The ISE 2024 conference, held recently in the beautiful city of Barcelona, was a must-attend event for technology enthusiasts, industry professionals and the curious eager to discover. This year, the vibrant halls of the conference center welcomed exhibitors from all over the world, unveiling products and solutions that will shape our digital future.
Key figures
The 2024 edition of Integrated Systems Europe attracted 73,891 participants from 162 countries. The show even recorded a record 51,617 visitors in a single day, an increase of almost 22% on the previous edition. The show brought together an impressive total of 1,408 stands, making it the largest number of exhibitors to date. The exhibition area covered 82,000 m². These figures testify to the success and vitality of this not-to-be-missed event for the pro-AV and systems integration community. ISE 2024 was an exceptional platform for discovering the latest innovations and exchanging views with industry experts.
This year, I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to attend the conference in person. However, from behind my screen, I was able to explore the latest Microsoft Teams features. Here’s what I discovered:
Innovative screens
At the conference, there were many screen presentations. The ones that impressed me most were the following:
- Samsung – The Wall
- LG – LED Wall
- Sony – Crystal LED (BH and CH series)
- Panasonic – 360° immersive space
Ultra-short throw projectors
A short-throw projector is designed to project an image/video at a shorter distance than a traditional projector. Rather than being placed far from the screen, a short-throw projector can be mounted on a piece of furniture in front of it. This style of projector delivers a great image even in tight spaces, making it an ideal choice for classrooms, conference rooms or home installations.
Trends in team rooms and 21:9 format
According to my contacts who were on site and the people I follow on a daily basis, Microsoft Teams shone as the undisputed protagonist and was present on most audiovisual conference equipment. There have been an enormous number of 21:9 displays, both LCD and LED. In addition, new display sizes have been introduced: 92″, 105″, 120″, 150″, 171″ and even 245″.
- Planar – 105″ 5K, resolution 5120×2160, available in touch version.
- LG – All-in-One 105″ and 171″ screens with 2560×1080 resolution
- Samsung – 105″ 4K screen
- Jupiter – Pana 105X and 81X, 5120×2160 resolution, available in touchscreen version
- MAXHUB – 92″, 105″ and 150″ screens
- ViewSonic – 92″, 105″ and 245″ screens
If you ever have a signature conference room refurbishment project, you won’t go wrong by choosing one of the screens listed above.
Microsoft Teams conference room equipment
Yes, I was most interested in the release or demonstration of conference room products for Microsoft Teams. Below you’ll find a selection of products that may not yet be certified for Microsoft Teams, but which are in the process of being so, or which I find very interesting.
Flat Frog – TeamTablet Flex
TeamTablet Flex is an easy-to-install device that upgrades compatible 55″ to 86″ interactive displays into TeamTablets, enabling any video meeting, wireless screen sharing, an integrated whiteboard and third-party applications. TeamTablet Flex will start shipping in mid-April.
Lenovo – ThinkSmart One Bar
The ThinkSmart One is an All In One bar, and the first in the world to run Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. It is powered by an integrated 11th-generation Intel Core processor with vPro technology. It supports videoconferencing applications such as Microsoft Teams Rooms or Zoom Rooms, and features eight microphones with echo and noise cancellation, 15-watt stereo speakers and an integrated high-resolution camera with a wide field of view.
Lenovo – ThinkSmart Bar 180
In collaboration with Jabra, Lenovo unveils their audio/video bar with advanced Artificial Intelligence. It has the same 180° field of view as Jabra’s PanaCast 50.
DTEN – DTEN Bar
The DTEN Bar is an all-in-one videoconferencing bar. It combines a high-quality camera with a high-performance audio system, including a powerful array of 12 microphones and two stereo speakers (2x15W). Audio capture is exceptional, thanks to advanced sound processing technologies including acoustic echo cancellation, ambient noise reduction and automatic gain control. The special feature of this video bar is that it can be installed vertically between two TVs, as you can see in the image and video below. This video bar will transform your small meeting rooms.
Logitech – Logi Dock Flex
The Logi Dock Flex is a managed docking station that facilitates the reservation of office space for employees and enables simplified management of shared offices in different locations. This versatile docking station offers a simple way of deploying office reservations.
Logitech – Project Ghost 2.0
Logitech Project Ghost is much more than just a project. It’s a vision that pushes the limits of communication. Imagine a futuristic kiosk that lets you interact in 3D with your interlocutors, as if you were in the same room. How does it work? Thanks to Pepper’s ghost effect (or Pepper’s spectrum), which creates an immersive, realistic experience. Logitech has also teamed up with orangebox, which manufactures individual meeting modules.
HP | Poly – Webcam HP 960
The HP 960 4k webcam was presented at the conference, with the option of using it as a content camera. This AI-enhanced webcam features autofocus, automatic framing and ambient noise reduction.
Shure – MXW neXt 2
The MXW neXt 2 wireless microphone system represents a major advance in audio for hybrid events. The MXW neXt 2 offers superior wireless sound for listeners in the room and remote participants in classrooms, lecture theaters and training rooms.
ViewSonic – Teams Room audio/video bar and tablet ???
In the ViewSonic booth, my contact was able to catch a glimpse of an unknown piece of Microsoft Teams conference room equipment running on Windows 😉 So it’s likely that ViewSonic is preparing to enter the Microsoft Teams videoconferencing equipment market. With a bit of searching on the ViewSonic website, I was able to find the page for the 3 products that I imagine will be released soon😊 I’ll put it in the Source section of this article.
Panasonic – PressIT360
The Panasonic PressIT360 is a wireless microphone and 360° camera system designed for hybrid conferences. It incorporates 4 cameras and 7 microphones, enabling natural communication between virtual and in-person participants. Connected via USB-C, it offers an exceptional audiovisual experience.
Yealink – MVCS40
The Yealink MVC S40 is specially designed for small and medium-sized conference rooms. Its standard package includes the new MINI-PC MCore Pro, the MTouch E2 touch panel, and the SmartVision 40 intelligent audio and video integration machine, the fruit of collaboration between Yealink experts. This all-in-one marvel is equipped with two 48 MP lenses, a wide 120° range and supports advanced AI features such as IntelliFrame, Multi-stream Intelliframe, Video Fence, as well as other Teams capabilities, promising an immersive experience in smart meeting rooms.
Yealink – MeetingEye 500
Designed for the Zoom Rooms system on Android, the MeetingEye 500 enables users to easily deploy a multi-camera solution in large to very large meeting spaces, and enjoy a native Zoom meeting experience. Who knows, maybe it will be adapted to Microsoft Teams rooms in the future?
INOGENI – Toggle Room
The toggle room is a device that switches between conference room equipment such as a Microsoft Teams room and a BYOD device at the touch of a button.
Next year I hope I’ll be able to go there to follow the latest innovations in audiovisual and collaboration. I could also follow the various seminars, workshops and demos to provide you with more detailed information.
Source
My first source for this article was a Microsoft employee who was on site at the ISE 2024 conference and who provided me with a few photos that I’ve been able to use above. So thank you Mike Murphy!
- Sonovision | article about the conference
- Flat Frog | TeamTablet Flex
- Lenovo | ThinkSmart Bar One
- Lenovo | ThinkSmart Bar 180
- DTEN | DTEN Bar
- Logitech | Logitech Dock Flex
- Shure | MXW NeXt2
- ViewSonic | MPC310-W31-TU
- ViewSonic | MRC1010-TN
- ViewSonic | UMB202
- Panasonic | PressIT360
- Yealink | Meeting Eye500
