Pendlebury comments: “Guests always want TV in their local language. News will always be important, along with an option to watch movies and box sets on demand. Their ‘home’ TV channels will always be popular.” While the capability to deliver live stream-
ing isn’t essential at present, things are fast progressing in that direction, she says. “Guests are becoming increasingly disappointed if they can’t access the same abundant choice that they have at home. Casting is becoming more and more popular and it won’t be long before it’s the standard as opposed to the standout.”
“Guests are becoming increasingly disappointed if they can’t access the same abundant choice that
they have at home” Jane Pendlebury, HOSPA
Narayanan at Quadriga adds: “In our experi-
ence, casting solutions have a positive impact on guest satisfaction. These changes reinforce the importance of investment in WiFi.” New TVs and the associated infrastructure are a significant investment for hoteliers, who, on average, replace them every four and a half years. As with all technology, even before the- best-in class model is fully established, a new and better version is already out. The TV tech focus at the moment is on defini-
tion, where 4K sets cram four times the number of pixels into the same amount of space as an 1080p TV, resulting in a noticeably denser picture with finer detail. OLED refers to improved colour contrast, with deep pitch-blacks and dazzling whites. Another jump in pixel volume are 8K TVs and, although already available, are a long way off becoming affordable or mainstream. If you are buying a new TV that is 50 inches
or above, the advice is to invest in 4K, as more and more content in 4K is coming on-stream. With smaller screens, the improvement in picture quality is harder to notice. Saltoun at Cardinet advises: “Sadly we can’t
use software to upgrade a 1080p TV to a 4K TV, as that is a physical hardware constraint. But by adopting a software-first approach, hote- liers can enjoy much longer cycles between expensive hardware refreshes. Today, you need to be able to cast as a minimum standard, but tomorrow you may want to offer more, like room service or local weather information via the TV, for example. The software or TV ‘operating system’ needs to be capable of being updated over time to allow for those additions without the need to change the hardware.” The announcement of a major content and technology partnership between Sky and the BBC this month (November 2019), suggests that for hoteliers, Sky may be in the process of becoming the dominant platform through which guests will access a range of content, including BBC iPlayer and Netflix.
www.thecaterer.com Technology Prospectus 2020 | 35
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