I’ll admit it, I hate being asked during CEDIA Expo, “So, what have you seen that’s cool?” Just about everything on the show floor at the annual tradeshow is cool and I felt that was the case again at CEDIA Expo 2024.

Of course, some years are more transformative than others and after some reflection I wouldn’t quite put this year’s event into that category. CEDIA Expo 2024 was more about iterative and improved product portfolios.

The latest solutions, however, offer advancements that provide integrators and their customers with more design options, installation versatility, and third-party interoperability these days to put together control and entertainment systems.

As you can see from my picks below, the innovation came across in a wide variety of product categories.

Favorite Product Trio at CEDIA Expo 2024

Waterfall Audio Niagara XT Series

The French company Waterfall Audio produces what in my opinion are the most beautiful, unique loudspeakers in the industry. Not only for the jaw-dropping glass cabinet, but the attention to detail for the tweeter enclosure and the base. They also sound tremendous.

2024 Lighting Controls and Fixtures Report

Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.

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The only other company that might be on par design and performance wise is another international one, Magna Audio from Brazil. Their products are meticulously crafted out of materials that differentiate them – outdoor speakers and subwoofers made from various rocks that are perfected as speaker cabinets and finishes.

Sony Crystal LED 1.2mm

Sony had multiple demos at CEDIA Expo 2024. The one I experienced employed a bright Crystal LED demo, in which attendees were challenged to look for any differences between it and a high-performance projection system.

Indeed, you really couldn’t see seams in the CLED display thanks to a smaller pixel pitch of 1.2mm in this generation. With the room darkened, I couldn’t tell. My guess is if you asked people who didn’t know it was an LED wall instead of projection screen, most wouldn’t be able to tell. Plus, there is no projector noise to deal with in these media rooms.

Portal.io AI Proposal Builder

One of the last booths I visited was very hyped by integrator attendees and was mentioned by the influencers on my Saturday morning Smart Stage panel – Portal.io’s AI Proposal Builder tool.

The folks at Portal designed an incredibly integrator-friendly product that will boost efficiencies and help dealers deliver more comprehensive proposals that are much simpler to put together.

One example, shown to me during the demo by Portal’s Josh Willits, is the voice-to-text function where during a walkthrough the integrator can vocalize notes about what technology is going where, and the proposal builder will translate it and document it.

3 Key CEDIA Expo 2024 Themes

As my colleagues Robert Archer and Zachary Comeau have noted, there were some increasingly important themes and fascinating technologies on the Colorado Convention Center in Denver – and across the street at Destination Outdoors.

Lighting is arguably still king of the upward-trending technologies, and there were solutions again everywhere this year.

Here are three other big themes that stood out to me at CEDIA Expo 2024.

More Design-Friendly Products

The industry continues to develop products that are more attractive to interior design trade partners as associations and groups such as CEDIA and NKBA (National Kitchen & Bath Association) try to bridge that relationship gap.

Of course, they are also more appealing to homeowners as well and for good reason. Requests to “not see any tech” are easier than ever to address.

Toward that end, there are more options for flush-mounting and blending in potential wall clutter.

Wall-Smart, Lutron, and Trufig are among those leading the way highlighting dimmers, switches, touchpanels, keypads, and other controls that blend in with the surrounding surface materials like drywall, backsplashes, woodwork, masonry, etc.

Integrators are also able to “own the ceiling” more thanks to design-focused solutions. Small aperture speaker options like those from Sonance and Origin Acoustics; higher performing invisible speakers from Stealth Acoustics and Ambisonic, which also help with scenarios like microLED video walls and Frame TVs; and also the “invisible” mirror TV from Séura, which disappears when powered off.

Control companies offered design personalization too. For instance, RTI showed slick keypad LaserShark-engraved icons that are backlit with different colors to represent various subsystems controls.

Wall-Smart had new wares for the latest control devices and more. Photo/Arlen Schweiger

Home Networking Demand Blazes On

The network continues to be a priority, especially as Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 speeds and coverage keep elevating wireless performance.

Want to deploy some serious enterprise-grade networking? Check out PerfTech, which followed up on its enterprise-grade Island Router with the even more robust Island Pro.

The router offers updated aesthetics, delivers 13 million packets per second, and features 6 2.5gig boards and four 10 gig boards.

The company comes from the commercial world, so you know it works in mission-critical situations.

Outdoor Technology Remains Red Hot

Outdoor technology is huge, and companies are really assisting integrators to sell and install AV, shades, lighting, shades, security, and more so homeowners can extend their living space, feel safe, and enjoy their outdoor entertainment more frequently.

Again, Stealth Acoustics excels here with its Stealth Patio Theaters that incorporate LED screens and audio and disappear underground when not in use.

For lighting, several companies showed excellent outdoor products, and at Destination Outdoors Coastal Source had a very impactful demo illustrating front yard and back yard layers of lighting including its new EVO modular solution.

Companies like Screen Innovations and Draper (also at Destination Outdoors) were showing outdoor shades that expand daily living options.

A great entry system was in Vanco’s booth from their Beale Street Audio brand that introduced an outdoor sound system kit.

Security and video surveillance cameras have always been popular. An interesting innovation this year came from Ring, which showed its Pro line products that include surveillance cameras with embedded radar for the first time and with it the capability to create an aerial view of the homeowners’ property.

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