Given the rise in the global profile of Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) along with the weight of its announcements, U.S. integrators who are not paying attention risk falling behind on trends that can shape client conversations. This was my first time at ISE 2026, and the breadth and scale of the show floor is difficult to overstate; however, that made it clear why this event has become a bellwether for the industry.
Covering everything was not possible, but what follows are five takeaways that stood out most from what I was able to take in at ISE 2026.
1. LED Technology Pushes Into New Form Factors
While LED solutions have steadily been improving over time, from improved pixel pitch to lower prices to newer and more robust construction and mounting methods, the industry is continuing to innovate. One innovation that was fairly ubiquitous across the show floor was transparent LED meshes. These are flexible LED panels with large gaps between the LEDs that allow light to pass through so you can see what’s on the other side. The format has been available for a couple of years, but this year nearly every major LED manufacturer had a version on display.
Also noteworthy: LED panels with surface finishes designed to mimic wood or stone when powered off. The architectural integration story is compelling, even if real-world enterprise applications remain limited for now. Both formats are worth tracking as installation costs normalize.
2. Color ePaper Displays Take Center Stage
Color ePaper was another emerging category at ISE 2026. The technology itself is not new —monochrome ePaper displays have been used in room-scheduling and wayfinding applications for years. But the past 12 months have seen a rapid expansion into full color, and the show reflected that shift: Majority of display vendors were exhibiting color ePaper solutions, across a wide range of sizes and configurations.
Moreover, the energy efficiency advantage over LCD remains significant, and the color quality has crossed a threshold that makes it viable for a broader set of enterprise deployments.
3. Rise of Next-Generation Compute Solutions
While the majority of UC compute solutions have traditionally been off-the-shelf PCs, we’re now seeing more purpose-built compute solutions, with connectivity specifically-designed for these AV-integrated UC applications. Furthermore, we’re now seeing the adoption of powerful next-generation processors to better support the demands of new AI feature sets and extend their longevity into the future as the needs of these conferencing platforms evolve.
Additionally, widespread availability of standardized UC-specific builds have enabled even more manufacturers to enter the market with their own room kit solutions. But this comes at a cost: Many of these companies are doing so at the expense of continuing to develop and innovate their platform-agnostic peripherals for use with PC-based conferencing solutions.
And because building a full product ecosystem from scratch is not feasible in a single development cycle, most are launching with support for a specific room type — leaving gaps for organizations that want consistent compute standardization across all room categories.
Clients looking to standardize on a single platform in order to drive continuity of deployment, meeting experience and long-term management will find their options limited to a handful of established manufacturers with broader existing product lines. Integrators advising on long-term AV infrastructure strategy should keep in mind surfacing this constraint early.
4. Focus on Intelligent Video Marketing, Maybes and Maturing Solutions
The industry has recognized the need for intelligent video solutions, and now more manufacturers than ever are jumping into the game with their own offerings — similar to how most eventually released their own wireless presentation solution or now offer their own cloud monitoring/management platform.
The challenge is separating the viable solutions from the chaff. Single-camera PTZ speaker tracking is a solved problem, and it has been for years. The harder challenge is multi-camera orchestration: tracking speakers throughout a room and switching between feeds in a way that feels natural rather than jarring. Several booths at ISE were showcasing solutions that still rely on simulated switching, a sign that the underlying technology is not yet production-ready.
Others were presenting multi-camera setups that, on a closer look, were simply routing multiple USB streams through native platform features, leaving remote participants to manage their own view selection. There are, however, some promising new entrants to the market. Time will tell if their offerings deliver the experience that customers desire at a price point they can afford.
Meanwhile, the industry leaders are continuing to innovate and ship new and effective updates that streamline the deployment process of their complex high-end systems, while offering more and more viable options for simpler spaces with lower budgets. This is a market segment that will continue to evolve tremendously over the next few years, so it is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
5. USB-C/DP Alt Mode Adoption Takes Hold
It has taken a long time to finally reach the point where users expect single-cable USB-C solutions wherever they go, but we are finally there. The industry has responded by developing systems which are designed with native USB-C connectivity in mind.
The infrastructure challenge is real, however. In most installed rooms, the conferencing hardware — soundbars, collaboration bars, and similar devices — sits at a distance that makes direct USB-C connection from the table impractical. The new paradigm is that the USB-C port on the device will carry both USB data and DisplayPort Alt Mode for video. That requires a new class of extension solution purpose-built for USB-C DP Alt Mode pass-through, rather than the traditional USB and HDMI extenders that handled the prior generation of connectivity.
ISE 2026 showed a meaningful increase in products designed to solve exactly this problem, with many also incorporating device charging. There are also some interesting solutions for retrofitting existing HDMI + USB extension infrastructure and combining the signals at one or both ends to USB-C with DP Alt Mode. For integrators designing or refreshing conference rooms, this is an infrastructure consideration that should be part of every scope conversation.
ISE 2026: Final Takeaways
All in all, the event covered far more ground than any single attendee can capture — the show floor spans multiple halls and several days of programming. But these five takeaways from ISE 2026 reflect some interesting places where the AV industry is putting its money, and areas that clients are likely to be asking about well before InfoComm in June and CEDIA Expo/CIX in September. Many of these products will arrive in North America with U.S. pricing and availability attached by then.
My advice: Start tracking these developments now so you can lead those conversations rather than scrambling to catch up when clients bring them to you.
Nathan Firesheets, CTS-D, CTS-I, CMCP-G, is director of technology and innovation at AV-Tech Media Solutions.
