Hotel weirdness
 

I know that hotel TV systems can be odd but the hotel we were in the other
day contrived to supply our room with 5 analogue stations (and no digital
ones) and it was in an area that undergone the digital switchover!
(postcode AB41 6BL).

The TV had a "DTV" menu but it was greyed out and inaccessible.

Presumably they were using a decoder to generate an analogue signal to then
feed their rooms which seems odd given that our TV looked DTV ready so to
speak.

Why would they do this? The only thing I can think of is that most of their
TVs didn't actually have digital receivers built in and that the TV in our
room didn't actually have one either. I'm guessing that the menu was greyed
out because it used components common to other models that *did* have
digital receivers built in. Does this make sense?

Tim

Hotel weirdness
 

On 06/03/2012 15:21, Tim Downie wrote:
I know that hotel TV systems can be odd but the hotel we were in the
other day contrived to supply our room with 5 analogue stations (and no
digital ones) and it was in an area that undergone the digital
switchover! (postcode AB41 6BL).

The TV had a "DTV" menu but it was greyed out and inaccessible.

Presumably they were using a decoder to generate an analogue signal to
then feed their rooms which seems odd given that our TV looked DTV ready
so to speak.

Why would they do this? The only thing I can think of is that most of
their TVs didn't actually have digital receivers built in and that the
TV in our room didn't actually have one either. I'm guessing that the
menu was greyed out because it used components common to other models
that *did* have digital receivers built in. Does this make sense?

There's one possible advantage in receiving all the channels using a
rack of DTT receivers, and then distributing them via analogue RF. When
retunes are required, you don't have 300 rooms to visit !



--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

Hotel weirdness
 

There's one possible advantage in receiving all the channels using a rack
of DTT receivers, and then distributing them via analogue RF. When retunes
are required, you don't have 300 rooms to visit !

Do Hotel TVs not have a management console from where you can request all
TVs to retune? I always assumed that was the sort of thing they would have
to justify having a hotel TV and not a bog-standard TV.

Paul DS

Hotel weirdness
 

Paul D Smith wrote:
: Do Hotel TVs not have a management console from where you can request all
: TVs to retune? I always assumed that was the sort of thing they would have
: to justify having a hotel TV and not a bog-standard TV.

I think that hotels typically use the "rack of decoders approach". As many
hotels add a few SATELLITE chaneels to their mix of RF channels (sometimes
even Sky channels if they pay Sky enough!) your suggestion of having each
room have its own Freeview TV would preclude that!

I think I once saw a Sky decoder menu page on what was supposed to be a Sky
Movie channel on a TV at Center Parcs.

Hotel weirdness
 

"Brian Mc" wrote in message
...
Paul D Smith wrote:
: Do Hotel TVs not have a management console from where you can request
all
: TVs to retune? I always assumed that was the sort of thing they would
have
: to justify having a hotel TV and not a bog-standard TV.

I think that hotels typically use the "rack of decoders approach". As many
hotels add a few SATELLITE chaneels to their mix of RF channels (sometimes
even Sky channels if they pay Sky enough!) your suggestion of having each
room have its own Freeview TV would preclude that!

I think I once saw a Sky decoder menu page on what was supposed to be a
Sky
Movie channel on a TV at Center Parcs.

Premier Inn seems to use a Freeview box but one which looks like it's a
"hotel model" - no Sky there. That was the environment I was thinking off.

But if there were Sky, presumably the way to do it now would be to add
additional digital multiplexes where they don't class with the standard 6 -
you would still want to be able to kick the box into retuning the freeview
channels though; you might even need to do this if you added, or removed,
Sky channels.

Paul DS.

Hotel weirdness
 

Paul D Smith wrote:

Premier Inn seems to use a Freeview box but one which looks like it's a
"hotel model" - no Sky there. That was the environment I was thinking off.

But if there were Sky, presumably the way to do it now would be to add
additional digital multiplexes where they don't class with the standard
6 - you would still want to be able to kick the box into retuning the
freeview channels though; you might even need to do this if you added,
or removed, Sky channels.

The Ramada in Colchester has full DTT equipped TVs in each room. I'm slowly
working through the rooms on each stay I have there, and setting the menu so
that 4:3 transmissions are not displayed stretched. At the present rate of
progress my work should be complete by 2028.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

Hotel weirdness
 

"Mark Carver" wrote in message ...


The Ramada in Colchester has full DTT equipped TVs in each room. I'm slowly
working through the rooms on each stay I have there, and setting the menu so
that 4:3 transmissions are not displayed stretched. At the present rate of
progress my work should be complete by 2028.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

Stayed at the Grand hotel, Scarborough last week and it had one of those 14"
4x3 crt TV sets in the room with the 5 standard stations, it now has 10
programs on it , following my re-tune.
I assume they have 10 digital boxes somewhere.
Regards
David

Hotel weirdness
 

On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:29:29 +0000, Mark Carver
wrote:

The Ramada in Colchester has full DTT equipped TVs in each room. I'm slowly
working through the rooms on each stay I have there, and setting the menu so
that 4:3 transmissions are not displayed stretched. At the present rate of
progress my work should be complete by 2028.

Have you ever got the same room twice? The more you get a new one, the
less chance you have of getting one next time.
Anyway, you'll be retired by 2028 won't you? I certainly hope to be.
Or they'll have knocked the place down, or TV as we know it will have
long ceased to exist, or the world will have ended horribly.

Hotel weirdness
 

Paul Ratcliffe wrote:
On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:29:29 +0000, Mark Carver
wrote:

The Ramada in Colchester has full DTT equipped TVs in each room. I'm slowly
working through the rooms on each stay I have there, and setting the menu so
that 4:3 transmissions are not displayed stretched. At the present rate of
progress my work should be complete by 2028.

Have you ever got the same room twice? The more you get a new one, the
less chance you have of getting one next time.

I've managed not to so far, but yes, you're quite right, it's going to get
harder and harder not to end up in a previous room. Ummm :-(

Anyway, you'll be retired by 2028 won't you? I certainly hope to be.

Oooh, well, that year I will be (if I ever make it) 65, so I'm not sure I will
be retired !

Or they'll have knocked the place down,

Actually, that would be for the best.

or TV as we know it will have
long ceased to exist, or the world will have ended horribly.

For some people, those two things are the same event !


--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

Hotel weirdness
 

In article ,
Paul Ratcliffe wrote:

Have you ever got the same room twice? The more you get a new one, the
less chance you have of getting one next time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupon_...or%27s_problem

-- Richard

Hotel weirdness
 

Richard Tobin wrote:

Paul wrote:

Have you ever got the same room twice? The more you get a new one, the
less chance you have of getting one next time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupon_...or%27s_problem

Also I guess there are likely to be more guests following him, switching
the TVs back to "stretch to fit" mode ...

Hotel weirdness
 

"Tim Downie" wrote in message ...

I know that hotel TV systems can be odd but the hotel we were in the other
day contrived to supply our room with 5 analogue stations (and no digital
ones) and it was in an area that undergone the digital switchover!
(postcode AB41 6BL).

The TV had a "DTV" menu but it was greyed out and inaccessible.

Presumably they were using a decoder to generate an analogue signal to then
feed their rooms which seems odd given that our TV looked DTV ready so to
speak.

Why would they do this? The only thing I can think of is that most of their
TVs didn't actually have digital receivers built in and that the TV in our
room didn't actually have one either. I'm guessing that the menu was greyed
out because it used components common to other models that *did* have
digital receivers built in. Does this make sense?

Tim


Another reason some commercial systems do this, is to save money sorting out
the dodgy RF distribution system. With most hotel systems I've seen, they
have various "areas" of the hotel which have been extended from the main
system (usually by electricians) and these parts don't really work properly.
The analogue gets through just about, albeit quite snowy. Pushing DVB-T
signals down it would result in constant pixelation in these parts. Much
cheaper for them to just whack in some modulated RF signals and never sort
the problems!

Hotel weirdness
 

On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:29:29 +0000
Mark Carver wrote:

Paul D Smith wrote:

Premier Inn seems to use a Freeview box but one which looks like
it's a "hotel model" - no Sky there. That was the environment I
was thinking off.

But if there were Sky, presumably the way to do it now would be to
add additional digital multiplexes where they don't class with the
standard 6 - you would still want to be able to kick the box into
retuning the freeview channels though; you might even need to do
this if you added, or removed, Sky channels.

The Ramada in Colchester has full DTT equipped TVs in each room. I'm
slowly working through the rooms on each stay I have there, and
setting the menu so that 4:3 transmissions are not displayed
stretched. At the present rate of progress my work should be complete
by 2028.


I tried doing that in a Holiday Inn hotel in Chicago, but every time the
TVs were powered down, they lost all the settings that I had changed.
They must have had a default set that reloaded each time they were
turned on, which I can understand in a hotel where multiple kids might
have upset everything, but only if they are sensible default settings.
The most annoying was the default 4:3 aspect on all transmissions,
irrespective of how they were sent out.
--
Davey.

Hotel weirdness
 

On 06/03/2012 5:29 PM, Mark Carver wrote:
Paul D Smith wrote:

Premier Inn seems to use a Freeview box but one which looks like it's
a "hotel model" - no Sky there. That was the environment I was
thinking off.

But if there were Sky, presumably the way to do it now would be to add
additional digital multiplexes where they don't class with the
standard 6 - you would still want to be able to kick the box into
retuning the freeview channels though; you might even need to do this
if you added, or removed, Sky channels.

The Ramada in Colchester has full DTT equipped TVs in each room. I'm
slowly working through the rooms on each stay I have there, and setting
the menu so that 4:3 transmissions are not displayed stretched. At the
present rate of progress my work should be complete by 2028.

And of course, there is bound to be a guest who complains about the
black bars down the sides of the picture so it will be set back to
stretched. One day perhaps I'll understand them.

Hotel weirdness
 

Ah, that reminds me ...
http://www.macfh.co.uk/Macfarlane/Re...ermudlian.html

On Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:09:35 +0100, Martin wrote:

I used to "adjust" French radiators so that I could actually turn the
tap far enough for hot water to get into the radiators. In Italy I
"adjusted" hotel room thermostats so that the air conditioning came on
at temperatures below 30C.
--
================================================== =======
Please always reply to ng as the email in this post's
header does not exist. Or use a contact address at:
http://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/JavaJive.html
http://www.macfh.co.uk/Macfarlane/Macfarlane.html

Hotel weirdness
 

"Brian Mc" wrote in message
...
Paul D Smith wrote:
: But if there were Sky, presumably the way to do it now would be to add
: additional digital multiplexes where they don't class with the standard
6 -
: you would still want to be able to kick the box into retuning the
freeview
: channels though; you might even need to do this if you added, or
removed,
: Sky channels.

That's not possible! The way that DSAT is transmitted (for Sky or Freesat)
is
DVB-S/S2 using QFSK RF modulation. This is VERY different to DVT-T/T2 and,
more importantly, the COFDM RF modulation scheme used for DTT!

Not possible natively but I can't help thinking that there is a market for a
box to transcode satellite into DVT-T for just such types of situations. I
realise the picture quality will suffer a little but the cost of such a box
will be offset by not having to have satellite-like receivers in each room.

Paul DS

Hotel weirdness
 

Paul D Smith wrote:


Not possible natively but I can't help thinking that there is a market
for a box to transcode satellite into DVT-T for just such types of
situations. I realise the picture quality will suffer a little but the
cost of such a box will be offset by not having to have satellite-like
receivers in each room.

Such things are readily available except for Sky channels.

Bill

Hotel weirdness
 

On Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:07:59 +0000
Andy wrote:

On 06/03/2012 5:29 PM, Mark Carver wrote:
Paul D Smith wrote:

Premier Inn seems to use a Freeview box but one which looks like
it's a "hotel model" - no Sky there. That was the environment I was
thinking off.

But if there were Sky, presumably the way to do it now would be to
add additional digital multiplexes where they don't class with the
standard 6 - you would still want to be able to kick the box into
retuning the freeview channels though; you might even need to do
this if you added, or removed, Sky channels.

The Ramada in Colchester has full DTT equipped TVs in each room. I'm
slowly working through the rooms on each stay I have there, and
setting the menu so that 4:3 transmissions are not displayed
stretched. At the present rate of progress my work should be
complete by 2028.

And of course, there is bound to be a guest who complains about the
black bars down the sides of the picture so it will be set back to
stretched. One day perhaps I'll understand them.

Ask my wife, she prefers stretched old programmes with squashed people
to watching them in their original size. Weird.
--
Davey.

Hotel weirdness
 

Paul D Smith wrote:
: Not possible natively but I can't help thinking that there is a market for a
: box to transcode satellite into DVT-T for just such types of situations. I
: realise the picture quality will suffer a little but the cost of such a box
: will be offset by not having to have satellite-like receivers in each room.

Depends on cost of course! It was aways said about NICAM sound that, while
DECODER chipsets were cheap, that ENCODERs were very expensive (so VCRs etc
always used discrete channel sound).

I have certainly never heard of a box which could take some (say 6) AV inputs
and assemble a DTT-mux on a set RF channel!

Hotel weirdness
 

Bill Wright wrote:
: Such things are readily available except for Sky channels.

Pardon!!! If boxes to assemble DTT-compatable muxes even exist they most
certainly are NOT "readily available" (and if they DID exist they would
work just fine for Sky!)

Hotel weirdness
 

On 07/03/2012 10:43 AM, David Bolton wrote:


"Tim Downie" wrote in message ...

I know that hotel TV systems can be odd but the hotel we were in the other
day contrived to supply our room with 5 analogue stations (and no digital
ones) and it was in an area that undergone the digital switchover!
(postcode AB41 6BL).

The TV had a "DTV" menu but it was greyed out and inaccessible.

Presumably they were using a decoder to generate an analogue signal to then
feed their rooms which seems odd given that our TV looked DTV ready so to
speak.

Why would they do this? The only thing I can think of is that most of their
TVs didn't actually have digital receivers built in and that the TV in our
room didn't actually have one either. I'm guessing that the menu was greyed
out because it used components common to other models that *did* have
digital receivers built in. Does this make sense?

Tim


Another reason some commercial systems do this, is to save money sorting
out the dodgy RF distribution system. With most hotel systems I've seen,
they have various "areas" of the hotel which have been extended from the
main system (usually by electricians) and these parts don't really work
properly. The analogue gets through just about, albeit quite snowy.
Pushing DVB-T signals down it would result in constant pixelation in
these parts. Much cheaper for them to just whack in some modulated RF
signals and never sort the problems!




I stayed at a hilton last year - had a 32" hd set in my room.
sadly all the channels were originated from a sky box somewhere in the
building and distributed via analogue means - complete with nasty
interference. the widescreen channels were set to non anamorphic
letterbox - it really did look nasty.

--
Gareth.
That fly.... Is your magic wand.

Hotel weirdness
 

Graham. wrote:

The Bytex Mk3 system was more elegant.
Each TV had a set-top box called a VET
Video Entertainment Terminal

I had a really nice hotel system in my care, never a problem with it.
Then the boss had one of these systems installed. Two problems:
1. The 70MHz signal didn't get back to the computer reliably.
2. The boxes on the backs of the tellys caused severe interference to
the UHF channels. After a lot of blame was thrown about I set up a demo
in the manager's own room. One of their tellys and one of mine.
Both tellys powered: Both had interference, theirs worse than mine.
My telly powered, theirs off: Perfect reception.
Their telly on, mine off: interference.
I then was able to demonstrate that powering a telly three rooms away
caused interference.

Bill

Hotel weirdness
 

Brian Mc wrote:

I have certainly never heard of a box which could take some (say 6) AV inputs
and assemble a DTT-mux on a set RF channel!

We use them all the time.

Bill

Hotel weirdness
 

Brian Mc wrote:
Bill Wright wrote:
: Such things are readily available except for Sky channels.

Pardon!!! If boxes to assemble DTT-compatable muxes even exist
I really can't be arsed with this. Google Triax, Promax, Televes,
Hirschmann, Spaun, Taylor Transmitters etc. and see for yourself. Do
your reseach before contradicting them that know.


they most
certainly are NOT "readily available" (and if they DID exist they would
work just fine for Sky!)
The original question was boxes that will directly convert a sat channel
or channels into a DTT mux. You can't do that with a Sky encrypted
channel because it's encrypted. You have to use a Sky box and feed the
AV into the DVB-T modulator.

Bill

Hotel weirdness
 

Bill Wright wrote:
: I have certainly never heard of a box which could take some (say 6) AV
: inputs and assemble a DTT-mux on a set RF channel!
:
: We use them all the time.

Do you have a reference to such things? They would have to be affordable to
hotels to be of interest in this context!

Hotel weirdness
 

Brian Mc wrote:
Bill Wright wrote:
: I have certainly never heard of a box which could take some (say 6) AV
: inputs and assemble a DTT-mux on a set RF channel!
:
: We use them all the time.

Do you have a reference to such things? They would have to be affordable to
hotels to be of interest in this context!

Six channels for about £1k. Not that much more than 6 VSB mods and PSU.

Bill

Hotel weirdness
 

"Paul D Smith" wrote in message
...
There's one possible advantage in receiving all the channels using a rack
of DTT receivers, and then distributing them via analogue RF. When
retunes are required, you don't have 300 rooms to visit !

Do Hotel TVs not have a management console from where you can request all
TVs to retune? I always assumed that was the sort of thing they would
have to justify having a hotel TV and not a bog-standard TV.

Paul DS

Holiday Inn do - they have a special [LG] TV with hotel mode and even their
own channel.

Hotel weirdness
 

"Paul D Smith" wrote in message
...
There's one possible advantage in receiving all the channels using a rack
of DTT receivers, and then distributing them via analogue RF. When
retunes are required, you don't have 300 rooms to visit !

Do Hotel TVs not have a management console from where you can request all
TVs to retune? I always assumed that was the sort of thing they would
have to justify having a hotel TV and not a bog-standard TV.

I thought "Hotel TV" was one that didn't work if you took it outside of its
closed system

tim

Hotel weirdness
 

"Paul D Smith" wrote in message
...
"Brian Mc" wrote in message
...
Paul D Smith wrote:
: Do Hotel TVs not have a management console from where you can request
all
: TVs to retune? I always assumed that was the sort of thing they would
have
: to justify having a hotel TV and not a bog-standard TV.

I think that hotels typically use the "rack of decoders approach". As
many
hotels add a few SATELLITE chaneels to their mix of RF channels
(sometimes
even Sky channels if they pay Sky enough!) your suggestion of having each
room have its own Freeview TV would preclude that!

I think I once saw a Sky decoder menu page on what was supposed to be a
Sky
Movie channel on a TV at Center Parcs.

Premier Inn seems to use a Freeview box but one which looks like it's a
"hotel model" - no Sky there. That was the environment I was thinking
off.

Travelogue use a distributed system

None of the special functions on the remote control work and I was peed-off
about not being able to turn on the subs.

I was on my 8th week there before I discovered that the same channel + subs
is available on a completely different channel number

tim

Hotel weirdness
 

"tim...." wrote in message ...


Travelogue use a distributed system

None of the special functions on the remote control work and I was peed-off
about not being able to turn on the subs.

I was on my 8th week there before I discovered that the same channel + subs
is available on a completely different channel number

tim


If you mean distributed aerial system then that would be same as the TL we
stayed at last year we had a 32" Freeview TV in the room.

One Britannia hotel had crt TV set with 10 programs from I assume 10
Freeview boxes.
Another Britannia had TV fed by its own Freeview box.
Regards
David

Hotel weirdness
 

"David" wrote in message
...


"tim...." wrote in message ...


Travelogue use a distributed system

None of the special functions on the remote control work and I was
peed-off
about not being able to turn on the subs.

I was on my 8th week there before I discovered that the same channel +
subs
is available on a completely different channel number

tim


If you mean distributed aerial system then that would be same as the TL we
stayed at last year we had a 32" Freeview TV in the room.

No I meant one where they distributed the TV internally themselves (on "new"
channle numbers) from a central "freeview" box (sorry if I used the wrong
term)

I've stayed in 3 these past months and they are all the same (including one
that's only been open as long as I have stayed in it) so I assumed that it
was normal for them

Obviously not if you stayed in one that had a freeview receiver in the room

tim

Hotel weirdness
 

"tim...." wrote in message ...




I've stayed in 3 these past months and they are all the same (including one
that's only been open as long as I have stayed in it) so I assumed that it
was normal for them

Obviously not if you stayed in one that had a freeview receiver in the room

tim

It was something else before a TL, Inn Keepers Lodge maybe.
Regards
David

Hotel weirdness
 

tim.... wrote:

Travelogue use a distributed system

None of the special functions on the remote control work and I was peed-off
about not being able to turn on the subs.

I was on my 8th week there ...

You are Alan Partridge, AICMFP !

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

Hotel weirdness
 

If you visit a hotel that has a welcome screen - places like
Ramada Jarvis and many in the Accor group - the TV is often fed
over IP. Believe it or not the giveaway is that the connection to
the rear of the TV is CAT5!


--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com