Consider the typical hotel guestroom television 50 years ago. The TV was black and white (color TV wasn’t available yet) and very fuzzy, and a guest often had to slide a 25-cent coin in a slot at regular intervals or the TV would shut off. Both the constant requests for coins and the average TV quality probably annoyed most guests.

Fast forward to the present day, and very little has changed. The hotelier now pays for the TV and the content, the TV set is much flatter, but the quality, in many cases, has gotten worse. After spending more than 150 nights a year in hotels around the world, I can attest that this statement is true.

Today's TV sets are in a16.9 format, digital, and some are in HD. That doesn't mean all video content is broadcast in that format. I’ve seen too many properties that have attempted to fill the full TV screen to its maximum. This leads to large distorted images on the screen or portions of the top and/or bottom cut off. To make matters worse, the color adjustments are not set properly, and we have green or bright red people with disproportionate bodies. (Halle Berry, what have they done to you?)

Expecting at least the quality of home TV, many guests get upset, and surely make a mental note regarding their next visit to that property. This is only the beginning. Forget about pay-per-view revenue. The guest won’t want to pay to see such a poor and distorted picture. You may even lose that repeat guest.

The Technical Stuff
To meet today's standards you must also have a "pro:idiom" compatible set. Many of these sets purchased just three or four years ago aren’t compliant with these standards. Therefore, the hotelier faces replacing non-pro:idiom TV sets or paying for an expensive workaround. One of our clients was getting ready to spend more than $100,000 on new TV sets until we showed them an inexpensive solution. The words "commercial TV set" don’t mean “hospitality". It’s two different technologies.

Yes, you may say, my sets are all connected via HDMI cables, so I'm OK. But are you? What version of HDMI cable are you using? There are many different versions being specified and used in hotels today. The ones in most common use today are HDMI V1.3. (For discussion sake, we won't get into the subcategory issue.) If you’re using 60Hz HDTVs in your rooms, you’re fine. However, if you’re using 120Hz or 240Hz HDTV, you must use HDMI V1.4 cable. Otherwise, don’t waste your money on these sets and just buy 720P sets and use any good quality HDMI 1.3 cable.

Remember, the cable must run from the HD signal source to the HDTV. The least-expensive method is to run the HDMI cable from a set-top box to the HDTV. Don’t use cable runs with HDMI cables longer than five meters. Anything longer, and amplification must be used. An internal infrastructure of RG 6 is mandatory.

Look To the Future
While the HDTV field is loaded with landmines, you don’t have to step on them. There are many good vendors and consultants available to assist you. Make sure the vendor has your interests at heart, and offers many different brands. Check with your content provider as well. Make sure the services you want are offered. Leverage the expertise of a good hospitality consultant who knows this subject well and has had a lot of experience with different TV and content providers. Don’t have your in-house maintenance person set up your HDTV sets. He can install it, but bring in a professional to have the color and screen resolution settings adjusted correctly.

Look to the future. We are in the midst of a period of content and technical innovation. Interactive TV will soon be commonplace, as will 3-D HDTV. In-room teleconferencing will become commonplace soon as well. Internet video is already here.

Each year at the Consumer Electronics Show, we observe dramatic improvements in TV technology. Prices continue to fall and quality and screen sizes continue to increase. Remember to think green. LED HDTVs exceed all Energy Star requirements and may even result in tax credits that will help defray your HDTV costs. They’ll also cut your electrical bills considerably over conventional, same screen size LCD or plasma TVs.

Your room HDTV sets should have the following as a minimum: 720P, two HDMI ports, two USB 2.0 ports, pro:idiom compliancy, Ethernet connectivity, WiFi enabled, smart media card capability, iPod connectivity, VGA input and a coax connector. Remember, these are minimum requirements.

Les Spielman is CEO and founder of Hospitality Automation Consultants Ltd., an independent consulting firm with more than 30 years of hands-on experience in the lodging industry. The firm has successfully completed more than 3,200 consulting projects throughout the world. He has served two consecutive terms on the board of directors of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants and is a member of HTNG. Reach him at ceo@hacl.net or 818-763-4449.