The Price of an Outdoor Television by Richard N Williams

Posted by: Richard Williams | Posted on: October 26th, 2009 | 1 Comments

The price of LCD and plasma TV screens has never been cheaper. Even in their hey-day, the CRT forerunners were never as cheap as the flat screens available today.

However, if you are considering buying a LCD or plasma TV for outdoor use, perhaps to entertain customers outside a bar or to make the most out of next year’s summer and would cup combination, then you may be in for a shock.

While you can pick up a standard off the shelf 40 “ LCD TV for less than a thousand dollars if you wanted the same sized TV for outdoor or waterproof use, you probably won’t get any change from ten thousand dollars.

So why the high cost? While LCD technology is now inexpensive, TV’s have traditionally own been designed for indoor use where operating conditions are ideal. For an LCD TV to function outdoors it needs to be protected from the rain (waterproofing) and wind blown particles.

This is where the high cost comes in. Keeping the TV protected from harmful elements requires a different manufacturing process and different design criteria, outdoor TV’s are commonly built to either European IP65 guidelines or the USA NEMA equivalent (NEMA 4).

There is, however, a far cheaper solution for outdoor TV use. A standard TV can be used in outdoor locations if it is enclosed in a waterproof LCD TV enclosure. An LCD enclosure is built to the same IP65/NEMA 4 specifications as specific outdoor TVs but they are only a fraction of the cost. Furthermore, LCD enclosures often contain internal heating and cooling systems so the housed TV is kept at perfect operating temperatures.

Often LCD enclosures are manufactured from solid steel with a shatterproof window too which means they offer protection against vandalism and thieves – a necessity if the LCD TV is to be left out all night.

Even a combined LCD enclosure with a standard LCD TV will come in at a third of the price of a specific outdoor TV and once the speaker system is connected you can have outdoor TV viewing, no matter the weather.