Don’t be fooled by the branding; a genuine outdoor TV is completely different to a regular TV that’s been tweaked for outdoor use. We asked the experts to explain the differences.
Have you ever dreamt of watching a movie from your pool or spa? Or having your friends over to watch the game on the big screen in your backyard? The term “Outdoor TV” has recently been used to describe attempts by regular TV manufacturers to tweak indoor TVs to be visible and waterproof outdoors. However, these fail in comparison with the real thing. We asked Wayne Barr, director of Solid Display Systems, why.
Solid Display Systems is a family business and leading video scoreboard company in Australia. “The development of outdoor LED video screens is a specialist industry,” says Wayne. “We design our own screens, fabricate structures in-house and, importantly, create all of our own sport software systems in-house. Our system development has been constant and many other LED suppliers now on-sell our systems around the country.”
1. Different composition: genuine outdoor TVs have no glass, therefore no glare.
- Solid Display Systems’ genuine outdoor TV screens consist of tiny RGB LED lights, which are strong enough to push light through direct sunlight.
- There is no glass cover on the screens, therefore no glare.
- Common store-bought models are more accurately described as “LED- backlit LCD screens” and generate their picture through sandwiched layers, like a regular TV:
- A white LED light layer at the rear.
- A transparent LCD colour image.
- A glass face layer (or several).
2. Genuine outdoor TVs are brighter
Brightness is make or break for outdoor TV screens. We love sunlight, but we know how much better the TV looks when the curtains are closed. The brighter the outdoor screen, the more likely the image and colour will push through the opposing sunlight. To draw a comparison between Solid LED screens and others:
- A typical TV records around 250 nits (a measure of luminence).
- Some “outdoor TVs” are quoted at 700-2500 nits, which are brighter than normal but also retain a glass cover and thus have glare.
- Solid Outdoor TVs are 5000 nits — we believe this should be the minimum requirement.
3. They’re built for the elements (and for entertaining!)
- Solid’s standard TVs are 2000mm x 1000mm, a size well suited to residential outdoors, however they also do custom solutions to suit (size and resolution).
- They are fully waterproof.
- They include a high-grade, waterproof sound bar (party strength!).
- There are HDMI inputs for the usual devices (set-top boxes, Foxtel, Chromecast etc).
- There are multiple mounting options — wall mount, single post and rotating.
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