This year’s late spring medley of Covid-delayed in-person trade exhibitions continues. First it was the NAB Show in Las Vegas April 24-27, then Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, Germany April 26-29, then Integrated Systems Europe in Barcelona, Spain May 10-13, then the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA June 3-5, and now InfoComm in Las Vegas June 8-10.
Exhibiting manufacturers of lighting and video products have been busy with R&D advances while the stages around the world went dark. Many were happy to be able to show off what they’ve been working on with a range of new product launches at these shows with more waiting in the wings. Here’s a sampling of what was on offer at InfoComm 2022’s exhibition floor.
Absen
Brian Macauto, Director of Virtual Production, introduced visitors to the company’s PL2.5 LED display, used to depict a virtual scene of a woodsy campsite complete with pop-up tent in the foreground. The company’s virtual production products range from 1.2mm to 2.5mm. The company also featured rental and staging products including their PL1.9mm wall, their floor panels (MR 2.5mm and 4.8mm), which can also be used for virtual production applications. For fixed installations, Absen was featuring its KL 1.5mm, NX 1.5mm and Clear Cobalt products, which are coated for durability. The displays on the show floor were driven with Brompton Technology’s processing equipment.
ACT Entertainment
PLSN touched base with Darius Seabaugh, Senior Vice President Marketing at ACT Entertainment, who noted that the primary focus at this year’s InfoComm show was to continue to expand awareness of all the company has to offer. They distribute a range of brands including MA Lighting, Ayrton, Robert Juliat, Luxibel, ProCo, RapcoHorizon, Lava Cable, RAT Distortion, AC Power Distribution, Zactrack, MDG, and ChainMaster. ACT Entertainment’s headquarters are in Jackson, MO, with facilities in Los Angeles, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, and Toronto, Canada.
AOTO
ARRI
Randy Read, Lighting Specifications Manager, was on hand to show off ARRI’s latest enhancements for its Orbiter, a bright, tunable, and directional six-color LED fixture.
AV Stumpfl
AV Stumpfl has been manufacturing high quality projection screens for more than 40 years. But along with an emphasis on its Monolyte, Magnum, and tool-free SHIFT-Technology for adjustable height screen frame systems, the focus of the company’s booth at InfoComm 2022 was also on its 64-bit PIXERA system for real-time media processing, compositing, and management. PIXERA media server products, which can be used for virtual productions, also now features its new PIXERA control.
Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design’s Bob Caniglia introduced visitors to the company’s ATEM 1 M/E and 2 M/E Constellation HD switchers. Caniglia also spoke of Blackmagic Design’s URSA Broadcast G2 cameras.
Brompton Technology Ltd
Brompton’s technical support specialists were at the booth to introduce visitors to some of the new features that will be coming with the next update of Brompton Technology’s software, version 3.4. One key advance: the ability of users to stack multiple processors, with one processor working as the designated “leader” and others quickly following.
Chauvet Professional
Mike Graham, Product Development Manager, was at the booth introducing visitors to Chauvet’s new Rogue Outcast 1L Beam with 140W LED light engine and 160mm lens. Features include rotating and static gobos, overlapping prisms and an IP65 rating for indoor and outdoor use.
Dicolor
Elation Professional
Elation’s Bob Mentele discussed the new 10K lumen KL Profile FC, the company’s new ellipsoidal fixture with built-in zoom. Also featured: Elation’s Proteus Rayzor Blade and Fuze MAX Spot / Fuze MAX Profile and the new modular Obsidian Control Systems NX1 lighting console. Sister company ADJ, at an adjacent booth, also brightened InfoComm’s Events & Entertainment zone with a range of lighting and video products.
Epson
Gavin Downey, Product Manager at Epson America Inc., was showing the company’s recent Pro Series product offerings, starting with an ultra-bright 30K lumen 3LCD projector with a new .35 UST [Ultra Short Throw] lens. Also featured for the first time in public was what Epson is calling the world’s smallest and lightest 20K lumen projector powered with a highly efficient and compact laser light source—the EB-PU2220B. Other recently introduced projectors at the booth include a 10,000-lumen model—the EB-PU2010W, which was paired with a short throw lens with a modular camera system on the lens itself.
FOR-A Corporation
The company, which has been offering an array of broadcast and production products over the past 45 years, was featuring its new Soar-A software for remote production applications including R-mini and R-maxi fanless systems and R-2, R-4, and R-8 1U rackmount systems.
GLP
GLP U.S. Inc. President Mark Ravenhill, who announced plans to step away from the day-to-day running of GLP’s U.S. operation in order to focus on guiding future global strategy in a more consultative role, still looked pretty busy at GLP’s booth, talking to visitors about new products including the quick and punchy GLP impression X5 Compact featuring up to 4,600 lumens from seven individually controllable LED modules.
Group One/Avolites
Hazebase
INFiLED
INFILED featured products for Virtual Production, Rental/Staging, and System Integration applications.
LianTronics
LynTec
MAXHUB
MAXHUB featured, among other new products, their Zoom-certified MAXHUB UC S05 teleconferencing camera/recording unit along with their MAXHUB UC M31 plug-and-play teleconferencing camera/recorder capturing a 180-degree range of visuals.
Nationwide Video
Nationwide Video featured projection solutions featuring CarbonBlack screens. “We’re a reseller for them,” noted Scott Nayor, VP of Sales & Business Development, adding that it’s “more than likely” that the company’s products will also eventually find their way into Nationwide Video’s rental inventory. Visitors to the booth could see what happens when a Christie M 4K25 RGB pure laser projector lights up a CarbonBlack Hybrid Pro ALR screen. On the other side of the booth the setup included a holographic effect created with two Panasonic projectors—front and rear projecting on two screen surfaces, another CarbonBlack ALR screen and, in front of it, a CarbonMesh Litho semi-transparent screen. Other CarbonMesh options include Holo (most transparent) and Echo (least transparent.)
Neutrik
NovaStar
Riedel
ROE Visual
ROE Visual featured its latest products for virtual production, XR stages and broadcast including its Black Pearl BP2V2 and Black Marble BM4. Recent enhancements include upgraded LED drivers for optimum on-camera performance, flexible installation options and a high-efficiency power supply. Also featured at the show: the new Carbon Mark II (CB MKII), an ultra-light, touring frame compatible line of LED panels designed for indoor and outdoor use, and the Opal Indoor 1.2mm pixel pitch panels and Opal Outdoor 3.75mm panels that are available in various shapes and sizes.
Schnick-Schnack-Systems
Schnick-Schnack-Systems brought its small but mighty (and daisy-chainable) LED P-Dot products back to Las Vegas. The product starts with an RGBW LED light source designed with dimming and color management algorithms. Along with DMX and sACN data signals, they can respond to RGB video signals. There are three different versions: 6,500K, 3,000K, and tunable RGB white. Zoom angle options include 30˚ and 120˚.
Shenzhen Gloshine Technology
Esther Su was at the booth introducing new products including Gloshine’s CF 2.60 LED display panels designed for indoor use. Along with their 2.6mm pixel pitch resolution, the panels can be joined at angles up to 30˚, allowing for an LED cylinder configuration with 12 panels with a diameter of 1.9 meters. Also on display: the tour-friendly Music Video Series. The MV 2.6 also features 2.6mm pixel pitch resolution along with an integrated power box, rotatable curved locks for quick assembly and magnetic modules for easy maintenance.
Solotech
Taylorleds
Unilumin
Unilumin was featuring its UPAD IV 2.6 indoor LED panel, a lightweight (6.3kg per 500mm x 500mm panel). Made with a die-cast magnesium design, the LED display panel features an automatic lock design that lets a single engineer handle installation, disassembly, and maintenance; DDC (Dual Drive Configuration) technology and HDR technology along with high precision curving and creative display options.
Vanguard LED Displays
Vectorworks
Jim Woodward, Senior Entertainment Product Specialist, was on hand at the booth, demonstrating some of the latest software update’s features. Brandon Eckstorm, Product Marketing Manager, also informed visitors about the new features for 2022 with the company’s latest version of ConnectCAD software.
Yes Tech
Orlando Pavon, CEO and operations director at Miami-based American Display Solutions, was supporting the Yes Tech brand at the booth in Las Vegas. For rental and staging applications, Yes Tech featured its outdoor-friendly DS series and MG series. For fixed installs, conference, commercial and stage applications, featured LED displays included the Mpad Mini, Mplus Mini, Mwall, Msign, and ES series products.
