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Outdoor Video: What You Need to Know
Installing displays outside has the potential for hazards, but if done right your client's backyard will be the most popular spot on the block.
Installer Electronics Design Group of Piscataway, N.J. not only used a weather-hardy SunBriteTV LCD for this backyard barbecue area, but it created a lift system to keep the TV out of the elements when not in use.
Who wants to be inside watching the big college football game on a beautiful autumn Saturday? With the aid of CE pros, sports nuts can gather around their backyard kitchens and living rooms, crack open a cold one, fire up the grill and watch the latest Top 25 matchup.
Of course, homeowners and guests will be pretty ticked off if all they see on the screen is sun glare - or the TV doesn't turn on at all because it rained the night before.
Installing video displays outside has the potential for hazards, but if done right you'll turn your client's backyard into the most popular spot on the block. Even in cold climates, weatherproof displays have made outdoor video installations a possibility.
Ah, the weather - that's certainly a top consideration for your client, who may be skeptical of televisions' endurance. Fortunately, a few companies make LCD TVs that have been tested to withstand rain and extreme temperature ranges. Other outdoor bugaboos these TVs guard against include dirt, dust, scratches and insects.
"We always suggest using TVs that are meant for the outdoors as opposed to adapting regular indoor TVs," says Josh Christian of Southern California-based DSI Entertainment Systems. "Clients may pay the penalty of a higher price for these models, but it's going to pay off with a longer life span. Products from SunBriteTV and Pantel keep condensation out of the TV and are very specialized to last."
If a client wants to invest in an outdoor projection setup, motorized drop-down screens or inflatable ones can be used with a carefully housed or portable projector. Pitch clients on having both a bright LCD display for daytime viewing and projection for after-dusk viewing.
Even with weatherproof TVs, Christian encourages installation under roof overhangs, in custom cabinetry or behind glass enclosures when possible. Custom cabinetmakers can work with CE pros to add watertight rubber seals around doors and pressure-treat the wood accordingly.
Obstacle: While TVs and speakers come in weather-resistant models, audio and video gear does not. Unless it resides in ultra-tightly sealed cabinetry or below roofing, locating and wiring components to the video display can be a challenge.
Solution: Try to keep A/V gear in the home's central equipment rack, but take care in wiring plans. "Especially in new construction, we trust and work with the home or landscape architect early on so conduit (we ask for multiple 2-inch conduits) and electrical can be placed," says Christian. "Most integrators dig trenches and do conduit, so landscape architects can get that trenched out to the point where we need to get from A to B."
Obstacle: Your client wants a big screen for movie nights during the summer, but doesn't want to bother with having to inflate one all the time.
Solution: Work with an appropriate space like a gazebo or well-protected roof overhang. "We used a drop-down screen for protective reasons, and also because it's out of sight when you're not using it," says Erich Allen of EAG Design, Kingsport, Tenn.
"One concern we had was the humidity, but since there's so much air passing through the open gazebo it wasn't that much of a concern." Allen's team also installed and integrated a weather meter indicator, so if conditions got too breezy the screen would retract into its housing rather than act like a wind sail.
Of course, homeowners and guests will be pretty ticked off if all they see on the screen is sun glare - or the TV doesn't turn on at all because it rained the night before.
Installing video displays outside has the potential for hazards, but if done right you'll turn your client's backyard into the most popular spot on the block. Even in cold climates, weatherproof displays have made outdoor video installations a possibility.
Ah, the weather - that's certainly a top consideration for your client, who may be skeptical of televisions' endurance. Fortunately, a few companies make LCD TVs that have been tested to withstand rain and extreme temperature ranges. Other outdoor bugaboos these TVs guard against include dirt, dust, scratches and insects.
"We always suggest using TVs that are meant for the outdoors as opposed to adapting regular indoor TVs," says Josh Christian of Southern California-based DSI Entertainment Systems. "Clients may pay the penalty of a higher price for these models, but it's going to pay off with a longer life span. Products from SunBriteTV and Pantel keep condensation out of the TV and are very specialized to last."
If a client wants to invest in an outdoor projection setup, motorized drop-down screens or inflatable ones can be used with a carefully housed or portable projector. Pitch clients on having both a bright LCD display for daytime viewing and projection for after-dusk viewing.
Even with weatherproof TVs, Christian encourages installation under roof overhangs, in custom cabinetry or behind glass enclosures when possible. Custom cabinetmakers can work with CE pros to add watertight rubber seals around doors and pressure-treat the wood accordingly.
Obstacles & Solutions
Obstacle: While TVs and speakers come in weather-resistant models, audio and video gear does not. Unless it resides in ultra-tightly sealed cabinetry or below roofing, locating and wiring components to the video display can be a challenge.
Solution: Try to keep A/V gear in the home's central equipment rack, but take care in wiring plans. "Especially in new construction, we trust and work with the home or landscape architect early on so conduit (we ask for multiple 2-inch conduits) and electrical can be placed," says Christian. "Most integrators dig trenches and do conduit, so landscape architects can get that trenched out to the point where we need to get from A to B."
Obstacle: Your client wants a big screen for movie nights during the summer, but doesn't want to bother with having to inflate one all the time.
Solution: Work with an appropriate space like a gazebo or well-protected roof overhang. "We used a drop-down screen for protective reasons, and also because it's out of sight when you're not using it," says Erich Allen of EAG Design, Kingsport, Tenn.
"One concern we had was the humidity, but since there's so much air passing through the open gazebo it wasn't that much of a concern." Allen's team also installed and integrated a weather meter indicator, so if conditions got too breezy the screen would retract into its housing rather than act like a wind sail.
Outdoor Technology
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About the Author
Arlen Schweiger is managing editor of CE Pro and Commercial Integrator magazines. Arlen contributes installation features, business profiles, manufacturer news and product reviews.
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