The convergence of residential and commercial technology, coined “resimercial,” has provided an opportunity for crossover between manufacturers, integrators and many other business facets. Resimercial has accelerated the adoption of technology integrations in nearly every industry and application, including home/hybrid offices, flex spaces and commercial spaces, specifically office, retail and mixed-use facilities. As a result, ProAV manufacturers are designing and manufacturing solutions that can be utilized in both commercial and residential applications.

The inaugural Commercial Integrator Expo (CIX) 2023, co-located with CEDIA Expo 2023, created a “necessary home” for systems integrators, designers, distributors, architects, home builders and contractors tackling the resimercial and commercial markets. The event was bustling with technologies, educational sessions and opportunities centered around the industry’s hottest trends, including unified communications, audiovisual networking and digital signage.

Emerald, the parent company of both CIX and CEDIA Expo, has highlighted the following trends that were featured prominently featured at CIX 2023.

Unified Communications

At CIX 2023, the Interactive Multimedia and Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA) hosted industry experts in unified communications in engaging conference track sessions that discussed the latest trends and solutions opportunities for systems integrators’ and technology managers’ businesses. To support the overlapping skill set, IMCCA’s educational programming covered the key aspects for residential integrators to become trusted experts in unified communications and collaboration technologies. Additionally, IMCCA’s educational sessions, combined with many exhibitors on the CEDIA Expo and CIX 2023 show floor, showcased enterprise video collaboration and unified communications technology solutions that can be utilized in home offices, flex spaces and mixed-use facilities.

Audiovisual Networking

A plethora of networking equipment was introduced at CIX 2023, all aimed at providing “reliable connections to address the growing challenges of hybrid and remote work,” such as video distribution in light commercial and mixed-use spaces, high-performance networking for hybrid and remote offices and connectivity for boutique, niche environments, like flexible, mixed-use spaces.

Luxul, a brand of Legrand | AV, introduced a refreshed line of managed PoE+ AV gigabit switches, which are designed to provide AV-over-IP in small offices, conference rooms, home theaters or other light commercial applications. Meanwhile, NETGEAR showcased the PR60X, a professional-grade router offering up to 16Gbps bidirection WAN-LAN throughput performance. The PR60X is designed for power users who depend on reliable, fast communications from their small businesses or home offices.

Digital Signage

At CIX 2023, the Digital Signage Federation’s Digital Signage Day enabled attendees to take advantage of relevant and informative educational opportunities to drive digital signage opportunities for their businesses forward. Uniquely, the programming during Digital Signage Day complemented the new technologies on the show floor to provide attendees with “unparalleled value.”

Attendees could take their knowledge to the show floor as they discovered emerging trends in digital signage, including new advancements in OLED and microLED. LG introduced OLED M, available in 77-inch, 83-inch and 97-inch diagonal measures, which allows integrators to install the display without the wires behind the screen. Additionally, LG showcased 2K and 4K microLED displays, designed in two panels that snap together for simplified installation.

Planar featured the DirectLight Ultra Series, a lineup of fine-pitch microLED video wall displays that deliver high-contrast, high brightness for “exceptional video performance.” The displays are ready for HDR content, maximizing the image quality of each pixel for brighter whites, darker blacks and more true-to-life colors in various uses, such as corporate boardrooms and theater-like environments.

Final Thoughts

It has long been thought that residential and commercial technologies and their respective markets were separate entities not meant to overlap. In an October 2022 article, “When Worlds Collide: The Commercial and Residential AV Crossover”, Commercial Integrator noted that integrators on both sides of the industry — both residential and commercial — are expanding their offerings and exploring new technologies to meet their clients’ needs due to the lack of available products and the need for reliable, consistent technology amid continuous supply chain disruptions.

Emerald says Commercial Integrator Expo was established to provide a resource to support the overlap between education, technology and resources to expand opportunities for channel professionals, IT integrators and tech managers. From AI, audio, control, video, digital signage, security, energy management, lighting and unified communications, exhibitors provided attendees with a well-rounded offering of the latest technologies centered around the industry’s hottest trends.

If you missed Commercial Integrator Expo 2023, you can see all our coverage of it here: https://www.ravepubs.com/commercial-integrator-expo/