Backstage Pass: LDI 2019: New Lighting Innovations are Upending the Event Tech Industry with Blake Taylor and Aaron Walters

The audiovisual industry is bursting with new technologies and innovations. These new developments debuted at LDI 2019 , the leading conference and tradeshow for live design professionals from all over the world. Backstage Pass has the first scoop on what AV professionals are saying about the show with guests Blake Taylor, Lighting Services Manager, and Aaron Walters, Lighting Service Technician, at Alford Media.

Event technology is innately attention-grabbing, but the designs at LDI were both riveting and intriguing. Taylor and Walters noted the resurgence of throwback styles and retro lighting apparatus’, now powered with the energy-efficiency of LED. These stylized lights are finding popularity not just from the light they produce, but from the fixtures themselves, which often play a part on a set for film, tv, or theater.

Walters remarks at the LED curtains, a mappable, series of lights chained together via hardware. Like a video wall, the larger LEDs are an interesting feature for unique set design. “Chunky,” older hardware is finding new life with LEDs, while delivering rich light, longer and more efficiently.

Overall, the two lighting specialists agree that the event technology industry is working together to significant effect. Operators, designers, and programmers are
asking each other questions, sharing data, and welcoming input from manufacturers. This sense of collaboration ultimately leads to creating product users want.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Pro AV Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication. A new episode of the Pro AV Show drops every Thursday.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

pre-clinical
From Classroom to Clinic: Pre-Clinical Talent Steps Into Healthcare’s Hard-to-Fill Roles
April 23, 2026

Healthcare systems are facing a workforce crisis that’s no longer temporary—it’s structural. Even before COVID-19, staffing shortages across nursing, technical, and administrative roles were already straining capacity; today, those gaps are wider, costlier, and directly impacting patient access. With labor shortages persisting and burnout rising, health systems are being forced to rethink not just…

Read More
learning
If Higher Ed Wants Experiential Learning at Scale, It Needs a Broader Playbook
April 21, 2026

The ground is shifting under higher education. AI is changing how people learn almost overnight—and at the same time, more than half of graduates are underemployed after finishing their degrees. That’s forcing a more uncomfortable question into the open: what is a college credential really worth today? As employers and governments shift their focus…

Read More
skilled trades mentorship
Why the Modern Data Center Is Forcing Communities and Policymakers to Rethink Infrastructure
April 21, 2026

Data centers have moved from largely invisible digital infrastructure to a highly visible source of public debate as artificial intelligence accelerates demand for power, fiber, and compute capacity. The modern data center is now being built closer to population centers to support low-latency services, bringing critical infrastructure into direct contact with residential communities for…

Read More
Inside the Spot Freight Shift: How Manifold Is Simplifying a Fragmented Logistics Market
April 21, 2026

The freight market is in the midst of a notable shift. With national tender rejection rates approaching 14% by the end of Q1, freight conditions have shifted back in carriers’ favor, often coinciding with increased activity in the spot market. At the same time, logistics teams are juggling an increasingly fragmented ecosystem of portals, emails,…

Read More