Even the AV years that seem a little subdued have their highlights – and the beginnings of trends that will deliver some considerable impact further down the track. Here is the AV News selection of significant events as 2014 draws to a close.
January 2014
Mobile device penetration of mobile devices were forecast to reach 10% by 2017, up from just 3% in 2012. In line with the trend, SMART Technologies announced SMART amp – a cloud-based solution hosted on the Google cloud and available to any device that has a browser.
Milestone and its associated AV brands were purchased for an undisclosed price from The Duchossois Group.
PSCo revamped its Assessment Centre, spending £500,000 on a facility featuring five distinct videowall configurations, four varying sized videowall display panels, three LCD models and two LED displays with the smallest pixel pitch in the UK, all in one location. At the same time, Samsung Electronics has opened a European Innovation Centre at Fleet Place in London’s financial and business district.
PSCo started the year with a revamp to its Assessment Centre.
February 2014
Trends at BETT included a move to the cloud, interactive flat panel displays and t he integration of mobile devices. BESA forecast a boom year for education spending while a survey revealed that a third (38 per cent) of schools experienced cuts in excess of 15 per cent in the previous year.
Toshiba became the latest CE brand to enter the European pro AV market. Toshiba launched in the UK, France and Germany with expansion to other European countries planned during 2014.
4K signage was a feature of ISE 2014 as leading vendors, including BrightSign and Nexcom, debuted solutions. Nexcom collaborated with Signagelive, using the NDiS B842 video wall player (an ultra-high-definition (UHD) digital signage panel comprising 4 x 1080p outputs).
Sahara Presentation Systems was appointed as Vivitek’s new distribution partner in the UK.
PMA Research and Insight Media jointly published a report called the 2014 Mobile Solid State Projector Report. The report includes forecasts for unit sales and revenue through 2017 and forecast a doubling in sales of personal projectors over the period.
ISE 2014 attendance broke the 50,000 mark with a final total of 51,003.
ISE attendance breaks 50,000 for the first time in 2914.
March 2014
AVM Impact absorbed the business of Eclipse Audio Visual Scotland. Elsewhere , Eyevis acquired Teracue.
Just Lamps, one of the worlds’s leading replacement projector lamps distributors and leaders of the anti-fake campaign, were found to have fake Epson lamps in its warehouse.
Promethean announced that Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the fourth largest school district in the U.S., had selected Promethean as the exclusive supplier of interactive whiteboards for over 10,000 classrooms.
Fake projector lamps are good enough now to dupe even the experts.
April 2014
Global sales of interactive whiteboards and interactive flat panel displays in the education and corporate sectors reached 1.3 million units in 2013, up 1% on the previous year and making it the largest year on record.
Revolabs entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Yamaha Corporation.
PSCo announced the signing of an exclusive distribution agreement with Absen Optoelectronics, a market leading Chinese manufacturer of LED displays.
Legrand completed the acquisition of Latter, owners of the Quiktron and C2G brands.
Record sales reported of interactive displays.
May 2014
The Clevertouch range of interactive flat panel displays was completely revamped with the 55”, 65” and 70” models now rebranded Clevertouch Plus. Clevertouch Plus features a built-in Android OS, integral 8GB memory, 6 point touch, anti-glare glass and an optional blade PC.
Futuresource Consulting reported worldwide shipments of front projectors grew year-on-year by 6% to 2.12 million units.
Worldwide shipments of professional flat panel displays increased by 8% quarter-on-quarter in CYQ4 2013 to reach 567,000 units and finish the year with 20% volume growth, according to the latest research from Futuresource Consulting.
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IFPDs show strong growth in 2014/
June 2014
Best known for its in-car to pro audio solutions Harman International Industries added the AMX brand to its portfolio. Harman agreed to acquire AMX from The Duchossois Group, Inc. and its affiliates for US$365 million.
Savant Systems Europe opened its doors for business. Savant Systems Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of distributor RGB Communications.
The videowall market maintained strong growth in 2013, posting nearly 60% CAGR from 2009 to 2013. Sales of 449,000 units were reported by Futuresource Consulting.
Video walls posted nearly 60% CAGR.
July 2014
Hotlamps has announced a new replacement projector lamp service through KLiKav.com.
Vidyo upped the ante in the VC virtualisation market with its announcement of a 4K software solution that runs on commodity hardware.
Vision announced a 4K media player. The new 4K devices are available with i3 and i5 processors and featuring an HDMI output and a DisplayPort output.
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Vision’s new 4K media player.
August 2014
Tech Data announced Simply Dome bundles for digital signage and meeting rooms. The bundles are created around core TD Maverick products from its central supply chain and partnership agreements. Vision’s Techconnect Select and Barco’s ClickShare are featured in the Simply Done Meeting Solutions and the Vision Media Player and Signagelive software in the Simply Done Signage Solutions bundle.
Armour Group’s chief executive George Dexter announced that he had entered into an agreement with Armour Group plc to acquire the trading businesses of Armour Home and Armour Asia.
September 2014
Polycom’s largest US distributor and POS specialist ScanSource issued a letter of intent to acquire the Imago Group plc.
Daktronics entered into an agreement to purchase Data Display, a transport focused display company.
Samsung Electronics formally announced the much-discussed Samsung Smart Signage TV, a new type of TV designed for small and medium businesses (SMBs) and small office/home office (SOHO) owners.
Promethean introduced a new range of ActivBoard Touch interactive whiteboards that support up to six simultaneous unique touches.
Samsung’s Smart Signage TV.
October 2014
Polycom launched the RealPresence Cloud Video as a Service (VaaS) solution to the UK. Polycom is partnering with Imago Group plc.
Holovis has increased the accessibility of its RideView application by making this available as a portable Oculus Rift solution.
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Holovis RideView.
November 2014
Sahara Presentation Systems opened the Clever Innovation Centre (CIC), based in the City, as a facility to demonstrate and discuss corporate applications of its Cleverproducts’ range.
Promethean launched a new version of ActivInspire Professional Edition classroom software.
Steljes announced the launch of Steljes Networks, a specialist Wi-Fi and super-fast broadband provider for the education sector.
Steljes announced an exclusive two-year partnership with education software developer Wordwall
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Sahara opens the Clever Innovation Centre in the City.
December 2014
Sahara Presentation Systems announced an extension of its relationship with NUITEQ, developer of award-winning multitouch software product Snowflake. The rolling agreement will see Clevertouch interactive screens shipping with a Snowflake license
LG Electronics appointed Tech Data as its distributor of LG Hotel TV in the UK.
Optoma has announced the acquisition of NuForce Inc. – a maker of premium consumer audio products.
Cisco introduced Project Squared, a business collaboration app that combines chat, audio, 
video, multi-party meetings and content sharing in a single experience.
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LG Hotel TV now available from Tech Data
