Barco proudly celebrates 90 years of innovation
INVESTOR RELATIONS
Kortrijk, Belgium, 12 September 2024 – Barco proudly marks its 90th anniversary today. Since its foundation in 1934, the company has been at the forefront of technological advancement, evolving from its roots as a Belgian radio manufacturer to a pioneer and global leader in professional visualization technology for the healthcare, enterprise, and entertainment industries.
Barco was established on 12 September 1934 in Poperinge, Belgium, by the visionary entrepreneur Lucien De Puydt and American engineer Frank Bowens. Their ambition was to produce and sell radios, the most significant high-tech consumer product of that era, in Flanders and beyond. The radios were assembled from parts imported from the United States, which led to the company name ‘Barco’ – an acronym for Belgian American Radio Corporation.
From bringing entertainment into people’s homes through radios and TVs in its early days, Barco has become a trusted partner for professionals across diverse markets, including healthcare, enterprise, and entertainment.
Masterstrokes of engineering
Barco’s 90-year journey is marked by masterstrokes of engineering, from the exquisite wooden cabinets housing its radios, jukeboxes, and TVs, to today’s meticulously designed medical displays, video walls, projectors, network solutions, and meeting room solutions. Barco’s products are developed with the utmost care to uphold the premium quality the brand has maintained for decades. This commitment to excellence is reflected in numerous awards, including various Red Dot and Henry van de Velde design awards, two Emmy Awards, and the 2024 Scientific and Engineering Academy Award® for the company’s contributions to laser cinema projection.
Technology pioneers
Barco’s legacy is built on pioneering innovation. The technical know-how, craftsmanship, and entrepreneurial spirit of its ‘visioneers’ have shaped the company’s identity. Over the past 90 years, Barco has consistently introduced industry firsts, including the multi-standard television, Europe’s first color TV, the first universal TV sets with wireless ultrasonic remote control, CRT projectors for airplanes, the revolutionary ClickShare presentation and collaboration system, the first connectivity platform for operating rooms built on hospital IP, and the world’s first stand-alone digital pathology display for primary diagnosis. Barco led the digital revolution in cinema technology and medical imaging, leaving a lasting mark on the industry.
Impactful innovation
“We’re not just celebrating our rich legacy today but also our ongoing commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology. I’m proud of our journey and relentless drive to innovate, which has made us the global technology leader we are today,” said An Steegen, CEO of Barco. “Looking to the future, we’ll continue our path as a technology company with image processing at the core of our solutions, integrating interactivity and AI capabilities. We’ll keep raising the image quality bar while being mindful of the sustainable impact of our technology. Our mission is to transform the quality of life through technology – improving health outcomes, changing the way people work, and creating compelling experiences.”
Visualization technology leadership
Today, Barco continues to lead in solutions for meeting rooms, control rooms, cinema, medical imaging, and immersive experiences. With over 270,000 ClickShare Conference devices in the field, Barco has been a market leader in user-friendly collaboration for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) spaces for more than 12 years. Since the early 1990s, Barco has specialized in large video walls and display controllers for control rooms. The addition of powerful networking and software solutions, delivering a complete control room ecosystem, has further solidified its leadership in this market.
In cinema, Barco set milestones with the first digital cinema projector in 2002, a Guinness World Record for the brightest projector in 2010, and the first 60,000-lumen 4K laser projector in 2014. Today, more than 30,000 Barco laser projectors are installed at cinemas across the world. In the healthcare industry, Barco is a frontrunner in digital operating rooms and medical displays for breast imaging, radiology, and digital pathology.
About Barco
Barco, headquartered in Kortrijk (Belgium), is a global company leading in visualization, networking, and collaboration technology. Its innovative solutions drive advancements in the healthcare, enterprise, and entertainment markets. At the heart of Barco’s success are over 3,000 dedicated ‘visioneers’, each passionately contributing to driving change through technology.
Listed on Euronext (BAR), Reuters (BARBt.BR), and Bloomberg (BAR BB), Barco realized sales of 1,050 million euro in 2023. For further insights, please visit www.barco.com or connect on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
Barco. Visioneering a bright tomorrow. © 2024
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Inge Govaerts - Corporate Communications Officer
Corporate Communications Officer
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