Outdoor TVs are one of the latest crazes to sweep the modern world. Now you can hang around outside and enjoy the temperature, a slight breeze or a smoke with your friends when the weather’s nice. But this takes some thinking to do properly. The following are some considerations to bear in mind throughout planning your outdoor TV retreat.

Ease of Care

Caring for a TV in the outdoor environment has some trickiness to it. For example, the Sunbrite TV has grommets, gaskets and other protective coverings over its A/V ports and is sealed to the elements. Make sure to periodically clean the air filters to maintain effective airflow in the heat. In the same vein, outdoor TVs need to have heating elements to protect them from the cold and have a sturdy place to hang.

Best Placement

You know how annoying it is when a wannabe designer moves the TV here or there and expects you to move the couch and chairs based on his or her whim. Now imagine if you’ve recently dug out a section of your back yard and installed a proper base for your Skyvue TV. Now you have to buy weatherproof accessories, which is a downside to this sort of TV. You also have to be extremely certain of where you want your TV to be before you start the excavation and building process.

Seating Considerations

Stone couches look awesome, but they’re not usually very comfortable during a romantic movie, a long action flick triple feature or turning to an entire day of World War II programming. Even if you get the most posh and comfortable outdoor furniture possible, you would still be wise to keep in mind that it’s not usually easy to move. This is particularly troublesome if it’s recently been raining and you have to trudge through the mud to reposition your chair so that the sun’s glare doesn’t blind you during your favorite flick.

Potential Lighting Issues

Tuning your Sunbrite TV to your favorite shows is a great way to spend the waning hours before the sun sets. Unfortunately, you also have to contend with glare bouncing off of certain angles. Never put your TV screen facing directly north or south, because otherwise you will be staring into blinding light for an hour or two after dawn and before dusk due to looking at the sun or to its reflection in your TV. While the Sunbrite TV is great for its UV filtration, light still bounces.

Power Requirements

Electricity is potentially dangerous, and a lot of municipalities have strict rules about where and how you can lay the power cables. Usually it’s deep underground and this just adds to the complexity of your outdoor TV planning process. Install your TV on its own circuit, and make sure the breaker that feeds your TV power is on a ground fault circuit interrupt or GFCI breaker.

Outdoor TV is a reality, and it can be done safely. But a few minutes of thinking can save you a few days in the hospital or a few years of having a trashy back yard. Be sure that your outdoor TV is connected your favorite networks. A site like direct2tv.com will provide you with the information to get your TV up and running as soon as possible.