Are outdoor TVs worth it or can you use a regular TV?
Dedicated outdoor televisions cost an insanely high amount of money, but standard indoor TVs struggle with dim daylight visibility, heavy rain, and humidity that causes vertical lines. Moving a regular television inside and outside to protect it from the weather requires dragging a heavy setup over sliding door tracks every time, making it an exhausting hassle.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1rolling an indoor TV on a stand outside when hanging outDid this help you?
- 2using a basic cheap non-weather-rated flat screen under a covered areaDid this help you?
- 3Using tape to stick notices to doorsDid this help you?
- 4Putting notices inside plastic baggiesDid this help you?
- 5Using binder style clips attached to the door or frameDid this help you?
- 6Magnetic pouches for steel doorsDid this help you?
- 7Clear plastic shipping label sleeves with sticky backs for wood framesDid this help you?
- 8storing patio electronics in the basementDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“It's been great so far, but not that winter is coming around, I'm kinda worried about it.”source ↗
“Taking it down would also mean dealing with all the wiring again.”source ↗
“Do you guys leave them outside the whole winter, or is it better to bring them inside when the weather gets bad?”source ↗
“I need to post notices on exterior doors often. With the weather turning sour, I'm looking for how other people are posting theirs.”source ↗
“I also have to consider the notices themselves melting away in the rain, but I could always put them in a baggy, lol.”source ↗
“I hate the tape!”source ↗
“tried the baggy trick for a bit but wind just rips them off unless you add something heavy inside.”source ↗
“Outdoor rated tvs are insanely expensive”source ↗
“dragging that heavy setup over the sliding door track every time is getting super annoying.”source ↗
“that samsung screen is pretty dim in daylight, and the humid texas air is already causing weird vertical lines on the panel.”source ↗
“do those actually hold up against heavy rain and heat, or do i need to buy a dedicated outdoor tv?”source ↗