LG Electronics has unwrapped a new series of flatscreen digital high-definition television sets with “unique encryption for secure digital content management” for the hospitality industry.
The company demonstrated three models – plasma display panel (PDP), liquid crystal display (LCD), and cathode ray tube (CRT) – at the 2004 International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Show, saying they were designed explicitly to allow the hotel industry to deliver digital HDTV programming, including pay-per-view, to guests.
The PDP is a 42-inch screen, the LCD a 32-inch screen, and the CRT a 30-inch screen, LG said, featuring encryption technology that includes content protection and integrated digital tuners, which the company said takes advantage of industry-standard digital television reception technology coming to just about all television sets in the U.S. in the next three years, as the Federal Communications Commission has mandated.
LG senior vice president Richard Lewis said digital rights management is critical to the hotel industry getting fresh and continuing new digital content for its guests. "Working closely with PPV and content providers, we have developed an end- to-end encryption system that breaks new ground in providing a secure means to deliver high-value digital content directly to hotel rooms," he said.
The company will also work with pay-per-view providers and industry leaders to build HDTV-compatible technologies for all the hospitality industry, said vice president of commercial products Ron Snaidauf. "These new models are the first in the industry to allow hoteliers the ability to provide high-value HDTV programming without the worries of piracy or descrambling issues," he said of the new sets.
Lewis said high-definition pay-per-view films and other high value programming bring the hotel industry a new dimension for using flat-panel display, though he noted the movie industry has been reluctant to release such content because of piracy concerns. "[But] now we have an encryption system that is both compatible with existing PPV interface controllers and meets the needs of movie studios and satellite providers," he said.
