I walked hall 4 of the Fira Barcelona at ISE 2026, and for a moment might I thought I had stumbled into NAB or IBC. While Integrated Systems Europe has traditionally been the home of digital signage, smart building tech, and conference room integration, this year marked a definitive turning point.
The silos are gone. The “Broadcast” world and the “AV” world have not just shaken hands; they have moved in together.
The driver of this shift is simple: Content. Corporate offices, universities, and churches are no longer just consuming video; they are producing it at a cadence and quality that rivals tier-2 broadcasters. Platforms like YouTube have democratized the path of communications to the masses. No longer does the cable companies control the flow of video based content its currently in the hands of every company and human on earth. To do that, people need professional tools.
This year, a specific cohort of manufacturers: Ikan, Ross Video, Enco, Vizrt, Kiloview, SNS, Bitfocus, Imaginario, and so many more, showed up to prove that “Broadcast Grade” is no longer exclusive to television networks. Here is how they are redefining the AV landscape.
1. The Heavy Hitters: Democratizing High-End Production
The clearest signal of convergence came from giants like Ross Video, Grass Valley, EVS and Vizrt. Historically, these brands powered the world’s biggest newsrooms and stadiums. At ISE 2026, they pitched tools specifically designed to make complex production accessible to AV teams.
- Ross Video didn’t just bring switchers; they brought ecosystems. With the launch of platforms like Vertex, Ross is offering unified control that bridges video, audio, and lighting. Perfect for the “experiential” corporate lobby or arena that needs to run like a TV show but be operated by an AV tech.
- Vizrt doubled down on the “corporate broadcaster.” Their showcase of InteractifAI and CaptivAIte (AI-driven keying for Zoom without green screens) proves they understand the new reality: the boardroom is the studio. They are effectively bringing broadcast polish to the Teams/Zoom generation.
2. The Backbone: IP is the Universal Language
For years, AV spoke HDMI and HDBaseT, while Broadcast spoke SDI. Now, everyone speaks IP.
- Matrox Video and the IPMX Revolution: If there was a single acronym that defined the network side of ISE 2026, it was IPMX (Internet Protocol Media Experience). Built on the broadcast-grade SMPTE ST 2110 standard, IPMX brings true cross-vendor interoperability to the ProAV space by adding essential AV features like HDCP, EDID management, and simplified timing. Celebrating its 50th anniversary at the show, Matrox Video stood out as a major champion of this open-standards approach. Showcasing the first wave of officially certified IPMX products, including their ConvertIP gateways and Avio 2 IP KVMs, Matrox demonstrated how high-quality video can be routed seamlessly across expansive corporate networks. For organizations looking to future-proof their media distribution or build out robust, standardized technical training environments without vendor lock-in, Matrox made it clear that IPMX is the definitive foundation
- Kiloview has emerged as a critical translator in this space. At ISE, their focus wasn’t just on moving video, but on managing it. Their AVX24-4 Media Hub an AV-over-IP ecosystem designed to let IT managers see, trust, and control video flows as easily as data traffic. They are the glue making NDI and SRT viable for the enterprise.
3. Automation & Robotics: Doing More with Less
The “AV” customer often lacks the headcount of a broadcast network. This is where automation becomes the killer app.
- Bitfocus has become the undisputed bridge between these two worlds. At ISE, their tactile button panels and the ubiquitous Companion software demonstrated how to take terrifyingly complex broadcast ecosystems and distill them down to a single button press. Whether it’s an IT manager in a corporate boardroom or a volunteer running video at a house of worship, Bitfocus allows non-engineers to seamlessly trigger macros that control everything from video switchers and audio consoles to lighting and PTZ cameras. It proves that high-end production doesn’t require a master’s degree to operate.
- MRMC (Mark Roberts Motion Control), known for Hollywood-grade robotics, brought solutions like the Atlas Slider and Light Lift System to Barcelona. Why? Because corporate studios need dynamic, high-end camera movement (sweeping product shots, engaging CEO addresses) but rarely have the budget for a human camera operator on a dolly.
4. The AI Content Revolution
As “everyone becomes a broadcaster,” the sheer volume of video content being generated by AV teams is exploding. The challenge has shifted from just making the video to storing, managing, and finding it efficiently.
- SNS (Studio Network Solutions) brought the storage muscle necessary to house this content boom. As AV teams scale up their productions, they inevitably hit the “data wall” that traditional broadcasters hit a decade ago. At ISE, SNS showcased EVO and ShareBrowser not just as massive hard drives, but as foundational workflow tools. They allow creative teams, marketers, and editors to collaborate remotely and manage media seamlessly, a massive pain point for modern corporate media environments.
- Imaginario represents the next layer of this stack: AI-powered indexing. Once your media is stored on a system like SNS, how do you find what you need? Their presence at an AV show signals that Media Asset Management (MAM) is no longer just for archiving old evening news clips; it’s an immediate necessity for marketing teams who need to search their own massive video libraries as quickly and intuitively as they search text.
- Enco showcased the power of AI to handle live, critical workflows that historically required dedicated personnel. Their focus on enCaption: an automated, highly accurate speech-to-text captioning system, perfectly illustrates this crossover. In the AV world (think university lectures, corporate town halls, or local government meetings), accessibility is no longer a luxury; it’s a requirement. By bringing ultra-low-latency, broadcast-grade closed captioning to the AV rack, enCaption allows these facilities to guarantee ADA compliance and boost audience engagement without the ongoing, prohibitive cost of live stenographers.
5. Lighting the Way
Finally, Ikan bridged the gap in the physical environment. You can have the best 4K cameras and IP workflow, but if the CEO looks washed out, the production fails. Ikan’s presence emphasized that professional teleprompting and broadcast-grade lighting are now standard requirements for the modern “Zoom Room” or corporate studio. Crucially, their showcase of PoE (Power over Ethernet) lighting perfectly illustrated the AV/IT crossover. By allowing high-quality LED fixtures to be both powered and controlled via standard Cat6 network cables, Ikan is enabling IT and AV teams to build out professional studio spaces without requiring specialized, high-voltage electrical contracting.
Conclusion: The New “AV”
ISE 2026 proved that the distinction between “Broadcast” and “AV” is now largely semantic. The tools that broadcast the Super Bowl are now cousins to the tools broadcasting a Quarterly All-Hands meeting.
For integrators, the message is clear: Stop selling “AV systems” and start selling “Media Production Ecosystems.” The vendors are already here and waiting.
