With the cost of flat screen televisions decreasing, it has become more popular to put a standard TV outdoors, either in our garden, or by our pool or hot tub. However there are some considerations you should know about, before you embark on installing a TV outdoors.
TV outdoors all the time?
If the TV is going to be removed indoors when ever threatening weather approaches, the following information will not apply to you, however if you want a solution that once installed looks after itself, read on.
You have to consider if the display is going to be outdoors all weathers and all the time. If this is the case, the need for protection is essential from the weather and potential theft. Now let us take the weather issue, this will depend upon the area you live in and you will know better than anyone the average weather conditions for example if you need to protect the electronics from snow, rain or extreme heat.
If for example you need to cover a temperature range from -20 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, you need an LCD or plasma TV enclosure that has the facility to heat the inside of the case to prevent the electronics failing. On the other hand if you are in an area with extreme heat, you may need to cool the inside of the TV case, in some instances LCD enclosures have been installed in areas that reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit, providing adequate protection for the electronics inside the case.
Now there are 2 type of enclosure for televisions, the large steel units that can even withstand being shot with a .22 bullet or a lower cost high impact acrylic enclosure, these are lighter however they do offer excellent protection from the weather as well as offering some protection from the opportunist thief.
Normally, people mount the TV case direct to a wall near their hot tub or pool, however there are pedestal stands that bolt to the floor and the TV case bolts to the back of the stand, this however does take up valuable foot space, the other option is to mount the TV and case from a ceiling mount, however you are best looking for a heavy duty mounting arm as the total weight for a TV in a protective case is in the region of 150lbs.
Getting the video to the TV.
The easiest way to get high quality video to any LCD or plasma television is to connect the cable signal receiver to a VGA Extender, this enables high quality video to be broadcast up to 100 metre or 360 feet from one source to the screen, these units supports resolutions up to 1080p but it does depend upon the length of cable.
These VDS units allow you to leave your cable box in your home, in a secure environment whilst you can take advantage of the technology and watch your favourite game or programme whist in the pool.
These are available at any local electronics outlet and eliminate the demand to protect a cable receiver outdoors.
Cables for connecting the VGA Extender to the TV.
Now you have the TV outdoors mounted in a protective case with the cable receiver in your home, now you need to use some high quality UTP cable, UTP is Unshielded Twisted Pair cable or Category 5 cable commonly used in computer networks.
These are normally available in 300 metre drums, however if you go over the 100 metres from source to TV, the quality of the video will be effected; you can try it but don’t push it!
Go for quality cable and this will pay off, do not think it is a trade off and buy a low quality cable and then go over the 100 metre distance, personally I would go for a mid range priced cable and try to locate the TV no more than 75 metres or 220 feet that way you should have the best image possible on your television.