Central blood pressure (BP) and various vascular indices estimated non-invasively over a 24-hour period were compared between normotensive volunteers and hypertensive patients by an innovative technology of pulse wave analysis, integrated in a BPLab ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) system. Digitalized waveforms obtained during each brachial oscillometric BP measurement were stored in the device memory and then post-processed using software with Vasotens technology running on a personal computer. Averages for the whole 24-hour period and for the awake and asleep subperiods were computed. A total of 142 normotensive healthy subjects and 661 hypertensive patients were analyzed. 24-hour central BP, aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation indices (AI) were significantly higher in the hypertensive than in the healthy subject group (119.3 vs. 105.6 mmHg for systolic BP, 75.6 vs. 72.3 mmHg for diastolic BP, 9.8 vs. 9.2 m/sec for PWV, −9.7 vs. −40.7 for peripheral AI and 24.7 vs. 11.0 for aortic AI), whereas reflected wave transit time (RWTT) was significantly lower in patients with high BP (126.6 vs. 139.0 ms). After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index and 24-hour BP levels, a statistically significant between-group difference was still observed for 24-hour RWTT (127.5 ms hypertensives vs. 134.5 ms normotensives, p=0.0001) and 24-hour peripheral AI (−14.1 vs. −20.0, p=0.005). All estimates of vascular health displayed a typical circadian rhythm. Thus the estimation of arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics by the BPLab device represents an effective tool for an evaluation of vascular damage in hypertensive patients in dynamic condition.