07.08.18
Hospitality sector: Serving purpose
Hurrairah bin Sohail examines the hospitality sector in Asia Pacific to discuss the avenues for growth and the shifting landscape of video display systems for hotel deployments.
Globally the hospitality sector is
expected to generate USD9.5
billion in AV solutions revenue
in 2018 with growth expected to
be just under 10% through 2022
according to research conducted by IHS Markit
for AVIXA. APAC represents about one-third
of the global professional AV opportunity, or
USD3.5 billion. Growth in the region is expected
to be higher, surpassing 10% through the end of
the forecast period till 2022.
On the ground, AV professionals corroborate
the growth of the hospitality sector with their
personal experience. Lawrence Siow, principle
consultant at AV & Acoustic, says: “From
my perspective in Thailand, the country has
become ‘the’ destination for most people and
Thailand’s effort to promote their country as
‘the’ destination is paying dividends. We live
in a modern society and people feel the need
to travel to places where they can stretch their
dollar. In Thailand you can have the modern
city experience and also the countryside and of
course the sun, the sand and the sea. I believe this
is why the hospitality market here is growing.”
The hospitality sector in other parts of Asia
Pacific has been spurred on by global sporting
events. In particular Korea experienced a growth
in the hospitality sector during the Pyeongchang
Winter Olympics 2018 while the Tokyo Summer
Olympics 2020 are expected to boost the
hospitality sector in Japan.
Display dilemma
The largest technology segment driving the
growth in the hospitality vertical is video
displays and it is expected to hit USD2.4 billion
in revenues for the APAC region according to
research conducted by IHS Markit for AVIXA.
However, there is debate regarding what the
best video display for the hospitality sector is.
Projection, LCD panels and LED tiles are all in
contention for application in the hospitality
sector and the correct choice can oftentimes
depend on the individual case scenario.
Ian D. Harris, president and principal
consultant at iHD Consulting, comments: “LCD
panels, in their different iterations, still have a
place in guestroom, gym and meeting spaces.
Projection remains very cost effective for indoor
large screen display, particularly for screen sizes
above or around 85-in diagonal. LED tiles are
attractive for outdoor signage and for typically the
main display in a ballroom. Cost, however, remains
high compared to projection and for the majority
of investors and owners of hotel properties, it’s the
cost that is paramount.”
Siow adds: “In general the clients see large
visual displays as part of their marketing strategy
to give them an edge for their properties over
others. LED tiles are the direction to go at
present. The good ones are still prohibitively
expensive, the mid-range LED tiles are getting
there with their quality and hopefully prices will
come down. Projectors and LCD panels, they are
still the bread and butter for the AV industry,
as the technology behind these two types of
displays is mature and has many benefits since it
is tried and tested.”
The disruption for video displays, as identified by
both consultants, comes from the emergence of LED
tiles. Advances in technology and reducing prices
mean that LED tiles can now be considered for a
range of indoor applications they were previously
not suited to. Additionally, LED tiles allow hotels
to design custom displays allowing them to
differentiate their venues from the competition.
Harris comments: “The application of LED tiles
allows use of stage lighting without washing out
the displayed image, and is impactful due to its
far higher contrast ratio. Projection could only
achieve around 10:1 contrast ratio in commercial
environments. LED tiles have not really enabled
new designs and applications, however they have
improved them where budget is available.”
Siow says: “Clients who want a ‘wow’ factor for
their venues and properties will choose to go with
a custom designed LED display to give themselves
an edge over their competitor. Now your display is
no longer limited to the 16:9 format. With multi-
window processors, you now can have your LED
wall as your backdrop.”
On trend
Video display systems for hospitality are also
influenced by the overarching trends in the
professional AV industry. Whether these trends are
adopted however is another matter.
Regarding the shift of video transmission over IP
systems, Siow says: “Video over IP is the direction
the industry is headed in and it only makes sense
for hospitality to adopt it. It also saves cents, as
these are low cost infrastructure deployments that
you can build early. When the client is ready the
investment of equipment for video transmission
can come later.”
Harris says: “We, as a technology consultancy,
are designing mostly AV over IP streaming systems
now and view HDBaseT as a legacy technology, or
nearly there. The AV market is still in its early days,
for example there are only a few in-wall panels
allowing direct connection of HDMI with IP out
of the back like the old days of VGA with external
converter boxes sitting on the carpet or under the
table, plugging into the UTP connection panel. It
makes perfect sense to use IP, such that it runs on
commercial networks (Layer 2 at the Edge switch)
and with no need to certify or qualify the Edge
switches, since corporate LAN is not going to be
using exotic models.”
One of the drivers of video over IP is 4K
resolution content. However, higher resolutions are
not impacting hospitality as Harris details: “The
hospitality sector doesn’t demand 4K, but will need
it. There is almost no demand but we are designing
higher resolution video systems with regards to the
infrastructure and streaming products if not the
displays and the sources which need to catch up.”
Changes in consumer technology are also having
an impact on the hospitality sector. Siow identifies:
“One of the possible developments in the hospitality
sector that I see is smart guest rooms with voice
command. As the current technology from Apple
and Google improves, the smart guestroom will
eventually come to be.”
Manufacturers have already taken the first steps
to respond to this trend. At ISE 2018, LG showcased
an LCD panel for hospitality that was integrated
with a voice assistant. The functionality included
control over lighting as well as panel operations.
LG envisions a future where voice activated systems
replace the control panels in hospitality and become
the central touch point between technology and
hotel patrons.
Harris offers his opinions: “BYOD, wireless
connectivity of personal devices, is here now,
though not implemented often enough currently.
Service robots are coming up fast and we have
designed infrastructure for service robots for some
clients already. Voice interaction in the guest room
and meeting room, using professional and not
consumer technologies for software for privacy
reasons is a space that has yet to be explored.
“Also LiFi is there on the two-year horizon. This
is use of light instead of radio waves for 10Gb/s to
100Gb/s data communication. Under development
by Prof. Haas at the University of Edinburgh, Cisco
and others have joined in the development, and
phone manufacturers are believed to be publishing
patents and trialling code already.”
Whatever the developments may be, the main
focus of the hospitality sector will remain the
client. AV systems and technology on the whole,
in the context of a hotel deployment, will need to
keep this in mind.