The Gefen A/V Conference Room Processor is a six-input, one-output A/V switcher/scaler for use in conference rooms and other environments that need to switch between various input sources. In many ways, it's similar to other switcher/scalers on the market; however, it does has a few key differences that will either make it a great fit, or rule it out completely. The processor is a two-rack space unit that comes with both rack ears and feet, depending on your choice of mounting.
In terms of input variety, the processor is fairly full-featured. It sports two component video inputs, two DVI, one VGA and one HDMI in. Each of the video inputs is accompanied by analog audio, S/PDIF and Toslink inputs (with the exception of the rear component, which does not have Toslink). The HDMI input supports video over HDMI, so there is no paired audio for that source.
Each of the inputs will be scaled to a resolution determined by the user in the fairly easy to navigate menu. There are some 19 possible output resolutions ranging from VGA to 2K, so it should be possible to find an output size that matches your display. As the only output option is HDMI, I suspect Gefen imagined this device being placed in a conference room, feeding a large flat panel display or perhaps a conference projector.
One of the features that I find very interesting is the inclusion of a two-channel power amplifier for driving a set of speakers. Audio in conference rooms is typically pretty abysmal; people either use the display's built-in speakers or (worse) the laptop speakers. With this Gefen unit, the user could pick up a set of relatively inexpensive bookshelf or wall-mountable speakers and drive them directly from the switcher/scaler. At 25 watts per channel, you won't bring down the house, but they should be more than adequate for your average conference room. They even included a set of line outputs—left and right plus a subwoofer—in case you would have powered speakers.
The processor has volume controls on the front panel, and the line outputs can be configured via the on-screen or front panel menu to be volume-controlled or fixed output.
Speaking of the front panel, it is here that I think will make or break the sale for these units. In addition to the display, source selection switches and menu controls, the front is also populated by a vast array of connectors. Here we find six RCAs for analog audio, three more for S/PDIF, three optical inputs, a set of RCAs for component in, and VGA, DVI and HDMI input jacks.
Now, if this were sitting at the end of a conference room in a nook under the flat panel, and the owners of the room wanted to be sure any user coming in with just about any input device could easily jack into this processor and get the image on the screen, this is a brilliant design. With other processors, installers will often fabricate custom input panels to bring the input jacks around from the back of the unit to a more accessible location. Gefen's design makes that unnecessary.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a neat, in-rack installation, this may not be the processor for you because there will be a gaggle of cables running all over the front. However, if all you need in the back of the rack is DVI and component in, it might be nice to have input options on the front for those occasional, “Do you have a place I can plug this in?” requests.
FACE VALUE
The display on the unit is easy to read, although only somewhat informative. It typically displays the selected input, incoming resolution, as well as output resolution. All configuration is done through the on-screen display. The menu and source selection is accomplished by a series of pencil-sized aluminum buttons. One set of five is arranged in an up/down, left/right with select in the middle pattern, while the rest are in a three-by-three grid.
While it's not hard to figure out the function of each button, the type is rather small, and the layout (especially of the grid) is not immediately intuitive. I can see more than one person just pushing all the buttons until they see their image on the screen—which could get frustrating because switching inputs takes five to eight seconds as it locks up and scales in the newly selected image. In that time, the screen goes black and the display says “Loss.” This is not uncommon behavior for switches of this type, but it could be disconcerting for a novice user.
Gefen also included a very extensive RS-232 control set in this device. In fact, well over half the manual is dedicated to the serial control structure. It would seem this would fit very well into a Crestron- or AMX-controlled environment. Personally, I would much rather have Ethernet control with a built-in web server—it is 2012, after all—but for some reason the professional AV manufacturer world is still enamored with the ancient RS-232 control protocol.
IN ACTION
To see how the product worked with various sources, I hooked it up to the HDMI display in my office—a 23–inch, 1080p Samsung. Using various mini-DisplayPort adapters, I tried out the VGA and DVI inputs, and broke out my upscaling DVD player to test the component and HDMI inputs.
On DVI, my laptop saw the external display and I had a wide range of resolutions to choose from. All were scaled with very acceptable quality to the native 1080p display. The DVD inputs worked fine, as well; the processor scaled the 480i signal up to 1080p, although the internal upscaler in the DVD player looked better when sent out via the HDMI cable at both 720p and 1080i.
As I said at the beginning, this will either be exactly what you are looking for or it won't. In a conference room, this would be a perfect fit—so much so, they included Conference Room in the name. I'm not sure I would put it in a rack in any kids', students' or community rooms, however, due to the messiness of the resulting installation.
To be sure, it's a solid product with a great feature set. The image quality was very good, and the price point—$1,799 retail—is in the ballpark or lower than competitively featured products. The inclusion of the audio amplifier is a nice touch that could make it a great choice in the right environment.
