Following the busy CEDIA Expo 2023 tradeshow and conference, held Sept. 7-9 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, there’s always much reflection on what custom integrators saw and experienced. Below, Jeremy Sternhagen, technical marketing manager at Planar, reviews why this year’s Expo was a success for the large-format display maker.

CE Pro: Can you briefly explain what products and services your company provides?

Sternhagen: As a global leader in visualization technology, Planar delivers best-in-class image performance for the world’s most demanding environments. This includes trailblazing LED video walls delivering industry-leading pixel pitches and seamless images for unmatched visual experiences as well as state-of-the-art large format displays with high durability and the slimmest installation depths.

CE Pro: Why did you decide to participate in CEDIA Expo 2023?

Sternhagen: Planar has been deploying mission-critical display technologies for 40 years. Today, our customers benefit from a diverse portfolio of products that seamlessly integrate with architectural elements, including sunny outdoor settings, brightly lit indoor spaces and even dark theater-like environments as a result of variable brightness and color settings.

This year we returned to CEDIA Expo with a new portfolio of award-winning LED and LCD visualization solutions designed to support both luxury and commercial environments. From remote offices, media rooms and poolside cinema to corporate lobbies and boardrooms, our newest solutions feature the finest pixel pitches, high brightness, protective coatings for outdoor ruggedness, ultra-wide formats and more. This wide range allows customers to find their perfect solution and, in most cases, tailor it to their exact needs.

CE Pro: How do Planar’s solutions fit into today’s home technology market?

Sternhagen: Planar’s professional-grade display technologies are designed to elevate visual experiences, simplify installation and maintenance, and feature design adaptability to accommodate an array of applications. This year’s CEDIA Expo attendees experienced our best visual performance to-date with advancements like pixel pitches down to sub-1 millimeter, increased visual contrast for deeper black levels, wider color gamuts and support for High Dynamic Range content.

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We demonstrated the finest outdoor pixel pitch in the industry with the new 1.2-millimeter model of the PlanarLuminate Ultra Series. The family of outdoor LED video wall displays is designed to bring to outdoor environments the same level of image detail historically reserved for indoor spaces, and was awarded Best of Show by Residential Systems.

CE Pro: What makes your product line unique in the marketplace?

Sternhagen: In addition to delivering unmatched visual performance and reliability, Planar’s cutting-edge solutions are backed by a team of local product experts and robust, U.S.-based manufacturing operations.

This provides customers with access to highly skilled and knowledgeable team members should any questions or issues arise. We also offer Planar Service Plans to help extend product lifespan and ensure that displays look their best with priority support, preventative maintenance visits and emergency on-site repairs.

Plus, our Planar DirectLightPro Series and Planar DirectLightUltra Series customers receive complete product coverage with the unparalleled Planar EverCare Lifetime Limited Warranty. This covers controller to sub-pixel and every component in between to provide complete confidence in the LED video wall purchase as well as reduce lifetime cost-of-ownership.

CE Pro: How does your product line help integrators grow their businesses?

Sternhagen: Many of the products we presented at this year’s show reflect Planar’s ongoing dedication to providing solutions that simplify maintenance and enable more installation options. This is true of the Planar Luminate Ultra Series, which allows customers to experience high bright, fine pitch viewing outdoors as well as create video walls of nearly any size.

CE Pro: What were the most common questions attendees to the Planar booth asked?

Sternhagen: Many CEDIA Expo attendees were interested in Planar’s view of the crossover between commercial display technology and residential display technology. Planar installations are usually commercially focused but more often, we are seeing higher end homes requesting display technology, such as LEDs, that were formerly only used in commercial settings.

The blurring of the lines makes sense because the products are similar, and we work to engineer products for both audiences.

CE Pro: Can you recap any other CEDIA Expo highlights that were special to this year’s event?

Sternhagen: CEDIA Expo is always a great opportunity for us to meet with and introduce ourselves to the leaders and innovators in the residential technology industry. Our team came away from the show truly inspired about increased investments in residential display technology.

CE Pro: Pulling out your crystal ball, how do you see the residential technology market evolving over the next few years?

Sternhagen: As technology advances, we can expect to see even narrower pixel pitches and wider aspect ratios emerge. This will give way to improved visual performance for uses spanning movies, digital artwork, sports, events, video conferencing and other forms of remote collaboration. It’s also likely new outdoor video wall applications will appear, especially as demand for close viewing, brightness levels and protective treatments for ruggedization continues to develop. 

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