07.02.2025
Author: Tobias Selg
ISE 2025 Barcelona, a first recap
Manufacturers will focus on expanding and diversifying their product ranges to cover a broader price spectrum and better serve the various needs of customers. ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) 2025 in Barcelona showed us that no groundbreaking innovations or revolutionary products will be launched in the field of digital signage technologies this year.
Flexible quality levels for every budget with LED technology
This is particularly evident in the LED sector. Manufacturers are now increasingly offering different quality levels to enable a wide range of price options. These gradations in LED quality are intended to make it easier for companies to find the right solution for their specific requirements, meaning that compromises in performance/quality can now be significantly compensated for in terms of price.
Although the trade fair had many impressive showcases that demonstrated the technical possibilities of digital signage, it was clear that these implementations are rather limited in «everyday» use.
Focus on sustainable digital signage solution e-paper display
The only significant technical advancement presented at ISE 2025 were the numerous prototypes in the field of large-format e-paper displays. These displays offer interesting new possibilities and raise the expectation that e-papers could be a valuable addition to existing technologies in certain use cases. Manufacturers agree that e-papers will not replace existing digital signage solutions, but will rather find their place as a complementary technology in niche applications and special scenarios.
To summarise, it can be said that the digital signage industry is currently making progress primarily in product diversification and the improvement of existing technologies, but without presenting any revolutionary innovations. The development of e-paper displays could create an interesting additional market in the future, but it remains to be seen how far this technology will really gain a foothold in widespread use.
«Evolution instead of revolution.»
ISE 2025 in Barcelona painted a clear picture of the digital signage industry: evolution instead of revolution. While there were no groundbreaking innovations, manufacturers focused on the strategic expansion of their product ranges in order to serve different price segments and customer requirements in a more targeted manner.
This trend was particularly evident in the LED segment. Suppliers are now differentiating their products more strongly according to quality levels, allowing customers to make more flexible decisions depending on their budget and intended use. This new pricing makes it possible to make targeted compromises between performance and cost.
Although the trade fair presented impressive technical demonstrations, their practical applicability in everyday life proved to be limited. Here is an impressive example of projection mapping in a mirrored room. The mapping and the mirrored surfaces make the actual quarter sphere appear as a full sphere:
The numerous prototypes of large-format e-paper displays were an exception. According to the manufacturers, this promising technology will not replace existing digital signage solutions, but will usefully supplement the portfolio for specific applications. Here is the prototype from Sharp/NEC:
Digital signage 2025 between innovation and practical relevance
The digital signage industry is therefore in a phase of consolidation and optimisation. While there are no revolutionary innovations, the focus is on refining existing technologies and tapping into new market segments - such as e-paper displays, whose broad market penetration has yet to be seen.