Being human beings, people are always indulged towards entertainment and they search for the best luxury. Luxury is a state of great comfort or elegance. Once the basic needs are completed, people love to live luxurious life. Living a luxurious lifestyle means enjoying the best, the world has to offer. When you travel you get to choose between flying in first class and even taking a private plane. It’s just not luxury that you can’t do without but a necessity. Today the world has become so sophisticated that people prefer to have fun even during flying in the air. People try to keep themselves busy with some shorts of entertainment instead of being bored during long flights. This is not a new concept though; many airlines companies in the past have already tried various sources of entertainment. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room and bar during the 2.5 day flight between Europe and America. After the Second World War, In Flight Entertainment (IFE) was delivered in the form of food and drink services along with an occasional projector movie during lengthy flights. The first personal audio players along with noise cancelling headphones were offered to passengers in 1985. During the 1990’s the demand for better IFE was a major factor in the design of aircraft cabins. Varieties of In-flight Entertainment Systems are managed for the sake of passengers. Let us get our hands around the Flight Entertainment system widely used.
Moving-map systems:
A moving map system is a real time flight information video channel broadcasted through to cabin project/ video stream and personal televisions (PTV’s). In addition to displaying a map that illustrates the position and direction of the plane, the system gives the altitude, airspeed, outside air temperature, distance to the destination, distance from the origination point and local time. It was first introduced in 1982 and was named air show.
Audio entertainment:
Audio entertainment covers music, as well as news, information and comedy. Most music channels are pre-recorded and feature their own DJ’s to provide chatter, song introductions and interviews with artists.
Video entertainment:
Video entertainment provides via a large video screen at the front of a cabin section, as well as smaller monitors situated every few rows above the aisles. However, personal television(PTV’s) for every passenger provide passengers with channels broadcasting new and classic films, as well as comedies, news, sports programming’s, documentaries, children’s shows and drama series. Some airlines have now installed personal televisions for every passenger on most long haul routes.
Closed-captioning:
Closed captioning technology for deaf and hard of- hearing passengers started in 2008 with Emirates Airlines. The captions are text streamed along with video and spoken audio. Closed captioning is capable of streaming various text languages including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Spanish and Russian.
Encoding standards:
Almost all systems use the MPEG technology. The bandwidth and disk space of the fixed system determines the capability to increase the streaming from MPEG1.5 (MPEG1) to MPEG3.5 (MPEG2). MPEG4-H264 is a new standard of encoding and requires modern systems to decode.
In-flight games:
Video games are another emerging facet of in-flight entertainment. Some game systems are networked to allow interactive playing by multiple passengers.
In-flight connectivity:
In recent years, IFE has been expanded to include in-flight connectivity. Services such as internet browsing, text messaging and cell phone usage are coming in to play by some international carriers with a special system that is cleared by regulatory agencies.
WI-FI:
Several airlines are testing in-cabin Wi-Fi systems. In-flight internet service is provided either through a satellite network or an air-to-ground network. In the Airbus A380 aircraft, data communication via satellite systems allows passengers to connect to live internet from the individual IFE units or their laptops via the in-flight Wi-Fi access.
Mobile phone:
Emirates Airlines became the first airline to allow mobile phones to be used during flight. Using the systems supplied by telecom company Aero mobile, Emirates launched the service commercially on March 20, 2008. As a general rule, mobile phone use while airborne is usually not just prohibited by the carrier but also by regulatory agencies in the relevant jurisdiction (e.g. FAA, EASA).
The height of luxury in aircraft nowadays is beyond our common expectations. Forget Cramped Ryan air, this plane is more like a five-star hotel, with a three room private suite, including a living room, bathroom and bedroom not to mention a Savoy Academy trained butler to cater to your every whim. Unrivalled luxury is the theme of Etihad Airways’ new plane design, turning its Airbus A380 and Boeing B787 Dream liner aircraft into the most sophisticated way to travel. While the rest of us long for a few inches more legroom, ‘The Residence by Etihad’ is a VIP suite located on the top deck of the new A380 planes, but one needs deep pockets if really want to travel in style. You will get your living room complete with 32-inches flat screen TV-a double bedroom and en-suite bathroom. The cabin also benefits from a personal butler service and food provided by a gourmet chef.
Stay tuned for next frontier in entertainment.
