Why Pro:Idiom is So Important for Your Hotel
What is Pro:Idiom?
Pro:Idiom™ (Pro:Idiom) is an encryption technology developed by LG for use in the hospitality industry for the secure delivery of high definition digital television & video on demand (VOD) signals.
HBO, Showtime, ESPN and other digital television content providers require encryption of the HD signal in FTG Hospitality environments where a set top box is not present in each room in order to protect their content from piracy.
Why is Pro:Idiom Important for Your Hotel
In a phrase, Digital Rights Management. Content protection was not an issue for standard definition hotel television systems during the analog era, but as hotels have moved towards high definition (HD) all-digital programming on their TV systems, content providers have required digital rights management to protect their signal.
Today the high definition television signal you receive on your Hotel TV System from the satellite or cable TV provider is 100% digital. That digital television content is easily pirated if the signal is not encrypted.
Content providers like HBO, SHOWTIME, ABC and other TV and movie channels are requiring hotels to have an encrypted signal going to the television in their rooms to prevent piracy of the content they produce.
What Does All That Tech Talk Mean for Your Hotel?
The delivery of a Pro:Idiom encrypted HDTV signal to your guest room TVs requires a hotel television distribution system that allows a central decoder to decrypt video from a high definition headend or satellite feed and re-encode it for secure delivery to the TV sets in each room.
We have Cable. Does that Mean We Need a NEW Television System?
If you have a Cable TV provider, getting Digital HD or 4K it will mean one of two things.
- Using a Bulky Set Top Converter Box in EACH ROOM
OR - Paying to have fiber installed in your hotel and new equipment installed in your headend
In the end it means possibly tens of thousands in costs for new fiber to be installed and for new equipment.
What are our Hotel Television System Options?
54 Channel COM3000 Headend
Your options for HD / 4K TV for Hotel systems are:
Cable TV or L-Band satellite TV systems with Set Top Converter Boxes at each TV to decrypt the HD signal.
High definition / 4K headend systems from DIRECTV that utilize Pro:Idiom eliminate the need to use set-top boxes in-room.
or Headend type systems.
With Cable TV / legacy hotel TV systems, set top boxes are a possible signal security fail point in your Hotel TV system. A COM3000 Pro:Idiom HD / 4K headend system eliminates that signal security fail point.
The NEW COM3000 Headend from Technicolor for DIRECTV Hotel TV Systems
The New COM3000 Headend by Technicolor is the latest in a line of revolutionary headend television systems from DIRECTV. It is the smallest and most powerful headend TV system available for hotels, rv parks and campgrounds, assisted living facilities, senior living facilities, healthcare, campuses, institutions, bars, restaurants, and other commercial applications.
The Start of the COM Headend System for Hotel TV
In 2009 Technicolor released the COM1000 for DIRECTV Hotel TV Systems. The COM1000 was a revolutionary HD headend system when it was introduced and changed the way TV for hotels was provided in hotels with over 250 rooms. It provided hotels with a cost effective, single wire system.
The COM1000 Headend was designed to lower the per channel costs of delivering HD television programming, decrease the space needed, and add more HD channel capability. The COM1000 allowed you to have up to 24 channels in a single 4U chassis.
Before the Com1000 was introduced in 2009, upgrading your Hotel TV system to HD was a costly, disruptive process for hotels. It was even more difficult for hotels and resorts with over 250 rooms or that do not have home-run type cabling throughout the property.
Plug and Play Means Little to No Downtime
Before the COM1000 for properties using an existing analog headend a huge worry in upgrading was the downtime required in switching to HD because a property needed a complete re-wire because of a lack of home run wiring or because the new system required installing set-top boxes in-room.
It’s a very real concern, because in a 24/7/365 industry you’re talking about disconnecting TV in every single hotel room. Shutting down rooms is a major cost over and above the cost of the new TV system itself. The COM1000 provided a plug and play hotel television platform that minimized downtime and dd not require leaving rooms vacant for installation.
The Next Step in the COM Headend Revolution
In June of 2014 DIRECTV and Technicolor announced the COM2000 HD headend system. The COM2000 was a quantum leap forward in technology that brought along with it the plug and play platform and stability of the COM1000 while adding some outstanding new features.
- The COM2000 was about 1/2 the cost of a similarly configured COM1000
- The COM2000 used just 225W – a fraction of what a COM1000 or your current headend uses
- The COM360 chassis took up just 3U of rack space – 25% less than other headend systems
- The COM46-FLX receiver cards gave you 8 HD or SD receivers on a single card
The Com2000 continued DIRECTV’s leadership in commercial-grade TV system solutions for the hotel industry, hospitality, healthcare and for other lodging and institution properties. It allowed you to have up to 48 channels in a 3U chassis the size of a desktop computer laid on its side.
But with Hotel television programming packages from DIRECTV often including 100 or more channels, the COM2000 still had limitations. To provide your guests with a full package of channels they expect in your rooms because they have them at home, hotels and other lodging facilities were forced to stack COM2000 chassis to provide all the channels.
The Revolution Continues
The COM3000 Headend takes the next step in providing the TV experience Hotel guests are clamoring for. AT&T continues to change the world of video with the launch of COM3000. This is the third generation of our DIRECTV for Business video headend. With it, businesses will get more channels than ever. Plus, they’ll find it’s easier to customize. COM3000 Headend can deliver up to 138 HD channels, including 4K HDR programming. And business owners can add channels one at a time, including their own in-house and over-the-top (OTT) channels.
The platform can also help businesses prepare for the future of video programming delivery through easy customization. As business and entertainment needs evolve, business owners can download software upgrades, instead of installing costly hardware. And guests can view content:
- On any screen – TVs, mobile devices, tablets
- On any hardware – smart TVs, third-party set-top-boxes, streaming clients
- Delivered over any infrastructure – coax, ethernet, Wi-Fi
4K Support
The 1st thing you will notice is that the COM3000 provides true 4K TV. COM3000 will support DIRECTV’s current 4K channels as well as the HDR and high-bandwidth programming of the future so its truly futureproof.
138 HD channel capacity
Since the COM1000 was introduced for use on DIRECTV Hotel TV Systems, the competition has tried to copy it. Even expanding on the number of channels available in a single receiver card. Technicolor has packed access to up to 23 channels in a single COM51A receiver card.
Remote Management and Service
Like the COM2000 access to the NEW Technicolor COM3000 headend is via a web browser, meaning that if channels need to be changed, service needs to be done, or you want to utilize channels to provide welcome screens and local information, it can all be done remotely.
“Programming changes, working with new hardware, whatever… it’s all easy to do.”
What Type of TVs Do I Need for Pro:Idiom?
A hotel television signal encrypted with Pro:Idiom requires a HD TV that can decrypt that signal. LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, and Philips manufacture hospitality televisions that have an integrated Pro:Idiom chip to make that encrypted signal visible on the TV. Pro:Idiom is widely used in hospitality environments and has become a standard feature for hospitality televisions.
Some of the largest Hotel brands from Choice to Hilton are specifying Pro:Idiom as their approved TV type. According to the SBCA, COM1000 and COM2000 High Definition Headend Systems using Pro:Idiom Digital Rights Management are installed on more than 2.0 million out of the 5.5 million total screens in the U.S. hospitality industry.
For More Information
Call Barry at 1-800-951-1979 Today
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