Hotel television systems

Hotel television systems (sometimes also referred to as Hotel TV) is the in-suite television content presented in hotel-rooms, other hotel environments and in the hospitality industry for in-room entertainment, as well as hospitals, assisted living, senior care and nursing homes. These services may be free for the guest or paid, depending on the service and the individual hotel's or hotel chain’s policy. Generally these services are controlled by using remote control.

Services
Hotel television is generally available either as a free to guest services, which may include local channels and satellite or cable programming, or as interactive television, which provides services such as video on demand or any other paid services including movies, music, adult content, and other services. In some cases hotel TV also means a bundle of interactive services that are made available on a guest's TV screen such as a hotel welcome screen with hotel information, hotel services, an information portal with weather, news & local attractions, video games, internet applications, internet television, movie rental services, and order & shopping for the hotel’s amenities.

Satellite television
Commonly a hotel television system distributing satellite television signal is known as a Satellite Master Antenna TV (SMATV) system. In an L-band distribution system television signal is sent from the satellite dish to a panel in a distribution closet to a set top box in each room which decrypts the digital signal via a coaxial network. In a Headend type system, the signal is encrypted to prevent piracy and then distributed via a Com1000, Code Plus or similar headend. In an IPTV system, all video, voice and data are transmitted over an internal hotel IP network.

Cable television
In a cable TV system signal may be distributed via a coaxial network to a set-top box in each room.

Signal distribution
Satellite television, cable television and FTA signals can be distributed via L-Band, Com1000 and Code Plus Headend, or IPTV distribution systems. In most hotels, a television signal provided by a satellite television or cable television provider or FTA antenna is transmitted over a hotel coaxial cable network. Most hotels today are wired just with coaxial cables, a big obstacle for implementing IP-based hotel television systems. Some newer hotels are pre-wired with UTP, which enables IP-based hotel television services. For hotels wired with coaxial cable, technology has emerged recently which enables some to take advantage of IP-based signal transmission over coax cables.