Hoteliers have never had higher expectations of the humble in-room hospitality television. Beyond razor-sharp pictures, today’s sets must deliver friction-free streaming, smart-room integration and robust privacy safeguards, while also helping brands differentiate the look and feel of every room. LG, Samsung and Philips (through PPDS) have all refreshed their hospitality portfolios for 2024-25, and each is taking a distinct path to the same destination: a more personalized, more profitable guest experience.
LG — OLED picture quality meets agnostic casting
LG’s new AM960H OLED line brings its consumer-grade panel technology into 55-, 65- and 77-inch hospitality models, pairing self-emissive pixels and near-infinite contrast with the brand’s Pro:Centric Direct CMS for custom welcome pages, room-service upsells and remote fleet management. The sets ship with Apple AirPlay and, new for 2025, native Google Cast, activated by a single QR scan that isolates each room’s network session so no personal data lingers after checkout. Because the casting stack is baked into webOS 23 and later, hotels no longer need external dongles or third-party gateways, trimming both CapEx and cable clutter. In larger suites, the same interface can now drive 83- and even 97-inch commercial OLED displays via an LG Pro:Centric set-top box, creating a consistent UX across every screen category. For properties chasing premium ambiance as much as premium ARPU, LG’s marriage of OLED visuals with platform openness is a persuasive formula.
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Samsung — Art-inspired design, cloud control and dual-cast convenience
The current Samsung hospitality TV portfolio is headlined by a hotel-optimized version of The Frame (model HL03F), a 4K QLED display that doubles as wall art when idle thanks to its matte finish and flush-mount profile. Beyond the aesthetic flourish, the lineup upgrades to Google Cast alongside existing AirPlay, again using QR-based pairing to keep guest credentials off the hotel network. Under the hood, Tizen 9.0 and the cloud-hosted LYNK Cloud platform let IT teams push branded content, analyze viewership and trigger targeted promotions property-wide, while SmartThings Pro extends that dashboard to HVAC, lighting and other IoT devices. For designers, The Frame allows curated artwork or branded visuals to persist without screen burn-in; for operators, the single platform reduces truck rolls and accelerates revenue experiments. Samsung’s pitch is clear: a TV that is as helpful to housekeeping and marketing as it is Instagram-ready for guests.
Philips (PPDS) — An Android heart with Chromecast and Netflix built in
Philips has bet on an “all-in-one” recipe with its MediaSuite and newer 4000-series hospitality TVs: Android SoC, Google Cast and Netflix ready out of the box, no dongles, licensing hassles or recurring middleware fees. Sizes span 19- to 75-inch, but the differentiator is software longevity, PPDS regularly drops over-the-air updates that add apps, UI tweaks and security patches, stretching hardware life and containing e-waste. Because Cast and Netflix are integrated at firmware level, pairing dissolves automatically at check-out, easing guest privacy concerns. A built-in Google Play portal gives properties optional upsell paths for games or wellness apps, while remote fleet control rides the same Wave cloud platform PPDS shows across its signage range. For brands that want consumer-grade streaming with minimal IT overhead, and without surrendering margin to proprietary gateways, Philips offers a surprisingly turnkey route.
Choosing the right screen for your property
The three approaches share common threads, native casting, privacy-minded pairing and cloud control, but diverge in emphasis. LG leans on OLED picture quality and an OS-agnostic casting stack; Samsung blends signature industrial design with a tightly integrated IoT ecosystem; Philips prioritizes an open Android environment with the major streaming services already licensed. CapEx profiles differ too: OLED carries a premium, while Philips’ SoC strategy lowers hardware count. Ultimately, the best fit hinges on brand identity and operations: boutique hotels chasing a gallery vibe may gravitate to Samsung’s Frame; luxury resorts that sell the view as much as the screen may prefer LG’s deep-black OLED canvas; and chains seeking fast, familiar streaming at scale might see Philips’ Google-first DNA as the simplest way to delight today’s hyper-connected traveller.
Whichever route you take, the 2025 class of hospitality TVs confirms one thing: the guest-room screen is no longer just about what’s on TV, but how effortlessly it becomes their TV.
