This year, ISE welcomed a large number of South African companies that flew to Amsterdam to network with partners and suppliers, to be trained and find out what’s new in the AV world. The show had a record 44 151 attendees, an eight % rise on last year’s numbers and there were over 1 000 product launches. Out of almost 900 exhibitors more than 200 were new exhibitors joining ISE for the first time. Geny Caloisi met with key SA players to find out what their show highlights were.

We met with Malcom Finlay from Penmac Audio Visual, Watchout Premium Partner, at ISE and he says that this is a must go show for both Pro AV suppliers and manufacturers. “This show is very important for us to stay abreast of the new technologies. While new technologies in niche markets are a large portion of our interest at this show, our prime purpose of the visit was to support Dataton Sweden on their stand with the exciting new products launched. As preferred partners for Dataton in South Africa, at this show we have the opportunity to interact with similar distribution networks from all over the world, where at times this covered in excess of 16 countries.’

Currently in South Africa there are more than 15 companies using Watchout software on a daily basis. Penmac dedicates a great amount of its time on supporting and training its partners and clients. “Every event you do, you have to improve upon it the following year. We have the expertise and knowledge to provide our partners and their clients with training and onsite support to make sure they use Watchout to the best of its capacities,’ said Finlay, who added: “Closely integrated with the feature list of the Dataton Watchout system, Penamac will be looking to support the Infitec range of high gain stereoscopic filter systems in South Africa. This light spectrum filtration system delivers one of the highest and most accurate 3D projection filtration currently available.’

Electrosonic SA sent three of its staff to ISE. Eugene Coetzee, Electrosonic SA’s Manager of AV systems, commented: “ISE is a great show, with a new record number of attendees for 2013. It made me feel proud to be associated with brands like Crestron, Kramer, Elite and NEC. Electrosonic imports and distributes these brands throughout southern Africa. It is evident by the sheer size of their booths at ISE that they are among the leading international brands in the AV industry.’
Located in Hall 2, the Crestron booth was one of the first exhibition stands you could see when you entered ISE 2013. The company created very sleek AV ecosystems that explained how its products fit into different vertical markets, from boardrooms and residential, to control rooms. Rupert Denoon, Electrosonic SA’s Crestron product manager, demonstrated the different solutions available.

Crestron launched its TSW surface mount touch screen collection at the show, which featured a clean, contemporary appearance with edge-to-edge glass and Core 3 UI graphics. Available in 5-inch, 7-inch and 10-inch models, the ultra-thin TSW collection provides the same high performance control as larger touch screens. It has a consistent elegant look throughout any commercial or residential installation. Utilising Rava SIP intercom technology, it provides the added convenience of full duplex intercom, VoIP telephone and group paging functionality. The 7-inch TSW-750 is now available, with the 5-inch TSW-550 and 10-inch TSW-1050 scheduled for release soon.

“The TSW family of touch screens feature the gorgeous design elements of today’s popular mobile devices, advanced high resolution graphics and animations. They feature a highly responsive performance to deliver an incredible user experience,’ says Robin van Meeuwen, VP of sales and marketing at Crestron International.”Our available screen sizes and pricing is comparable to the latest consumer tablets but also have the added power and reliability of Crestron control.’

This year Crestron had new training programmes in place. A total of 28 courses were held at the show, which were aimed at installers and integrators.
“It was fantastic that one of Electrosonic’s South African system integrators, HFX Systems, also received a “Highly Commended’ award in the ’Best Digital Media Install’ category at the Crestron Integration Awards,’ says Coetzee.
“Crestron and Kramer offered manufacturer training sessions at ISE, and it’s our aim to get our integrators to attend these courses. The great advantage is that they can receive InfoComm certification renewal points.’

Coetzee adds: “Our main reason for attending the show is to be there for our systems integrators in South Africa. We are part of the Crestron and Kramer family, which is why Rupert Denoon, Jason Johnston (Electrosonic’s Kramer product manager), and I worked on the respective booths. We set up appointments to show off the great product offering to them. It was also an opportunity to catch up with our suppliers, build relationships and discuss plans and strategies for the year ahead.’

Wynand Langenhoven, CEO at Peripheral Vision, a South African distributor of NEC and AMX had similar plans at ISE. The company specialises in residential and corporate projects and is on a green energy mission. “All AMX products have low current options and NEC’s LED screens also offer an environmentally friendly alternative,’ points out Langenhoven.

From the launches at ISE, Langenhoven was excited about AMX’s Enova DGX 8 Digital Media Switcher Enclosure. The Enova DGX8 has been designed for smaller installations with just eight local and remote AV sources are more than sufficient for the application.
Visual technologies giant Christie had an impressive stand. Phil Lord, sales consultant at Christie SA told us that the company is not just growing strong with its new products but he said it has plans to expand in the whole of the African territory.

“We opened our office in SA last year and my aim this year is to expand into mainland Africa. The rental and staging market is rapidly expanding beyond SA and there is need for training and education in the sector, which we can provide. Digital cinema is also strong. Botswana is premiering its first all digital multiplex, which includes 3D cinema. We are also focusing on control rooms and Christie’s new Entero HB video wall display cubes, which is a very strong product for this market. ‘

Entero HB is based on LED technology with over 1 000 lumens capability in illumination and wireless networking capabilities – the first in the world to do so, according to the company. The system also includes proprietary third generation ArraySync auto-colour and brightness LED video wall management, and improved tiling and scaling capabilities for the perfect video wall display in every application. The modular display systems cubes, feature screen sizes from 50 inches to 80 inches.

ISE was a great success and in view of its growing number of visitors and exhibitors, the organisers have agreed to extend their contract with conference centre Amsterdam RAI Until 2019. Over 500 companies have already reserved their space for next year, totaling over 30 000sqm of floor space.