World - Absen has successfully launched 20 more showrooms across key locations worldwide, available for scheduled visits by appointment. The showrooms are strategically situated in China (Shenzhen, Huizhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Hong Kong), the United States (New York, Orlando, and Los Angeles), the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

This global expansion underscores Absen’s ongoing commitment to offering cutting-edge solutions and exceptional localised services, says the company. Now with a grand total of 78 showrooms (including channel partners’ showrooms) across five continents, Absen continues to strengthen its global footprint.

Absen opened its newly upgraded showroom in Germany in February 2025. The advanced display area is designed to provide a

Germany - Digital Signage Summit Europe will take place on 21-23 May at Hilton Munich Airport with ChromeOS by Google as the headline sponsor. The event, organised by invidis in partnership with Integrated Systems Events (ISE), will also be supported by Lenovo as premium event partner, M-Cube as technology partner, along with several other notable brands.

DSS Europe 2025 is poised to include the largest speaker line-up to date, as well as enhanced features and a variety of new experiences aimed at promoting networking, knowledge-sharing, and innovation. 

New for 2025 the DSS Europe app, sponsored by Lenovo, is a major highlight of this year’s summit. The app features an advanced matchmaking engine that suggests meaningful connections between delegates, as well as between delegates and exhibitors, based on shared interests. Users can seaml

UK - Bold colours, deep blacks and moving set pieces are brought to life in Muriel’s Wedding the Musical – the stage adaptation of PJ Hogan’s 1994 film – whose just-wrapped UK premiere at the Curve theatre in Leicester featured a striking video-led design powered by over 400 LED panels from INFiLED’s DBmk2 Series.

Designed by Andrzej Goulding, the production blends theatrical storytelling with a playful, modern aesthetic, featuring oversized mobile phone frames, animated graphics and vivid, Australian-inspired visuals. To realise Goulding’s creative vision, the technical team needed an LED solution capable of delivering deep contrast, faithful colour reproduction at low brightness, and seamless integration with the physical set.

INFiLED’s DBmk2 Series, with its 10,000:1 contrast ratio and matte black surface, proved ideal for t

UK - Brompton Technology has announced the appointment of Steve Leyland as its new chairman of the board.

Leyland’s appointment follows the resignation of Brompton’s previous Chairman, Neil Gaydon, for health reasons. Neil joined at the time of Brompton receiving investment from specialist private equity provider Connection Capital in 2022 and has played a central role in developing Brompton’s growth strategy. “We are very grateful to Neil for all his support and wish him the very best,” says Richard Mead, Brompton’s CEO.

A seasoned executive and respected voice in the AV industry, Leyland brings with him decades of international leadership experience, including senior roles at Barco, Polycom, and Intel, and a proven track record of driving growth and strategic transformation across global markets. Leyland currently runs a consulting prac

UK - Absen has sharpened its UK ProAV focus with three new strategic hires. This move – designed to fuel the company’s ambitious regional growth plans – reinforces its dedication to localised service and strong relationships across Europe. The reinforced UK division also underscores its pledge to provide advanced LED solutions and exceptional service throughout the UK. Joining the UK Absen team are:

Peter Mytton-Bayley – business development executive: With 30 years of experience in consultant and strategic roles within the AV sector, including significant work in corporate and education installations,

Peter joins Absen’s UK team to support its expanding market presence. He will leverage his extensive industry knowledge to drive the adoption of Absen LED in upcoming projects and champion Absen's commitment to sustainability through its Abse

USA - PPDS, the global provider of Philips Professional Displays, has announced its advanced and flexible suite of digital signage solutions has been selected to enhance communication and collaboration capabilities at The Putnam County School System (PCSS), in Cooksville, Tennessee.

Located an hour’s drive east of Nashville and 100 miles west of Knoxville, the PCSS is one of the state’s largest public school districts, employing over 1,700 staff and educating over 12,000 students. Boasting a 93 per cent graduation rate, PCSS is responsible for 22 schools in total, including elementary (x11), middle (x4), high (3), as well as virtual and adult learning.

With a commitment to providing best-in-class communication and collaborative experiences across all campuses, the use of display technology plays a critical role in the teaching and learning experi

UK - AbsenLive, a division of Absen, recently brought Culture Club's UK Tour to life with immersive visuals, delivering a truly memorable experience for concertgoers.

Culture Club embarked on a UK arena tour in December 2024, with special guests Tony Hadley and Heaven 17. The tour took place in venues such as the O2 in London and Manchester’s new Co-op Live. Axiom Events, the production management and equipment provider for the tour, were responsible for delivering robust touring LED panels that could also push the creative boundaries of the show.

The tour marked the first large scale deployment of Axiom’s new stock of AbsenLive LED screens which includes over 140sq.m of XL, Standard and Cube corner panels. When making the investment it was key that the product was of exceptional build quality and suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Therefore, t

UK - London-based integrators, Tateside, has hired two new employees on an apprenticeship basis as part of their commitment to fostering the next generation of AV industry professionals. As part of their training, George and Joe will shadow the Tateside team on projects, undergo technical training and spend time with different departments to gain an understanding of the integration business and the world of AV.

“Many of us started out in AV quite young, and we want to give others the opportunity to do the same,” says Jack Cornish, technical director at Tateside. “It can be difficult for people to find a clear career route into the integration business, so through these apprenticeships, we are offering a path to a future in AV that will hopefully inspire these young people to continue their journey within the company or the wider industry.”

A

UK - Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition opened at Excel London in March 2025, inviting visitors to step inside the story of the boy king in a spectacular reimagining of Ancient Egypt. Produced by FKP Scorpio Entertainment and created by Madrid Artes Digitales (MAD), the 26,000sq.ft experience blends archaeology, storytelling and immersive technology.

At the heart of the show is a towering 8m-high, 360-degree projection-mapped environment – an engineering feat designed to transport audiences to a richly detailed ancient world. This central immersive space, known as the ‘black box’, was designed and installed by Belgian multimedia specialists Painting with Light (PWL), with projection powered by Epson and media playback delivered by Hive’s high-performance Beeblade system.

From the outset, the project came with an ambitious timeline

UK - Adlib, a leading technical production provider across the live experience industry, has been honoured with a King’s Award for International Trade for outstanding short-term growth in overseas sales.

The Award recognises Adlib’s international reputation and commercial success in delivering projects outside of the UK. Founded in 1984, Adlib is headquartered in Prescot, Merseyside, with locations in Glasgow and London. Between 2022 and 2024, Adlib’s overseas turnover saw significant growth, supported by the company's prominent position within the international touring market. Adlib’s strong relationships with their North American client base has consistently ensured that Adlib are relied on for European, and increasingly global, touring requirements.

John Hughes, managing director of Adlib comments, “We are immensely proud to hav

UK - Brompton Technology has been honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation. Brompton is one of just 197 organisations nationally to receive the 2025 Award, recognised for outstanding achievement in the Innovation category. A total of 199 Awards are made with two companies being recognised with two Awards.

The King’s Award recognises Brompton’s innovation in developing the Tessera SX40, which set a new standard for LED video processing. Supporting 4K workflows with a robust 10G fibre-based data distribution model, Tessera SX40 solves critical bandwidth and cabling challenges for large LED screens in demanding environments.

These, and many other, ongoing enhancements, delivered via software rather than hardware upgrades, have allowed Brompton’s processors to evolve alongside its customers’ needs, preserving investme

France - Three Groupe Novelty companies mobilised their respective technical expertise to deploy a night-time audiovisual immersive experience for the Parc des Oiseaux with a 17,000 m² projection onto a semi dried out lake.

Located 30km North of Lyon (France) as the crow flies, the Parc des Oiseaux welcomes 280,000 visitors every year between April and October, when birds migrate back to this region which boasts over 1,300 ponds. To extend its appeal into the winter months, the largest bird park in Europe has taken on a new technical and artistic challenge with Les Nuits du Parc: an immersive night-time trail which ran from November to March 2025.

The idea was to make people discover the park from a new perspective, as park director Emmanuel Visentin explains: “We wanted to bring some winter magic, an experience that would extend the link between

UK - Solstice AV has announced a new strategic UK partnership with i3Connect, specialist in large-format touch displays and interactive technologies for collaboration and education.

With Solstice AV now handling local distribution, resellers across the UK will benefit from faster delivery times, enhanced availability and a more efficient ordering process.

Born from the merger of i3-Technologies and CTouch, i3Connect combines the latest technology with a strong commitment to sustainable innovation. From classrooms to boardrooms, i3Connect offers solutions designed to shape the future of learning and collaboration, with a portfolio that includes touchscreens, interactive boards, wireless presenting and more.

“We’re excited to join forces with Solstice AV,” said Kurtis Oliver, country sales manager UK at i3Connect. “This partnership is a

UK - Full Production, a leading UK entertainment technology solutions provider, has committed to the Q-SYS platform to future-proof its audio-visual systems design and enhance integration speed, operational reliability, and control flexibility.

First adopted by Full Production for the new Treetop Golf visitor attraction in Bristol, this new system architecture represents a significant investment in R&D. This, Treetop’s sixth site, and the third built by Full Production, sets a new benchmark for installation quality and reliability.

At the Bristol site, Q-SYS seamlessly integrates with lighting controllers from Visual Productions and spatial audio elements within QLab to create an immersive environment. Players’ movements activate sensors, triggering actions in sound, light, video, and atmosphere.

Developed by US-based pro audio manufa

Canada - Riedel Communications has announced that Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena has implemented Riedel MediorNet decentralised routing as part of the venue’s reimagination, with the help of system integrator Matrix Video Communications Corp (MVCC).

MediorNet provides much-needed flexibility and reduces set-up time when production teams switch from hockey mode to basketball mode in the arena, or one of hundreds of other events throughout the year. Similarly, the arena’s new Riedel intercom ecosystem, consisting of a Riedel Artist intercom system, Riedel Bolero Wireless Beltpacks, and Riedel SmartPanels, greatly simplifies communications.

Scotiabank Arena was built for NHL and NBA games, but it also hosts an average of 100 concerts and hundreds of other events annually. Regarded as one of the top arenas in North America, the venue is similar to a br

USA - Atlona has promoted Paul Krizan to product line manager effective immediately. Reporting to Atlona executive director Jamey Swigert, Krizan will drive the innovation cycle for Atlona, leading the product management and hardware engineering teams as they bring the next generation of Altona’s AV products to life. He will also maintain and evolve the existing portfolio of Atlona collaboration, connectivity and control products worldwide.

Krizan joined Atlona as product manager, networked AV in 2020, where he was responsible for managing the complete product lifecycle for the company’s AV over IP solutions. His achievements include the development and launch of OmniStream 2.0, a free firmware upgrade that added 4K/60 4:4:4 video support, improved bitrate efficiency, integrated multiview processing and near-zero latency to existing OmniStream hardware.<

UK - Eikon Group specialises in mastering, localising, and distributing digital entertainment content. With offices in London, Los Angeles, and Sydney, it operates 24/7. Given the vast amounts of digital video content coming in and out and being archived, there's a massive amount of traffic across their network.

Eikon’s London office has three theatres, six media suites, and two theatrical media suites, all of which are in constant use. The 37 Dante-enabled devices in the office were originally on a single VLAN, but as the business evolved, subscription management became problematic. Patrick Roche, senior media systems engineer, was brought on board to streamline their processes. The studio used a Q-SYS Core 500i just for cinema routing in the main theatre, and Roche realised it was massively underutilised.

“The driving force for implementing Dan

Hungary - Lightware continues to strengthen its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives by fostering diversity, inclusion, and community engagement within the technology sector.

Guided by a commitment to building a sustainable and equitable future, Lightware’s ESG strategy focuses on advancing high-quality development and manufacturing, fostering innovation, promoting gender equality, reducing environmental impact, and maintaining the highest standards of ethical governance.

As part of its ESG efforts, Lightware participated in Girls in STEM Day on 10 April, a nationwide initiative in Hungary designed to encourage young girls to explore careers in engineering, science, and technology. Recognising the ongoing underrepresentation of women in technical fields, Lightware is committed to inspiring future generations to pursue ST

UK - For the first time, PLASA Focus Leeds has launched an official mobile app, now available to download on both Apple and Android devices. Introduced following the success of the PLASA Show London app in 2024, which saw strong uptake among visitors, the new app is designed to maximise engagement and efficiency at the 2025 show.

Taking place at the Royal Armouries, Leeds on 13–14 May 2025, the event will once again welcome thousands of professionals working across live events, AV, lighting, audio, rigging, staging and more. The PLASA Focus Leeds app serves as a comprehensive, digital companion for navigating the show, enabling you to:

 - Access and print visitor badges directly from the app

 - Browse a full exhibitor and product list in advance

 - View the detailed seminar and workshop schedule

 - Use the inter

Europe - PPDS has announced the unexpected passing of Martijn van der Woude, VP of global business development and marketing.

Martijn joined PPDS in 2019 and enjoyed a career spanning more than 25 years in business development, sales and marketing, and general management.

Renowned in the AV industry and beyond as an entrepreneurial enabler, prior to joining PPDS he was co-founder and CEO of a Hong Kong and China-based dvLED manufacturer for the sport, media and events markets globally, and before this decade in Asia, Martijn founded and owned a Dutch-based international software and consultancy company.

As many will know, Martijn was also a passionate advocate for promoting sustainability in the AV industry, steering PPDS' sustainability strategy and commitments to bringing more environmentally conscious solutions to market.

Above all

UK - The Human League’s Generations arena tour kicked off its UK leg in December 2024. By the band’s third show they’d already elicited a five-star review from the Guardian, who described the show as “An evening of immaculate electro pop, delivered with grace, precision, and elation”.

Behind the scenes, seasoned production manager Sarah Hollis was at the helm. Hollis has been production managing tours since the late 90s and has worked with The Human League since their 2008, Steel City tour. “I was also the stage manager on that tour,” she explained, “which was a mixture of arenas, theatres and a couple of academies (and not in the order you’d like!) so let’s say it kept me on my toes, and I’ve been working with the band ever since.”

Emmy Award winning designer, Rob Sinclair, was asked by the band’s

Europe - Raw Cereal, a renowned global creative production studio, was tasked with designing a bold, immersive visual experience for Hardy's Quit!! tour. With Hardy's evolving musical style blending country, rock, and pop, Raw Cereal had to ensure the visual elements matched the energy and variety of his performances. For the second time, they relied on AV Stumpfl's Pixera media server, known for its flexibility and robust feature set.

Cort Lawrence, the tour’s creative director, explained the scope of Raw Cereal's involvement: "On the show, we handled everything from the production design, stage design, lighting design, scenic design, as well as pyro, special effects, video content, and just overall show." The team was responsible for creating a comprehensive experience that connected Hardy's new album visuals with his live performances.

South Africa - After six years off the calendar, Mediatech Africa is back. The original and largest trade show for AV, broadcast, and live event tech on the continent returns from 3 - 5 June 2026 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre (Nasrec) – and it's bringing the industry back together to mark 25 years since the first show in 2001.

Mediatech Africa has been a cornerstone of the continent’s AV and broadcast industry since day one. More than just an expo, it’s a space for the industry to connect, share ideas, and stay in step with the latest tech. Its legacy is built on collaboration, community, and innovation – drawing top brands, global suppliers, and the passionate people who keep the industry moving forward.

Simon Robinson, co-owner of Mediatech, recalls: “Our first show was in 2001 at the Sandton Convention Centre. It was small, focused mos

Japan - Brompton Technology has announced its pivotal role in powering the impressive LED displays at Expo 2025 Osaka, which officially opened on 13 April in Yumeshima, Osaka Bay. The company’s advanced Tessera LED processors are being used to power AOTO and INFiLED LED screens across multiple key pavilions, including the Japan Pavilion, the Indonesian Pavilion, and the Immersive Entertainment Zone, delivering image quality and reliability for this 184-day global event.

With more than 150 countries and regions participating, and a focus on the theme Designing Future Society for Our Lives, Expo 2025 showcases a vision of our future, forged through technological innovation, cultural exchange, and global partnership. At the heart of the event’s impressive displays are Brompton's Tessera SX40 processors and XD data distribution units, configured spe

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