The digital display industry evolves constantly. To keep up, you’ve got to have an idea of what’s coming down the line in the future. No one can predict exactly where any tech industry will trend, but the following gives a reliable idea of a couple places you should be looking:
AR will Push VR for Simulated Superiority
Augmented reality may seem at first to fall short of virtual reality on the experiential spectrum –it gives you a more limited digital world to play in- but the truth, as many consumers will come to appreciate in 2018, may actually be the opposite. By shutting off users to the world around them, VR doesn’t enhance an experience so much as swap out a real one for a digital one. AR, on the other hand, supplements a user’s real-world experience with digital elements, thus creating a richer, more experiential realm. VR gives you an alternative reality to play in, AR smartly juices your current one instead. Put another way, VR isolates while AR expands. Large-format LED displays are built to entertain large audiences and to engage these disparate groups simultaneously, manufacturers will increasingly seek to provide socially interactive content experiences in 2018. AR is a big part of how they’ll do this.
Networked Display Solutions will Overhaul Communication
The utility of networked LED display systems will be a major industry talking point in the coming year. The reason for this is simple: connectivity breeds efficiency. LED display solutions paired with integrated content management systems equipped with internet connectivity like the NanoLumens AWARE™ system streamline communication to a dynamic new level. The operational flexibility this provides cannot be overstated. One notable area where you’ll see networked displays making headlines will be within government and public works command and control centers. These entities need to visualize the entire scope of their organization on the same platform, and they need to communicate with each element simultaneously. Networked LED displays are really the only true solution there, and 2018 will recognize that.
Scaling out by Shrinking Down
LED is already the most cost- and energy-efficient display technology on the market, and manufacturers are only going to improve their production efficiency as time goes on. This will lead to a greater proliferation of LED display solutions in markets where it was previously untenable, either for cost, size, or technological constraints. Examples of this LED expansion into smaller-format markets will be found frequently in the brick-and-mortar retail space. Store managers will come to realize the barriers that deterred them from turning to LED in the past are no longer present; Intimidating upfront costs are eliminated with on-going service plans like NanoLumens Visualization-as-a-Service, installation and maintenance is easier than ever as LED tech gets lighter and more versatile, and clarity issues with smaller-format displays are nullified as pixel pitches shrink ever further.