Choosing a Screen for Outdoor use – Outdoor TV Hurdles and Alternatives

Outdoor TVs are increasingly becoming more and more popular for both businesses and homeowners alike. For businesses outdoor displays act as great mediums for advertising and information. While for home use – they provide a great way of enjoying the sunshine and garden.

But the hurdles in placing a screen in an outdoor location can often be daunting, not to mention expensive.

There are different options for providing an outdoor TV but all of them need to take into account three factors:

• Protection from the sun
• Protection from the weather
• Protection from environment

Outdoor TV and The Sun

The sun is an important but often underrated factor in using a modern LCD screen outdoors. You may have experienced the annoyance of sun-glare on your set at home on a bright day so in an outdoor location the sun glare can make the screen completely unreadable.

Some high brightness and outdoor displays can counter this but the cost of such a device can often make any outdoor TV display seem too expensive; however, an alternative may be to use a standard device in a shaded area or under a canopy or hood.

Outdoor digital signage has to cope in sunlight

Outdoor TV and The Weather

If a standard device is used then it is going to need protection from the elements. Many outdoor TVs are already manufactured to be waterproof but to avoid such a high cost device a waterproof LCD enclosure will allow the use of almost any standard, low cost device in an outdoor location. These enclosure also provide cooling and temperature control to prevent over heating and allow all-year use.

Outdoor TV and Environmental protection

But weather and the temperature are not the only concerns of using a TV in an outdoor location. Vandalism in public or unsupervised areas needs to be considered as do accidental impacts.

This is where the advantage of an LCD enclosure supersedes the outdoor display because for a fraction of the cost of an outdoor TV and LCD enclosures will protect from vandalism and impacts and the temperature and weather – providing an all-round and cost effective alternative to outdoor TV use.