Philips Leads the Way in Digital Watermarking Integration for Consumer Electronics...

Philips Leads the Way in Digital Watermarking Integration for Consumer Electronics Products

LAS VEGAS--(Business Wire)--
Philips is the first manufacturer to offer a watermarking solution
in its hospitality television sets and will have it available starting
in May in a full range of HDTV sizes including 26", 32", 37", 42" and
52". Hoteliers have long enjoyed an early-release movie window that
allows them to entertain their guests with box-office hits prior to
release on DVD. Philips VTrack digital watermarking solution will ease
concerns about piracy that have led certain content owners to withhold
high-definition media from this advance window.

In an effort to deter the unlawful copying of high definition
movies in hotels and enable hoteliers to ensure that they remain
available to their guests, Philips is leading the industry with its
VTrack digital watermarking solution which will be demonstrated at the
2008 National Association of Broadcasters Show (NAB) in Las Vegas,
Nevada.

Philips hospitality products already utilize highly-effective
Pro:Idiom(TM) encryption technology to secure data from the content
source to the television. Philips VTrack extends anti-piracy efforts
by making electronic and camcorder copies of video material traceable
and thereby decreasing the risk of piracy. Philips VTrack embeds the
video with an invisible watermark that identifies the time, date and
location. Therefore, if a video shows up on the internet or on pirated
DVDs, content owners and law enforcement agencies can use the VTrack
watermark data to determine where and when it was recorded. This helps
with content security enforcement efforts and ensures that hoteliers
are still able to garner HD media for early release.

Studio executives have applauded this Philips initiative to
introduce this additional layer of content protection.

"We are excited that Philips has released a forensic watermark
system in the hospitality market. Adding this additional layer of
content protection enables us to explore new business models," says
Richard Berger, Senior Vice President New Media and Technology, at
Sony Pictures Entertainment. "We believe it is critically important to
seek content protection technologies like VTrack that are designed to
be invisible and not to interfere with the consumer's enjoyment of
entertainment content."

Philips is also working with pay-per-view providers in the
hospitality industry to ensure that any watermarking solution will
work seamlessly with their infrastructure.

"We are very pleased to see a market leader like Philips propose a
new solution for an issue that is of increasing importance to the
hospitality industry," said Scott Young, Chief Marketing Officer for
LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation. "VTrack represents the first
commercially viable watermarking technology that we plan to utilize in
our efforts to develop a solution that will meet the needs of the
hospitality pay-per-view industry and the studios."

"This is the first commercial integration of forensic watermarking
in TV-sets in the industry," said Wim Bus, Business Development
Director of Philips Content Identification. "We work with leading chip
manufacturers to integrate VTrack in a broad range of TV and Set-top
boxes for the hospitality and Pay-TV market."

VTrack is part of Philips' broad Content Identification product
portfolio which is made up of state-of-the-art solutions and services
to optimally sell, share and distribute audio and video content with
respect to copyrights. Philips watermarking and fingerprinting
technology is also being used by major Hollywood studios and Music
labels for protecting and monetizing their content assets.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI)
is a global leader in healthcare, lighting and consumer lifestyle,
delivering people-centric, innovative products, services and solutions
through the brand promise of "sense and simplicity". Headquartered in
the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 123,800 employees in
more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 27 billion in
2007, the company is a market leader in medical diagnostic imaging and
patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting solutions, as
well as lifestyle solutions for personal wellbeing. News from Philips
is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

Philips Content Identification protects digital assets and unlocks
new revenue opportunities. From new releases to timeless classics, our
state-of-the-art fingerprinting and watermarking technologies protect
your digital assets as they travel across the world. Studios,
publishers, platform operators and content service providers are
already using Philips products and services for Forensic Tracking,
Media Monitoring and Content Filtering and Monetization. More
information can be found at www.philips.com/ci.

Pro:Idiom(TM) is a trademark of LG Electronics Inc

Philips Content Identification
Hans Driessen, +31 610610417
hans.driessen@philips.com
www.philips.com/ci
or
Text 100 Public Relations
Michael Steavenson, 212-871-4080
michaels@text100.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008