AVT Question: Please share insights on the ongoing transition to networked AV and the role the cloud and AI play.
Thought Leader: Petro Shimonishi, Director at Panasonic Projector & Display Americas
Many of today’s production teams across entertainment venues, higher ed, and corporate settings are making the transition to networked AV—but few can justify replacing hardware-based equipment that’s still functioning. Thankfully, a hybrid strategy has emerged, giving AV teams the flexibility to modernize outdated solutions while maintaining existing legacy equipment under one ecosystem.
Customers are no longer buying isolated projectors and displays, but are instead investing in connected visual communication platforms.
Petro Shimonishi, Director at Panasonic Projector & Display Americas
This happens as the AV industry hits an inflection point: Customers are no longer buying isolated projectors and displays, but are instead investing in connected visual communication platforms. Remote management, interoperability, and real-time operational data have become expectations, and network connectivity now carries IT-grade security requirements, including zero-trust architecture, role-based access, and encrypted signal paths. AI and cloud services are moving past buzzword status too: Predictive maintenance, automatic camera framing, and content intelligence are already easing the load on stretched AV/IT teams, with cloud-to-cloud connectivity letting organizations add these capabilities gradually rather than all at once.
At Panasonic Projector & Display Americas, our goal is to empower innovation without disruption, ensuring AV and IT teams can integrate networked solutions without sacrificing critical time and resources. As modern AV and IT teams continue to work together, we aim to enable integrators to evolve in accordance with their organization’s needs and goals. This means building open APIs and standards-based integration that let AV/IT teams evolve at their own pace, deploying AI and cloud services only where they create measurable value while protecting the equipment already in place. The future of professional AV is not defined by replacing every device on the network; it centers on creating secure, intelligent ecosystems that allow organizations to modernize at their own pace.
