As residential integrators gather this week at CEDIA Expo, manufacturers are helping them expand their potential business opportunities into light commercial work. And that line between consumer and commercial products? It’s never been more blurred.
Noah Meicler, president of DreamWall, is seeing significant overlap between the residential and commercial AV markets. “Technologies once reserved for large commercial environments are increasingly finding their way into luxury homes, while residential expectations for exceptional design, simplicity, and ease of use are influencing commercial projects as well,” he explained.
Marc Bertrand, chief strategy officer for Theory Audio Design and Pro Audio Technology, has observed a consistent element of light commercial work through residential channels for decades. Light commercial trends tend to be project-based, Bertrand said, so the product areas follow the projects.
“The growth is mainly driven by client relationships, customer referrals, and trust,” Bertrand added. “There are some integrators and dealers in the CI channel that are strategically building their commercial departments, which then propels them into more commercial opportunities.”
Just Video Walls is still focused heavily on the residential market, but Skyler Meek, chief marketing officer, said video walls are showing the most overlap between markets. In fact, many of the company’s residential dealers are brought into commercial projects by their homeowner clients.
“The video wall market really developed first in the commercial world, so residential is just now seeing the boom,” Meek explained. “What’s interesting is that the requirements are starting to converge, too. Residential clients want the scale, brightness, reliability, and performance that historically drove commercial video wall adoption—but they expect it to be packaged in a way that belongs in a luxury home. Meanwhile, commercial clients are increasingly concerned with aesthetics, design, and creating an experience rather than simply putting a big display on a wall.”
Noah Meicler
Image credit: DreamWall
Marc Bertrand
Image credit: Theory Audio Design
Image credit: Just Video Walls
As to what’s driving the product overlap, Meek looks to customer expectations. “A homeowner who has an incredible AV experience at home expects the technology in their office to work just as seamlessly. And a client who sees an enormous dvLED display in a hospitality or entertainment environment starts asking, ‘Why can’t I have that at home?’” he argued. “At the same time, integrators are looking for new categories where they can bring meaningful value and protect their margins. That creates a natural opportunity for residential integrators to follow their existing clients into commercial projects and vice versa.”
For DreamWall, Meicler said the crossover between markets is a natural fit. “The same core MicroLED technology can serve a home theater, outdoor entertainment area, corporate boardroom, hospitality environment, retail space, or large-scale commercial installation. What changes is how we engineer and configure the solution for each specific application,” he added.
Meek agreed that MicroLED is a “really natural” crossover product. “Whether it’s a luxury residence, sports bar, boardroom, nightclub, or hospitality space, the fundamental ask is becoming very similar: Give me a massive, beautiful image without forcing the room to compromise around the display.”
However, the challenge is expertise. “Products like MicroLED can cross markets very easily,” Meek said, “but designing, specifying, installing, and supporting them correctly still requires specialized knowledge. I think manufacturers who can remove that complexity for the integrator are going to play a big role in accelerating the crossover.”
As far as balancing the aesthetic needs of the residential space with the performance requirements of the commercial space, Meicler doesn’t want customers to have to choose. “A display can deliver incredible visual impact without overpowering the room,” he noted. “That’s one of the biggest advantages of dvLED. We can create seamless displays in a wide range of sizes, resolutions, and configurations that integrate naturally into the architecture, rather than forcing the space to accommodate a traditional display.”
“This is a no-brainer for us,” Bertrand said, “because balancing the aesthetic needs of resi with the performance requirements of commercial is exactly how Theory was conceived. You won’t find two sets of products in our catalog; every Theory speaker is specifically designed to address the needs of both segments.”
Meek said certainty is more important than either aesthetics or performance requirements. “None of the things on a spec sheet matter if the wrong product shows up, the wall isn’t designed or installed correctly, or there isn’t a real plan for commissioning, service, and long-term support,” he argued. “That’s especially true with MicroLED, because there are so many places where a project can go sideways before the wall ever turns on. “So, for us, whether it’s residential or commercial, the goal is to remove as much uncertainty as possible.”
