Hilton Tests the Home Theater Hotel Room

Ever wonder why you never see 5.1 systems in a hotel room. I mean, it doesn't cost much to put in even a basic system - so why not spec it into the build of a new facility? Ok, I'm "geeking out" as a certain friend of mine would say... but why not? Apparently someone at Hilton Hotels agrees with me. They've launched home theater-like "Sight+Sound Rooms" at two test-bed hotels. This includes a couple dozen guest rooms at the Hilton Chicago O'Hare International Airport and even more at the Hilton in San Francisco.

The rooms each come with a 42-inch HDTV and Yamaha YSP-800 Digital Sound projector - the perfect solution for generating DSP-driven surround sound in a rectangular hotel room. There is also a "connectivity panel" so guests also can plug their own MP3 players, laptops, digital cameras, etc into a specially designed easy-to-use connectivity panel, which LodgeNet developed and provided for the project. To support the connection, Monster Cable is providing a cable pack in the event guests leave their cables behind.

Available in each room are movie, music and sports packages as well as prime time TV shows and network/cable specials - all provided via DirecTV and XM Radio. The goal for the system is to ensure users are provided with an easy-to-use menu system for accessing anything they want.

For more information, visit www.hiltonworldwide.com.