ItsEnclosures Protects Those Outdoor Plasma TVs

Don't you just hate it when you want to watch TV by the pool, but your plasma gets soaked?

ItsEnclosures offers the ViewStation, a line of waterproof enclosures for flat screens up to 60 inches.

I discovered the products at the HITEC expo for the hospitality industry, but sales specialist Jennifer Kelly told me, "It's amazing how many people put these in homes."

Of course, the enclosures can be 3 or 4 times the cost of the plasma or LCD TV, but a lot less than, say, a swimming pool. The 32-inch model retails for $3,899 and the 42-incher sells for $4,500. That excludes the required attachments for thermal management.

Naturally you need to keep the TV vented, heated and/or cooled while maintaining the enclosure's NEMA 4 rating. (NEMA 12-rated versions for inside are also available).

You supply information on your climate, and ItsEnclosures determines what fans, heaters and coolers you might need to keep your display from cooking, freezing or steaming up.

Apparently, it's this expertise in thermal management that gives ItsEnclosures its edge. Kelly says it's no easy task to protect TVs from humidity and other environmental evils. The company specializes in enclosures for manufacturing plants, where the ViewStations keep TVs free from dust, spray paint, vandalism and errant Freisbees.

The units are not motorized, but even a weakling myself can open and close the thing.

Electrograph and other distributors sell the products to the trade.