Delta to Gain Momentum with Corporate and Education AV Solutions
Hemant Agarwal, Business Head - Display Solutions, Delta Electronics India
The AV Industry business is experiencing positive growth in the iFPD segment for applications which include education and corporate.
Hemant Agarwal, Business Head - Display Solutions, Delta Electronics India is the driving force behind the Indian arm of the multinational electronic giant, which is a pioneer in developing a wide array of professional display technologies for varied applications.
In this interview with AV-ICNx, Hemant talks about growth trends in the interactive display market, latest innovations from Delta and the market going forward.
Globally the interactive display market has been steadily growing over the past years. How has the growth been for Vivitek so far in an emerging market like India?
The Indian Interactive Flat Panel Display (iFPD) Market is highly competitive with the presence of large number of interactive flat panel manufacturers. We have seen a rapid growth in demand for iFPDs especially since last 18-20 months. There has been an exponential increase in number of enquiries for iFPDs specifically in applications like Education and Collaborative rooms. For Vivitek in India, we look at iFPD as one of our growth Engines for the next 2-3 years.
Do you feel the 32–65” panel size interactive display market will hold largest share in the year to come? And in which segment (education / hospitality / corporate etc.) do you envision increased demand for interactive displays in India?
We feel 32-65” sizes will mostly go for Hospitality and Signage applications. Interactive displays attract more visitors as they offer detailed and progressive versions of the content than just visual source of information. Companies are using interactive displays to build product awareness, enhance customer experience, and reinforce brand value. Sizes from 65” and upwards will form the main requirement for Educations and Corporate segments.
What are the latest innovations in Interactive Displays from Vivitek for varied application segments?
Vivitek’s Interactive flat panel display (NovoTouch) already has wireless presentation and collaboration functionality via the integrated Vivitek NovoConnect technology, enabling full BYOD support and intuitive connectivity. The new NovoTouch EK Series interactive flat panels are an all-in-one solution. The touch screen range combines wireless collaboration, digital whiteboard, and active announcement board function into one display, most suited for the Education Segment.
With 20-point touch, 4K resolution, screen casting and collaboration, the new series completes Vivitek range of interactive panel displays. It has built-in Digital signage feature which actively delivers information between the lessons or during downtime. Schools and colleges can publish notices, sport events, course schedules, canteen menu, and more.
How is NovoTouch unique or different from other interactive displays in the market?
At Vivitek, we follow more of a customer-centric approach and believe in providing a solution to customer that goes beyond wireless connectivity. These days, customers ask for true collaboration tools that enable moderator and participants to share and annotate content in real time. This is where the real value in collaboration lies, as decisions can be made quickly and challenges addressed promptly. Novo Touch takes care of all this. The power comes from integration with NovoConnect Solution which allows for up to 64 participants to connect in a digital workspace and wirelessly display their content to the main screen with features like voting, polling and instant file sharing. Even guests in a corporate environment can connect without any preparation by just connecting the LauncherPlus USB device to wirelessly connect to the workspace as well. offer users complete cable-free connectivity to a variety of devices. It allows to display up to 4 screens simultaneously. Tools such as Collaboration-moderation and screen preview, Cross platform screen mirroring (which supports iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS, Ubuntu, Chromebook, Airplay and google cast), wireless file sharing turn NovoTouch into a truly collaborative solution to engage all participants in the meeting.
If you have to name one single component, which makes NovoTouch an award-winning product, what would it be?
To talk about only one single component will be tough as NovoTouch is a Solution Box. One add on feature which NovoTouch comes with is that it has built-in Digital Signage application. With this, it supports a variety of online content like Twitter, RSS feed, weather information, IP streaming, webpages and cloud signage, besides supporting various file format like video, audio, images etc. to multiple displays from one server or cloud.
Which specific market segments are you targeting with the NovoTouch?
Interactive displays have now become a necessity for collaboration and act as an integral part of our business, educational and personal lives. Interactive displays that were once recognized by those ahead of the technological curve, have now gained mass market acceptance.
Talking about specific segment for NovoTouch, Education is one where there is a sudden rise in demand for interactive whiteboard in schools, institutions, and universities. These displays are useful for learning and teaching. The interactive display allows teachers to share text, screen, video, and audio files with students easily.
The other segment is Corporate Sector, where we have seen a consistent demand in interactive displays for wireless collaboration and file sharing.
It is safe to say that Delta has a major share of the DLP video wall market in India. What was the strategy you adopted to capture this market and would you be employing a similar strategy to win the interactive display market?
Yes, Delta leads the DLP Video wall market in India. Delta, now a US$9 billion group, has always been focused to innovation and systematically developing new products and technologies, thus making us a leader in the technology domain. We have our own manufacturing hub in India and offer turnkey solutions to our customers which enabled us position ourselves advantageously in the regional market. That has understandably contributed to our success journey.
The demand for Interactive panels should increase post Covid era, as social distancing regulations will be expected to be in place when schools, colleges and offices reopen. Administrator and moderator will require technologies that make it easier for all participants to communicate and collaborate more effectively.
Besides, Delta has always laid emphasis on uncompromising quality parameters, so the products rolled out onto the market, deliver incredible performance making it a compelling solution. Then, of course, is our after-sales-support complementing the technology deployment. For, a great technology and a great performance would not win the customer confidence if they are not backed up by after-sales support, so we lay equal emphasis on that aspect as well.
We intently continue to pursue the success formula for interactive displays as well.
Do you see demand for interactive displays continuing post-covid era or do you think it will be hindered due to factors such as unavailability or rising cost of materials etc.?
The demand for Interactive panels should increase post Covid era, as social distancing regulations will be expected to be in place when schools, colleges and offices reopen. Administrator and moderator will require technologies that make it easier for all participants to communicate and collaborate more effectively. Vivitek’s Novo Ecosystem allows users to easily share content from their personal devices to larger screens, offering flexibility that encourages interaction and enhances discussion. For instance in schools, the screen sharing feature in particular could easily be utilized to divide students into small groups to collaborate while maintaining social distance.
To further maintain social distancing, schools and universities can utilize digital signage systems to centrally design, publish, and manage messages or learning materials to multiple displays at the same time. It offers the potential to completely transform traditional classrooms by allowing classes to work together from different rooms, and also provides a means for broadcasting important information.
What are the company’s short and long-term goals for the Indian market in terms of product development and deployment across your different verticals?
For a plain matter of confidentiality, we would not be able to share the roadmap or specifics of our action plan. But yes, with the kind of investments that Delta is making in India, the future looks very bright. Our focus is on continuing the leadership position in the display industry which we currently have. We dedicate adequate time and resources towards expanding market presence for Vivitek line of products.
What is the greatest challenge that you envision in the year to come and how do you plan to address these challenges?
I think the greatest would be to get back on our feet and try to regain the pace which we had acquired over the years. The pandemic has sure put us back by at least 2 years and it will take a lot to recover from that. So our first challenge as well as endeavor would be to recover lost ground.
Any new innovation from Delta/ Vivitek that the industry can look forward to in the near future?
Talking about Vivitek, we had recently launched the NC-X700 and the NC-X900 to Vivitek’s range of NovoConnect devices. Both add-on devices are ideally suited to those who already have a screen or a projector, but wish to enhance or extend their existing AV infrastructure with wireless presentation functionality, or maximize their screen use with digital signage. These new models stand out in the market for facilitating more than just a wireless connection, and instead offer true collaboration. Users of the NC-X700 and the NC-X900 are able to share their content wirelessly from any device to the main screen.
For enhanced convenience, NC-X700 and the NC-X900 users can also connect using the Windows 10 Miracast. In addition, NC-X900’s dual-WiFi capacity enables native Windows (Miracast), Mac OS and iOS (AirPlay), and Android (Google Cast) mirroring, eliminating the need of installing any software. This will be the future of collaboration.