Founded just seven years ago in 2001, the UK office of Display Technology has significantly grown and shows no signs of stopping. Helen Fletcher spoke with managing director Chris Bartram and product manager Andy Morgan to find out what the future holds...

Display Technology develops, produces and markets innovative flat panel solutions to various markets including gaming, retail and industrial. When the company first entered the gaming market it worked alongside an already established partner within the gaming sector providing systems and solutions.

Display Technology soon felt, however, that its technical know-how and expertise, teamed with its previous business and gaming experience, was enough for it to branch out on its own and offer its solutions direct to the manufacturers.

With the company now present in a substantial number of European countries that include Spain, Germany, Latvia, UK, Greece, Croatia, Austria and the Czech Republic to name a few, it would seem Display Technology could well be on its way to world domination when it comes to display systems for the gaming industry, which appear in anything and everything from AWPs to SWPs, countertops and multiplayers.

"Spain was a difficult market to crack," said Bartram. "But it was worth it and it has become one of our most important markets. We’re now hoping to be present in most countries over the next couple of years."

As a group, Display Technology employs around 110 people and with its headquarters in Germany (manufacturing / production), offices in the US (design and LCD upgrade) designers in Turkey (software development) and DT in the UK (sales / design / production), it is able to offer a quick and reliable service to the gaming and amusement industry and currently supplies systems and displays to some of the UK’s leading machine developers.

The latest addition to the company’s product portfolio is its multi-display link system called Artista. This patented technology, already approved in some gaming applications, is a powerful but cost effective multi-screen solution and an alternative to the expensive and complex embedded systems that are on the market today. With Artista the possibilities are almost endless and Display Technology claims it has not seen any other technology that offers such flexibility and low cost of ownership.

Bartram points out that Artista is a perfect solution for casino operators with its easy installation and simple to use software; you do not have to be a Windows guru to install and maintain Artista technology. In addition to this Display Technology has stepped up the challenge to its competitors by launching its latest range of gaming chassis monitors from 15ins to 32ins with integrated precision mini bezel seal and drift free technology for superior accuracy.

These monitors offer a cost-effective touch solution and feature an IP64 dustproof / waterproof narrow bezel design to protect against dirt, dust, cigarette ash and fluids. The new slim touch monitors are ideal for gaming and kiosk style applications and feature brilliant wide-viewing-angle LCD panel, superior picture quality, high brightness, contrast, fast response time and enhanced video design.

According to Bartram and Morgan, while some sectors of the gaming industry are experiencing negative effects from the introduction of smoking bans in many countries, smoking bans could, in fact, open up the possibilities of display screens in that they could be incorporated to show the social smoker what they are missing while they are having a smoke outside.

"You are never going to get the hardcore smokers to stop," said Bartram. "But what could be done is for a screen, located in the outdoor smoking area, to show social smokers what they are missing and entice them back into the casino or gaming arcade."

At the moment it would seem the cost of the technology required to make the display screens weatherproof outweighs the benefits, but as we all know technology does eventually become cheaper as more advanced versions are introduced. "We have already developed similar products for outdoor retail applications so the technology is ready; it’s just finding the customers who are ready to use it," said Morgan.

With regard to display trends, we all know that in the consumer market, when it comes to things like televisions, the larger the screen the better and the same can be said in some respect, for the gaming industry.

"We are starting to see a move towards the smaller widescreens like 19ins, 20.1ins and 22ins," said Morgan. "I think this is due to the fact that the standard 4:3 ratio is becoming more of problem to supply, but as all software developers would agree changing ratio will bring new gaming concepts but also headaches as well."

Bartram added that a lot of companies are now also looking to hi-definition screens, an area where Samsung is one of the market leaders and working as an official UK / European partner, what the company offers the customer is the chance to test the latest flat panel technology and work with a supplier who specialises in this field.

As for touchscreen trends, the gaming industry, along with other industries, is currently seeing newer and more responsive forms of touchscreen become available. "They are becoming more interactive all the time," said Bartram. "Within the gaming industry, I would say the two most popular types of touchscreen used are capacitive and Surface Acoustic Wave, with Projective Capacitive making great inroads.

"As far as the future of touchscreen technology is concerned, I think there are many concepts around like multi-touch technology and palm touch technology, but whether the gaming industry has a market for this we will have to wait and see," said Bartram.

Interactive and digital technology is still, according to Morgan, a relatively new stage for the gaming industry but it is bringing with it a lot of opportunities for games and operators, and will continue to do so.

With this in mind, what do Bartram and Morgan see for the future of the company within the gaming industry?

"The speed at which we have progressed within our first 18 months in the gaming market has been a real achievement for us," said Bartram. "We have only really just scratched the surface though and there is still a lot more for us to take on."

"The thing is, things do go wrong with electronics," said Morgan. "And this is where we aim to offer something different to our customers and prove that we can step up to the plate.

"Hopefully this will result in companies seeing Display Technology as one of the top providers in the sector."