Visioneering a bright tomorrow

It all starts in 1934 when a young and bold entrepreneur named Lucien De Puydt begins a Flemish technology company: the Belgian American Radio Corporation (BARCO).

His ambition is to produce and sell the most significant high-tech consumer product of that era, the radio, in Flanders and its surroundings.

In our first year, we assemble no less than 2,000 radios.

We start to produce multi-standard television sets. From now on, our TVs can receive no less than five different transmission standards, which propels TV setmaking to higher levels.

The most striking aspect, however, is the fact that we are the first producer of universal TV sets with a wireless ultrasonic remote control.

Meet the Traveller: the first portable multi-standard television. Its successor, the Mini Ranger, is a fully transistorized version and will turn out to be one of our greatest success stories.

It represents the three most important USPs of Barco at that time: multi-standard, transistorization, and a modular chassis.

In conjunction with the BRT, the Belgian national radio and television broadcasting station, we develop the first professional CTVM I color studio monitor.

The product is unique at the time, given that the professional monitor market has not yet switched to color.

The technical perfection of these systems attracts customers from all over the world.

We start to focus on video projection in airplanes. One videotape, as opposed to film rolls, can serve various projectors on board an aircraft. This means the video projector has to be able to connect to multiple standards, which is exactly our expertise.

In addition, our in-flight projectors are able to work with color, while the competition can only generate black and white, or green, images.

Our data projector is an answer to the growing demand for large-screen projectors that can project both sharp alphanumeric data as well as complex charts. We succeed in developing a projector that is able to generate a perfect image with virtually every connection.

Thanks to IBM orders, the Barco data projector becomes the de facto standard in the early 1980s.

We achieve a technological milestone when our new video monitor line, the Color Video Scope (CVS), is introduced.

It is recognized as the most versatile monitoring system for television studios and is crowned with an Emmy award in 1988.

The microprocessor is able to produce a uniform image via automatic calibration, a world first.

LCD technology, a high-quality substitute for CRT technology, is redefining the market.

We decide to apply ourselves to the production of very big and bright projectors.

With our LCD 5000 projector range, we set a new standard for brightness, conquering the rental business market for large conferences and major events.

Flexography, a modern version of letter press which uses flexible relief plates, becomes extremely popular for printing labels and packaging.

Our Cyrel Digital Imager (CDI) is the first computer-to-plate device for direct imaging of digital flexoplates.

The platesetter family will win several awards as it enables shorter press setup times, more stable press runs, easier repeat orders, and near-offset quality.

Radiologists worldwide are overwhelmed by MeDis, our total imaging solution for softcopy diagnosis including displays, medical display systems and software.

More importantly, we are the first company to receive the 510(k) medical quality certificate from the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for our medical displays.

We introduce the IntelliRoom concept. The IntelliRoom gives the user immediate access to internal and external information sources which are integrated in high resolution on one display wall.

Next to more user friendliness and flexibility, it also enables high-quality multi-site teleconferencing.

The launch of DP50, our first digital cinema projector with a sealed engine, is the first step in becoming the market leader in cinema projection. 

Today, thousands of cinemas across the world present stunning images on movie screens, powered by Barco.

Radiologists need versatile displays capable of showing both grayscale and color-augmented modalities on a single monitor.

Our Coronis Fusion 6MP is the world's first diagnostic display system that enables this.

The Fusion offers imaging possibilities in color which were previously only possible on special grayscale LCDs.

Barco strengthens its share in the rental and staging world with custom-made LED solutions for concerts and live events.

In 2009, we teamed up with Video XL to deliver the world's first transformable 360° LED screen for the Irish rock band U2. This technological creativity with LED was previously unseen in the events industry.

The RP-360, a 360° immersive dome for flight simulation, is the most realistic dome for flight training on the market. It is the only system to offer full 360° immersion with rear-projection.

Before, dome setups were front projected (from behind the pilot) because rear projection (from the outside) would require too many projectors to achieve the same screen resolution. With the RP-360, this limitation is no more.

At CinemaCon, the world’s largest event for movie theater owners, we demonstrate ultra-bright 4K laser projection and premiere a never-before-seen exhibition of high frame rate movie footage at 120 frames per second per eye for a spectacular movie experience. 

Connectivity is key in the operating theater. The surgical staff needs to rely on uncompressed, detailed images that are displayed with minimal latency. This helps surgeons to work with optimal hand-eye coordination, for example during minimally invasive surgery.

Nexxis is the first platform in the world for OR connectivity, built on the hospital's IP. It ensures fast connectivity of camera images to any display in the OR, without compression or quality loss. Nexxis requires minimal cabling, so the OR remains orderly and the surgical team can work without disturbances.

Coronis Uniti is the first diagnostic display explicitly designed for both PACS and breast imaging.

With this solution, Barco accomplishes something that hasn't been possible before: showing every type of medical image on one screen.

We are the first manufacturer to introduce an 18,000-lumen laser phosphor projector for cinema, which is three times the brightness of any other laser phosphor projector in the market.

Our projectors also provide considerable cost-savings, as their lifetime equals that of 30 Xenon lamps while lowering the electricity bill by up to 50%.

In March 2017, Barco launched a new revolutionary laser phosphor projector range for large venues.

The UDX series is a real game-changer for rental companies and AV integrators thanks to its unique compact design and exceptional high-brightness performances.

Since the launch of the revolutionary series, the projectors have shown their unbelievable powers with spectacular projections on some of the most iconic locations in the world. 

We claim a renewed focus in high-res indoor LED technology with the launch of the XT series and a strategic partnership with Chinese LED manufacturer Unilumin. 

9 XT models are designed to meet the variable needs in control rooms, television studios, lobbies and 3D visualization. 

Whenever image quality, reliability and ease-of-installation are key requirements, the XT series is the way to go.

We expand the ClickShare family with a revolutionary concept in collaborative solutions: wireless conferencing.

Enabling BYOM (Bring Your Own Meeting), as it allows users to host video conferences from their own device in any meeting room.

Seamlessly working with existing video conferencing platforms and AV USB-peripherals like soundbars or cameras, remote meetings are now as intuitive as face-to-face meetings.

As pioneers in direct-view LED, we understand our customers' needs: seamless installation, excellent image quality, and uninterrupted performance.

These were the focus points of Barco’s development team when designing TruePix. This indoor LED video wall solution is tailored to the requirements of the critical control rooms market and is another leap forward in LED technology.

ClickShare CX-50 2nd generation is granted the CO2 Neutral Silver label by leading climate advisory organization CO2logic. The first Barco product to be awarded this label and one of the first carbon-neutral solutions in its market, ClickShare CX-50 2nd gen was designed with sustainability in mind and as a natural extension of Barco’s values and ambitious sustainability goals to lower its own environmental footprint and that of its customers.