Five Minutes With… Hagai Gefen President and CEO, Gefen Inc.

In Uncategorizedby tfwm

TFWM: What is the philosophy behind Gefen as a company and the products you manufacture?

Hagai Gefen: Gefen has always been founded on the principles of making life easier for end users, offering simple and effective solutions to common or not-so-common problems. In the beginning, our products were mostly geared towards recording studios, post-production and broadcast environments where they needed a quiet environment in which to work. The CPUs often make a lot of noise so we created a line of KVM or keyboard/mouse and video monitor extension so they could access data and still operate in a secure and silent room.

TFWM: Digital Signage applications can be complex to delve into. What are some of the questions you get asked by your clients?

HG: One of the most popular questions is whether our solutions are scalable, and they are. For example, we have a 4×4 Matrix for DVI that can take any four hi-res sources – computers, DVD players, cameras — and connect them to four hi-res displays. You can assign one source to one display or all four displays, whatever you like. For HOWs using six displays, you can cascade two Matrix switchers to accommodate larger distributions.

TFWM: Do you know of any ways in which your digital signage products like the 8×8 DVI Matrix are being used in worship settings?

HG: Yes, we’ve heard from installers setting up the 8×8 DVI Matrix in large worship facilities where flat panel displays are strategically placed in key positions around the facility. This is really ideal for larger venues that have live music in a theater type setting. This way, the flat panels can provide additional views for people in various locations to see the action up close.

TFWM: What do you think the next big thing is for digital signage?

HG: Anything that makes digital signage installations better to view, easier to implement or offers a wow factor is going to see major strides in the industry. The biggest next big thing we see in the industry in general is in 3D HDTV, which is making huge strides with and without glasses. Once manufacturers master 3DTV without glasses, we think this is going to revolutionize the entire industry and beyond. I’ve had some sneak peaks at this technology and I have to say, I can’t wait.