Hospitality TVs vs. Consumer TVs
The Difference Could Be Costly For a Hotel
One of the questions that KniTec, Inc. experts hear most is, “Why can’t I just go to Best Buy or Costco and purchase 100 TVs? They have a better price than you!” We hate to hear that anyone has a better price than us, so the next question we typically ask our customers is, “Do you know if the televisions is Hospitality Grade (Pro:Idiom), Commercial Grade or Consumer Grade?” The response we hear most often is, “Consumer Grade.” Consumer grade televisions are perfect for your living room, but they often fall short compared to hospitality TV solutions. Here’s why you need a hotel room TV:
| Commercial TVs | Consumer TVs | |
|---|---|---|
| WARRANTY & SERVICES | Commercial TVs typically come with standard two year warranties with option to purchase extended coverage. Post-sale services also include exchange for any damaged TVs upon arrival or on-site repairs by certified technicians. | Consumer TVs have limited warranties (i.e. 90 days) that can be voided when TV is used in a commercial setting. Hotel owners would have to incur full cost of service which negates any savings generated up front. |
| LABOR & MANAGEMENT | Commercial TVs are compatible with technology solutions that allow content across hundreds of in-room displays to be managed from one central location. This allows for much more efficient operations of your hotel. | Commercial hospitality technology solutions cannot be operated with consumer TVs without external hardware, certification and labor. Overall, extra costs are incurred to set-up each in-room display individually. |
| TECHNOLOGY | Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology is typically required to deliver HD entertainment to your guests. All hospitality TVs come embedded with Pro:Idiom and/or LYNK DRM technology to ensure secure deployment of content across multiple rooms. | Consumer TVs do not come equipped with encryption technology to protect HD programming from illegal duplication. A set-top box would be required with each television which would significantly increase ownership costs. |
| SECURITY | Commercial TVs offer lockable features to prevent guests from tampering with the settings such as lock-out capabilities on rear TV rear panels menu display. Another popular feature is volume limiter which prevents guests from causing disturbances. | Consumer TVs lack the ability lock-out guests from altering the TV settings, unlike commercial units. |
WARRANTY MATTERS
If you purchase a consumer grade television from your local Walmart, at best, you will have 90 days to report any issues the television has in your commercial environment. The worst case scenario is the warranty is void immediately upon putting the television into a commercial setting. With an LG, Samsung or RCA Hospitality grade television (Pro:Idiom), you will receive a 2 year on-site warranty. That means you can contact the manufacturer directly and they will send a technician to troubleshoot the issue. The technician will determine if a repair is possible or if they need to replace the hotel room TV for you.
PRO:IDIOM MATTERS
Most properties that we work with have content providers who still require Pro:Idiom encryption from your head-end to the television. Prior to purchasing televisions for your property, you should contact your content provider and see if they require you purchase a Pro:Idiom TV to properly receive HD content at your property. The most cost-effective way to get Pro:Idiom is by purchasing televisions with Pro:Idiom built into them. If your content provider does not require Pro:Idiom, talk to one of our experts about a commercial grade non-Pro:Idiom TV. Commercial grade TVs don’t have Pro:Idiom, but they do have the same 2 year on-site warranty listed above.
PPV or VOD
If your property is looking to add Pay-Per-View (PPV) or Video-On-Demand (VOD), make sure to contact the provider of the system to discuss what type of television they prefer you utilize. The VOD/PPV providers we coordinate with at least require a commercial grade TV and most require a Pro:Idiom TV.
SMART TV
Looking for a SMART TV to outshine the competition? Make sure that you work with an expert at KniTec, Inc. who can direct you to a SMART TV designed for hospitality to avoid any legal nightmares. Consumer grade SMART TVs are made for the convenience of one user, they save information about that user and it can be difficult to wipe that information. Hospitality Grade (Pro:Idiom) SMART TVs are made with multiple users in mind, so they wipe all information upon power cycles and have applications that are geared toward a hospitality environment.
After making a significant investment in TVs, odds are you are going to want to make sure they stick around at the property. If theft or securing the televisions for a natural disaster is a concern, hospitality (Pro:Idiom) and commercial grade televisions come with lock-down stands that allow you to secure the television directly to the piece of furniture it is sitting on.
One thing we’ve learned over the years of working with hoteliers is that very few properties are similar.
If you’ve been reading this thinking, “Yeah, but what about ________?” Feel free to give us a call at 866-469-7111 to discuss your unique opportunity!
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