Visual Circuits recently announced that OTRUM, a leading provider of interactive TV solutions and movies to hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has selected its Harmony MPEG Decoder. The Harmony 4ES is the latest generation, professional MPEG-2 playback circuit board from Visual Circuits, which enables system integrators to build and deploy high-quality, integrated video and graphics-based display and distribution solutions. Harmony was chosen after 60 pilot units were successfully tested in Germany.
"OTRUM has set aggressive goals for the deployment of interactive TV solutions to hotels," said Fredd Causevic, president and CEO of OTRUM. "During our pilot test, Visual Circuits provided several versions of customized drivers to specifically fit our stringent needs for a total solution. This level of direct support combined with the company's quality and technical capabilities made the Harmony card the obvious choice for our application."
"Visual Circuits designed the Harmony MPEG Decoder with a wide range of scalable features to be easily adaptable for a variety of in-room and on-demand video applications," said Rob McPherson, COO of Visual Circuits. "Harmony's ability to integrate MPEG video with graphics enables OTRUM Interactive solutions to support the unique needs of each individual hotel and its guests."
Featuring four independent output channels of component, RGB (sync on green), s-video or composite video, and Dolby Digital audio, the Harmony 4ES is suitable for demanding, industrial multimedia applications. The high-quality, on-screen display allows graphics or text information to be overlaid on the video with varying levels of transparency. In addition, Harmony's composite, genlocked AV input allows seamless switching between MPEG and "live" video. Windows and Linux drivers are available along with an extensive programming library. Sample source code with function calls is provided to accelerate development of advanced digital video playback applications.
For more information, visit www.otrum.com.
