Foldable, gigantic, with 3D effect: the most spectacular screens at ISE 2026
The outcome of the trade fair has made it clear that, for the moment, 4K satisfies both the industry and consumers, as no 8K televisions were on display.
BarcelonaDespite taking place in the digital age, the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) conference has an unmistakably analog character. Not only because you have to enter with a printed badge—now that you can show a QR code on your phone screen almost everywhere—but, above all, because what's on display must be experienced physically: the screens must be seen and the speakers must be heard.
In terms of screens, at this year's ISE—the fifth edition held in Barcelona—we saw all sizes, shapes, and technologies. The sheer volume of high-resolution, high-brightness LEDs is certainly impressive, courtesy of the usual suspects (Samsung, LG, TCL, HiSense) and other lesser-known brands like Dahua, which has a 135-inch screen that folds into three sections for easier transport—take that, Dahua! smartphones-Samsung and Huawei triptych-. The two Korean brands mentioned have once again competed to showcase the most spectacular screen for command and control centers, whether industrial or urban management.
Naturally, the largest formats at ISE are the territory of video projectors, divided between Japan (Epson, Panasonic) and Belgium (Barco). Massimo Pizzocri, vice president of Epson's European business, explains to ARA that this segment focuses on projections onto building facades (mappings) and immersive art installations. He also predicts that the market will double in a few years and aims to capture half of it. However, it should also be considered that LG sells rolls of flexible LED screens for outdoor use, sold by the meter, with a separation of 35 or 40 millimeters between giant pixels, the size of a chocolate bar, which allow entire facades to be wrapped transparently. In fact, at the LG stand, samples of LED panels with different pixel spacings could be seen, some for installation on the floor or ceiling. Also transparent, but high-resolution, are the panels that rival Samsung offers for building display cases that show text and video information about the exhibited object, whether it's a jewel or a museum piece.
On more human-sized screens, both Samsung and LG are reinforcing their promising bet on color e-paper, ideal for applications where video or extreme brightness isn't necessary, where the information is static and changes infrequently, and where it's practical not to have to recharge them for months. Examples include promotional signage, corporate signage, and public transport stop timetables. However, 8K screens were nowhere to be seen at this ISE; LG has even stopped selling televisions with this resolution: both the industry and consumers seem more than satisfied with UHD/4K.
A 3D effect for stores
A star of Samsung's booth was what they call spatial signage, an 85-inch monitor for stores that, at just 52 millimeters thick, provides a three-dimensional sensation of up to half a meter in depth. The original 2D videos must be processed using the generative AI functions of the brand's VXT application, which is also necessary to manage what content is displayed at any given time on each of the screens in a store or chain. LG also has a similar platform, although both brands' displays are compatible with other display network managers: at the Sony booth, I counted up to 57 of these services. The two Korean giants also offer the hotel sector software platforms to manage in-room televisions: in addition to ordering breakfast, you can now easily link your mobile phone to use your Netflix account while traveling, with the assurance that your password will be deleted when you leave. Two more applications of displays that were very prominent at ISE are education and remote work. Numerous brands already offer digital whiteboards where teachers and students can write or draw simultaneously. Samsung has a smart classroom service for schools that automatically generates exams based on the day's syllabus using Google's Gemini generative AI; it's not yet available in Catalan, but the company assures me that it will be added soon.
In the field of videoconferencing, giants like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex are bringing together a wide ecosystem of add-ons and accessories at ISE, from Jabra, Shure, Sony, and Sennheiser bars for adding cameras, microphones, and speakers, enabling telematics from one room to another. In this context, Cisco is offering a room navigation map that allows users to locate an available room. But even more sophisticated is the system that the Catalan firm Foot Analytics has installed at the Banc Sabadell headquarters in Sant Cugat, where room occupancy is automatically detected using the Wi-Fi connections of employees' devices.
Hall 6 of the Gran Via venue at Fira de Barcelona is reserved for stage setup, lighting, and special effects. Among lasers, mobile platforms, spotlight rigs, and smoke machines, I'd say it's the closest thing to descending into hell, if it weren't for the fact that at least one of the stands had an area dedicated to audiovisual installations specifically for churches and places of worship. Apparently, in some countries, it's quite a lucrative market segment.
Recreating the acoustics of a venue
In other pavilions, the sound could be enjoyed more calmly, with conventional speakers, built-in speakers – home automation is one of the most important sectors at ISE – or unlikely shapes like the Pequod, named after the ship of Moby Dick. The Eurecat technology center has created a digital acoustic twin of Barcelona's Palau Moja, allowing listeners to recreate how the venue sounded at various points in history. But my favorite sonic curiosity of this year's event is the solar-powered speakers from the French company PikiP, which must be ideal for [unclear - possibly "real sound" or "audio-visual"]. radishes in the middle of the desert; I don't know if Óliver Laxe used them in his award-winning film Sirado
An event like ISE is impossible to cover in the limited space I have here, even without delving into the audiovisual content, which isn't strictly technology, although it uses a great deal of it. I'll simply note how many long-established brands have grouped themselves into conglomerates: AKG, JBL, BSS, Lexicon, DBX, Soundcraft, and others are part of Harman—which has been owned by Samsung for almost a decade; the German professional microphone brand Sennheiser also owns the Swiss company Neumann, which makes microphones for recording studios. ISE also demonstrates that a single company can follow different paths depending on the market segment: the Japanese company Sony shows great dynamism in professional equipment while having just sold its Bravia television business to the Chinese company TCL; and Bose showcases its telematic management of sound networks even though it will definitively shut down the SoundCloud service for its home speakers this month.
