We were contacted by the technical manager of the Szidónia Kastélyszálló**** in Röjtökmuzsaj, who would like to request a quote for a new 24-channel analogue TV system for the hotel, because the old one has many problems, often freezing or completely dropping out.
I was surprised, as we have not installed an analogue system for many years, so I asked why they were thinking of analogue.
The answer was that they had old, but working LCD TVs (which they had not yet replaced) and they could not cope with digital signals.
As analogue solutions have become much more expensive than digital TV systems, it is worth making some calculations whether it is more cost effective to replace the TV sets along with the server.
Modern TV sets consume less energy, so electricity bills can be significantly lower. They have many more functions than the old ones, and the guest experience is also better if the TV in the room is not an old-fashioned one.
As always, I asked for the exact TV type to do the energy calculations. From the data sheet it turned out that these TVs are not so bad, they know digital technology, although only with MPEG2 compression.
This put the project in a whole new light, as we could let go of the analogue solution.
An important factor to keep in mind was to select TV channels from sources that use MPEG2 compression.
The end result was that instead of 24 analogue channels, we now have 50 digital channels being transmitted to the rooms. In addition to the 20 Hungarian and 30 international TV channels, radio stations were also included, which is essential for the Hotelstars to be properly rated.
Much to the delight of the hotel management, the old TVs were given a new lease of life, with an incredible improvement in picture quality. Even the business manager could sit back in his chair with satisfaction, because the new digital system was a much smaller investment than if we had stuck with the analogue solution.
Of course, the original problem has also been solved, there are no interruptions or problems in the TV service. This has also taken a big burden off the shoulders of the technical manager, who is no longer being called continuously with TV faults.
This story started back in 2015. The hotel has been using the TV system we installed with satisfaction ever since. Although the old TVs are still holding up, we are already in talks with the management about replacing them.
Tibor Posta
HotelTV specialist
