Barco NV is a Belgian technology company that specializes in digital projection and imaging technology, focusing on three core markets: entertainment, enterprise, and healthcare. It employs employees located in 90 countries. The company has 400 granted patents. Barco is headquartered in

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

, Belgium, and has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and Asia-Pacific. Shares of Barco are listed on

Euronext Euronext N.V. (short for European New Exchange Technology) is a European bourse that provides trading and post-trade services for a range of financial instruments. Traded assets include regulated equities, exchange-traded funds (ETF), warrant ...

Brussels. It has a market cap of around €900 million (December 2024). Barco sells its ClickShare products to enable wireless projection from sender devices to receiver displays.

History

Barco is an acronym that originally stood for Belgian American Radio Corporation. Barco was founded in 1934 in the town of

Poperinge Poperinge (; , ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, and has a history going back to medieval times. The municipality comprises ...

, in the Flemish-speaking region of Belgium. Founder Lucien de Puydt's initial business was to assemble radios from parts imported from the United States – hence the name of his company, the Belgium American Radio Corporation, or "Barco". Radio pioneer Camiel Descamps gave the company a new start in 1941 in

after founder Lucien Depuydt died. His wife Maria-Anna Reyntjens and his brother-in-law Joseph Versavel assisted him. Later on, also Elie Timmerman joined them. Starting from their office in Kortrijk, the company started to grow and spread around 90 countries across the globe. In 1949, Barco started developing a

multi-standard television Multi-standard television sets were made for use in the television industry, so that one TV set or monitor could show video content from other television systems. Multistandard is only used with analogue television. In digital television, there are ...

that accepted different signal standards, becoming a leader in that field. A jukebox called Barc-O-Matic was sold from 1951. In 1967, it was one of the first European companies to introduce color TV. Building on this, it then entered the professional broadcast market in the late 1960s, supplying TV monitors to broadcasters. From the 1960s onwards, Barco branched out into numerous other activities, which included mechanical components for industrial use, and quality control monitoring for the textile and plastics industries. In 1967, Barco became the first European manufacturer to produce transistor-based portable televisions. Barco first entered projection technology in 1979, when it pioneered the development of cathode ray tube (CRT) projection aboard airplanes. Over the following years, it gradually focused solely on professional markets. In the mid-1980s, Barco became a main projection technology supplier for computer giants

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

and

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

. In the late 1980s, it entered the Brussels stock market. By 1991, Barco's market share in the graphics projection market alone reached 75%, and the company had established offices across the world, including regional headquarters in the United States and East-Asia. Through the 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium, Barco developed and marketed new display technologies such as liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diodes (LED),

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

' Digital Light Processing (DLP), and later, liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS). It now covers markets that include media and entertainment, security and monitoring, medical imaging, avionics, 3D and virtual reality, digital cinema, traffic control, broadcast and training and simulation. In 2018, Barco entered into a joint venture with

China Film Group Corporation China Film Group Corporation (CFGC) is the largest, most influential film enterprise in the People's Republic of China, owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. According to ''Forbes'', it is a state monopoly ...

(CFG), Appotronics and CITICPE to commercialize each company's products and services for the global cinema market excluding mainland China: Cinionic. In Barco's case, this involved the company's cinema projectors.

Sustainability

Barco's Corporate Sustainability Committee, consisting of 13 members, under the leadership of Filip Pintelon, devises an overall sustainability strategy. Under the label "Barco 2020", Barco is currently developing a sustainability plan encompassing three pillars: their people, their community and the planet. A few achievements: * Supplier Sustainability program * Health and Safety Arrangements * Compliance

Acquisitions

* In 1989, Barco acquired EMT, a manufacturer of phonograph turntables and professional audio equipment, which became Barco-EMT. * Barco Graphics was the graphics division of the Belgian Barco Group. It was the result of the 1989 merger of Digitized Information Systems Corporation (D.I.S.C.), Aesthedes and Barco's own "Creative Systems" group. * In 1995, Barco acquired Elbicon, a manufacturer of inspection systems for the food processing industry. * In 1997, Barco acquired Electronic Image Systems (EIS), a manufacturer of CRT projectors for the

flight simulation A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

market. * In 1998, Barco acquired Dr. Seufert, a manufacturer of visual sub-systems for integration in process control rooms. * In 1998, Barco ETS, now Ucamco acquired Gerber Systems Corp., a manufacturer of

plotter A plotter is a machine that produces vector graphics drawings. Plotters draw lines on paper using a pen, or in some applications, use a knife to cut a material like Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl or leather. In the latter case, they are sometimes k ...

s and automatic optical inspection (AOI) systems for

printed circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...

s. * In 1999, it acquired Metheus Corporation, a

Tektronix Tektronix, Inc., historically widely known as Tek, is an American company best known for manufacturing test and measurement devices such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. Originally an independent c ...

spin-off and manufacturer of professional graphics controllers. * In 2000, it acquired Texen, a subsidiary of Thales (ex-Thomson). * In 2004, it acquired Voxar, a 3D medical imaging software company. * In 2004, it acquired Folsom Research, Inc., whose product lines cover

image processing An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a pr ...

, image communication and image functionality & interactivity. * In 2008, it acquired High End Systems, an automated luminaires, digital lighting and

lighting control A lighting control system is intelligent network-based lighting control that incorporates communication between various system inputs and outputs related to lighting control with the use of one or more central computing devices. Lighting control ...

s company. * In 2010, it acquired Fimi S.r.l., a company specialized in medical image displays, from Philips (no relationship with

Fimi The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) or the Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when ...

, Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana). * In 2010, it acquired all intellectual property of Element Labs, a manufacturer of LED equipment. * In 2010, it acquired dZine, a Belgium-based company specialized in

Digital signage Digital signage is a segment of electronic signage that uses Electronic visual display, digital display technologies to present multimedia content in both public and private environments. Content may include video, images, text, or interactive me ...

. * In 2012, it acquired IP Video Systems, a company specialized in networked visualization. * In 2012, it acquired JAOtech, a manufacturer of patient entertainment and point-of-care terminals for hospitals. * In 2013, it acquired AWIND, a manufacturer of hardware and software for wireless presentation systems. * In 2013, it acquired projectiondesign, a manufacturer of projection technology. * In 2014, it acquired X20 Media Inc., an enterprise communication specialist. * In 2014, it acquired IOSONO GmbH, a 3D audio expert. * In 2015, it acquired Advan Int'l Corp., a manufacturer of LCD displays. * In 2016, it acquired Medialon Inc., a US based company. * In 2016, it acquired MTT Innovation Inc., a Canadian developer of next-generation projection technology ( HDR). * In 2019, it acquired a 5% stake in Unilumin group, a china based LED manufacturer.

Divestments

* In 2000, Barco splits its shares in Barco New and BarcoNet which is taken over by

Scientific-Atlanta Scientific Atlanta, Inc. was a Georgia, United States–based manufacturer of cable television, telecommunications, and broadband equipment. Scientific Atlanta was founded in 1951 by a group of engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, ...

in 2001 and becomes whole owner of a after buy-out of the remaining shareholders in 2002. * In 2001, Barco Graphics was acquired by Danish Purup-Eskofot, and renamed Esko-Graphics, which was again renamed Esko in 2006. * In 2003, Barco sold Barco-EMT including trademarks to Walter Derrer. The company is continued as EMT Studiotechnik GmbH. * In 2004, Barco sold its Dotrix activity to Agfa–Gevaert. * In 2007, BarcoVision was acquired by Itema from

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

, Italy. * In 2008, Barco sold its Advanced Visualisation (AVIS) group (the previously acquired Voxar) to

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

Medical ( TMSC). * In 2014, Barco divested a wholly owned subsidiary of Barco NV, Barco Orthogon, based in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, to Exelis. * In 2015, Barco's Defense & Aerospace division was sold to US-based Esterline Technologies Corporation (). * In 2017, Barco sold High End Systems to Electronic Theatre Controls. * In 2018, Barco's X20 Media was sold to Stratacache. * In 2018, Barco divested the wholly owned subsidiary Barco Silex, which becomes Silex Inside.

Management

* CEO 2024 An Steegen * CEO 2021-2024 Charles Beauduin & An Steegen * CEO 2016-2021 Jan De Witte * CEO 2008–2016 Eric Van Zele * CEO 2002–2008 Martin De Prycker * CEO 2002 Hugo Vandamme

Active markets

* Entertainment: cinema, venues and hospitality * Enterprise: control rooms, education and meeting rooms * Healthcare: diagnostic, surgical and clinical imaging

References

External links

* {{Authority control Belgian companies established in 1934 Manufacturing companies established in 1934 Technology companies established in 1934 Information technology companies of Belgium Display technology companies Film and video technology Medical imaging Companies listed on Euronext Brussels Companies based in West Flanders Radio manufacturers Belgian brands