I learned recently that the research firm SRI employed researchers that developed the hyperlink and many of the conventions that we use today on websites and other digital interfaces. And the same team pioneered some machine intelligence, AI, and voice recognition developments that were behind Apple’s Siri application. It struck me as ironic that over the decades, this group sought to undo its own work. You don’t have to click on anything, if you can just speak to your devices.
Planar, now a Leyard company, has a history of this kind of cannibalization. We make our own products obsolete regularly. The Planar® LookThru™ OLED transparent display addressed many limitations of previous offerings and has essentially replaced the Planar® LookThru™ LCD offering. We have single displays that are larger than 2x2 array of tiled video wall products, making this style of display easier to specify and install than previous generations. We add features into products that used to require separate purchases or third-party equipment. You have to look no further than the latest version of the Planar® UltraRes™ display to see how much image processing, scaling, and control we have built into the product, especially once you consider the free iOS or Android UltraRes App. As the bezels have been shrinking on LCD tiled video wall displays, like the award-winning Clarity® Matrix™, we have also introduced cutting-edge, fine-pitch LED technology that is truly seamless (see Planar® DirectLight™ or the Leyard® TVH or TW series).
Innovation companies that last are ones that aren’t afraid to kill their best product lines with a new idea. To stay relevant, I heard someone say recently, you need to be prepared to run a different company every few years. In the fast-moving space of display technologies, flexibility is a requirement. Planar has been innovating for over 30 years and Leyard for over 20. It’s a testament to our shared commitment to the long play.