HD VOD Now Available at L.A.’s Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel
NxTV, Inc., the leading provider of digital in-room entertainment, voice and data solutions for luxury hotels worldwide, announced that it is now delivering high-definition (HD) digital video-on-demand services to its hotel customers. The first installation of NxTV HD set-top boxes is the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
The NxTV HD set-top box gives hotel guests access to the latest Hollywood hit movies, on demand and in stunning high definition. The NxTV system delivers a 100 percent digital HD stream from the on-site video server to the guest room television, ensuring that there is no signal degradation whatsoever. The result is absolutely consistent HD picture quality in every hotel room at all times. The HD set-top box also features the true “trick play” PVR functionality (rewind, fast-forward, pause and save) that NxTV has always offered, and its embedded Firefox Web browser provides an unparalleled TV Internet experience.
“Guests at the luxury hotels that NxTV serves expect the latest technology to be available in their rooms,” said Russell P. Reeder, president and COO of NxTV. “Our digital system has always delivered excellent picture quality, so providing HD programming is the perfect addition to NxTV’s suite of digital services. Staying on the cutting edge of technology allows us to provide the ultimate in-room entertainment experience, which helps our customers differentiate their properties and build brand loyalty with their guests.”
The NxTV HD set-top box features HDMI output with HDCP encryption, delivering high-definition content securely to HD displays. With the integration of the Verimatrix VCAS system, the box can use a public key infrastructure and data-encryption technology to provide additional content protection.
The box also boasts a hardware video decoder supporting the MPEG1, 2 and 4 formats. Like its standard-definition predecessor, the HD set-top box has a small form factor, so it is easy to install out of sight in the guest room. It also features a serial control interface compatible with most commercial hospitality display models, enabling seamless integration of TV functions like channel and input changing, and volume control.
NxTV has HD content agreements in place with several major Hollywood studios, including MGM, Paramount and DreamWorks, as well as with independent studios like Lionsgate and HDNet/Magnolia Pictures. Some of the recent hit movies that will be available in high definition to guests at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza include “Casino Royale,” “Dreamgirls” and “Apocalypto.” NxTV will continue to leverage its relationships with the leading content providers to offer hotel guests the widest possible range of HD programming on demand, from movies to TV series to music videos and concerts.
Within the next few years, NxTV expects to provide HD services to all its customers as high-definition displays increasingly become the norm throughout the hospitality industry.
About NxTV, Inc.
Founded in 1997, NxTV is the largest provider of digital in-room entertainment systems to the global hospitality industry. NxTV has evolved into a leading innovator in all aspects of in-room entertainment, delivering to its customers a series of firsts in technology, guest services, and content and support services. NxTV provides digital IP-based in-room entertainment services including digital and HD video-on-demand movies, wired and wireless high-speed Internet access, IP video games and a customized guest interface, serving many of the world’s most prestigious hotel brands, including Four Seasons, Peninsula, W Hotels, St. Regis, Le Meridien and Hyatt. The company has offices and customers in the Americas, Europe and Asia and is owned by The Pivotal Group, an investment company with a $2 billion portfolio of real estate, hotel and technology assets.
