week. Even IBC’s pre-Covid peak couldn’t get anywhere near this number. ISE hosted over 1,400 exhibitors compared to IBC’s 1,250, and with over 82,000 sq metres (with further extensions planned) it is a truly massive convention centre.

It was also noticeable that many IBC stalwarts attended ISE, emphasising the importance and breadth of reach the show has built. Panasonic hasn’t “properly” attended IBC since the late noughties, but it had a significant presence here with a hugely impressive stand occupying prime Barcelona real estate. Sony was showing off its volume-studio-focussed Verona LED screen which has its first major UK installation at the UAL. And Ross Video was promoting many of its previously targeted broadcast products to the wider ISE audience for the first time and will be back with a larger footprint and more prominent location next time. Add in the two leading lens manufacturers Fujinon and Canon, and Arri too, and you have the makings of a pretty decent Broadcast/HETV/film trade show hiding in plain sight at an AV show.

Could this be the way that things might go? Are two monstrous European tradeshows sustainable/necessary/desirable when the point of convergence has been reached? It must be tough to justify the ROI on a trade show costing ￡1M+ that lasts just four days. Even tougher to justify two.

What a trade show undoubtedly does really well is bring huge numbers of like-minded people together, and the networking opportunities and face-to-face time in a truly global industry has been my principal reason for attending trade shows for many years. What’s yours?

Adrian Pennington’s excellently researched and data-heavy article demonstrates the massive scale of the merged and newly named “AV Broadcast” market, around $26Billion globally. There are many take-aways from the article, one of which is that those broadcast manufacturers still putting their sales focus on traditional markets may be missing out. Check out the article here.

As for the ISE show floor itself and kit that caught my eye, the staggering LED technology on show was of epic proportions. The scale and calibre of the stands were breath-taking, with the ever-increasing number of screen manufacturers all vying for a slice of the action. It’s tough for a new entrant in this market. The major hire companies are dominant, owning vast inventories of particular screen brand, and often engaging with their competitors to buy the same to make cross-hire easier and colour-matched. It makes commercial sense, but it does create a higher barrier to entry for new screen manufacturers.

It can be tough for a lay-man to spot a good screen from one of lesser quality, particularly when three other key factors come in to play rather than just the pixel count and build quality. First, choice of processor is fundamental, and Brompton seem to be at the vanguard of this technology. Whilst it may be reassuringly expensive, it is robust and powerful and, given the quoted screen life now exceeds 10 years, surely investing in the best processor available is an obvious decision, and I am reliably informed that is Brompton. Does anyone disagree? I also like that they still design, develop and manufacture much of their product in the UK, too.

Secondly, the content is critical when you’re putting your screens next to everyone else’s, so some awesome creative talent to make their vision become on screen reality is key. And finally, you’ll need some serious processing hardware to drive the huge amounts of data in the video stream on to the screens itself, which is where Disguise seem to be winning. Their EX3 processor is the go-to box for major events, but it comes with quite a price tag. The introduction of an EX2 will give aspirational creatives access to Disguise hardware at a much lower price point, albeit with a reduced spec as you’d expect.

Of the smaller exhibitors that I stumbled across, Sowa had some clever cable-free PA speakers that looked nothing like PA speakers thanks to some funky Danish design.

Theatrixx have some exceptionally clever converter boxes that are robust and well-designed to go with their new LED screen technology. They also had some LED totem products, which certainly expands the potential customer target opportunities. I’m thinking car dealership entrances, hotel and workplace receptions, gyms and universities… can you think of others?

And Nexo had their impressive and powerful P18 point source speaker with its L20 subwoofer which seemed to be popular on the stand.

A few personal general observations: the big shows really can’t get their act together when it comes to feeding lots of people simultaneously. Why the food-sellers can’t employ more people and more tills is beyond me, and queuing for an hour for an expensive mediocre lunch when we’ve all paid a lot of money to be there is disappointing. If I was an exhibitor, I’d be unhappy that an hour of everyone’s time was spent not looking at kit. The food otherwise in Barcelona however is another matter, it’s a culinary delight!

The ISE app is pretty good. Much better than the IBC or NAB ones, and invaluable if you’re trying to navigate between meetings in multiple halls. If you could order your favourited exhibitors by hall as well as alphabetically that would be even better. And Barcelona feels so much more welcoming than Amsterdam, or am I just getting a little weary of the ‘Dam? Is there a Samuel Johnson Dutch equivalent to tell me that I shouldn’t be tired of it?

The next major European industry show is Prolight and Sound in Frankfurt next month. Anyone going from the UK? And Plasa Leeds in May is a good, smaller show that we’re fans of.

The next UK-based “media” show is the Cine-centric BSC show in Battersea next week. Now that will be interesting given the current state of content commissioning; but that’s a topic for another article on another day.

All ISE comments and thoughts are welcome.