“The Pro AV Sector Will have to Adopt More IT Technologies & Skills.” – Mandar Gupte, Barco India

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | July 19, 2016 | Interview

A global tech company, Barco specializes in designing and developing networked visualization products for the Entertainment, Enterprise and Healthcare verticals.

In an exclusive interaction with EVENTFAQS, Mandar Gupte, Sales Director-Entertainment & Corporate Division, Barco India throws light on the significant aspects of the organization’s endeavors to connect with their TG, the most recent in AV & Projection Innovation and more…

Please tell us little more about Barco. What are the efforts of Barco, as a brand, to reach out to the suppliers of the event and experiential marketing industry? 

Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops networked visualization products for the Entertainment, Enterprise and Healthcare markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and APAC which includes India also. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with 3,300 employees worldwide.

Barco India is very much active in Corporate, Venues and Attractions, Cinema, Simulation, Retail & Advertising, Automotive, Education and Government sector providing AV solutions. Although, the only way, we interact in the market is through our loyal partners, but in exception cases, we might go directly also. Barco always make sure that our distributors and partners are well-treated and have the latest updates from our products. They are our medium to talk and make our brand felt in the core of the event and experiential marketing industry.

What are the latest AV and projection technology in the market these days? How are these applied in experiences / events to elevate them?

Currently, laser is the latest technology in the industry.  There are two types of laser technology available in the market, one is Laser Illumination involving colour wheels and another is Laser Illumination with direct laser illumination. 

 The industry was introduced to colour phosphor-based illumination that solved the problems of a lamp-based illumination by making use of a blue laser to excite segments of a phosphor quoted colour wheel to impart colour to the image. This implementation is being currently used for the large venue events projectors and certain manufacturers are also using the same in ProAV projectors.

The other technology avoids the use of colour wheels to impart colour and is touted as the golden standard in the projection technologies today. It primarily builds on the fact that there are no mechanical parts like the phosphor colour wheels. The direct Laser Illumination improvises over the use of LED’s that have for more than 8 years been used in different applications. The use of direct laser illumination brings a host of benefits to system integrators, operators and customer alike. This technology is being deployed by manufacturers like Barco in the Digital Cinema space.

What can the industry look forward to in terms of new / improved AV / Projection technology in the near future?

A decade ago, no one in pro AV – or anyone outside of Apple, for that matter – knew the iPad was coming. When it debuted four years later in 2010, leading AV companies were quick to develop apps because they recognized that the device would shake up the industry. Collaboration, laser technology, bendable LED and wireless connectivity are some of the new improved AV technologies in the near future. The AV industry will have to adopt more IT technologies and skills. The IoT category is also very important spanning everything from surveillance sensors to drones. In future, IoT has a big role to play in the AV industry. Education is another market where IT, IoT and AV will come together. Barco lead by innovation, collaboration, wireless technologies and laser are some of the many technologies that Barco provides and will continue to offer in future to upgrade the current pro AV industry.