The second part of audio-visual is where things get even more complicated. Visual covers a few sides of the industry; primarily video but other forms of visuals include lighting, image magnification (camera systems), and stage design (backdrops and decor).
Visuals have been a mainstay in meetings since long before sound amplification. Teachers used slide projectors and overhead projectors to display visuals to a crowd when I was growing up. People relied on printouts, flip-chart paper, and poster boards for presentations before that.
We will go over the other sides of visuals another time. Today let’s focus on video. When I was a kid a top of the line video projector cost more than a luxury car. Compared to today’s technology it was about as bright as a projector you can pick up at an office or electronics store for a few hundred dollars. Modern consumer projectors now fit in a backpack compared to the original ones being about the same size as a coffee table.
Video technology has come an absolutely insane distance in the relatively short time I have been in the industry. Pocket sized projectors can wireless connect to your phone and instantly turn any wall into a decent home theater. Consumer grade office projectors are brighter than they have ever been and as I mentioned earlier fit inside a backpack or briefcase with lenses on them that can fill a 10ft screen from a few feet away. Professional projectors no longer use lamps that burn out after 1000 hours but instead use a combination of lasers with a lifespan of 20,000 hours to light up their screens and are 20x brighter than they used to be.
Video used to be played back on 8mm film projectors. VHS tapes and betamax came after that. Then we had the digital revolution, ushered in with laserdiscs and DVDs. Now we have 4k blu-rays and simple digital downloads played through laptops, tablets, or phones.
Come back soon for more articles where we will break video down into more digestible bites and explain it for you. What was your first time experiencing video presentations like and if you can remember, what technology did they use? Leave your reply in the comments below and don’t forget to mention what you want to know more about with video and we will add it to the list of future topics!