How to Choose the Best Outdoor TV for Your Space

Having the perfect backyard setup is essential when it comes to enjoying your favorite shows by the poolside or hosting unforgettable watch parties. And at the heart of it all is the television, which serves as the centerpiece of the action. That's why selecting the best outdoor TV for your space is crucial to ensuring an exceptional viewing experience.

The truth is, indoor TVs are simply not built to withstand harsh outdoor conditions, leaving them vulnerable to water, dust and pesky insects. Thankfully, the solution is right at your fingertips. Outdoor televisions are designed to brave the elements, making them a top pick for outdoor entertainment needs. With their durability and weather resistance, you can confidently install them in your outdoor space, allowing you to enjoy your favorite content whenever and wherever you desire.

 1. How to Pick the Right Outdoor TV

a. Weather Resistance

b. Display Brightness

c. Smart Functionality

2. Where to Install Your Outdoor TV

a. Choosing a TV Mount

b. Choosing a Mounting Location

c. Understanding Nits

3. Furrion Aurora Outdoor TV Differences

4. Complement Your Viewing Experience with an Outdoor Soundbar

5. Protect Your Investment with a TV Cover

6. Outdoor TV FAQs

Before you purchase a TV for outside, there are several considerations you’ll want to assess: weather resistance, display brightness and smart functionality. Read on to see how each of these considerations can impact your decision to buy a TV and use them as an outdoor TV buying guide.

Regarding outdoor TVs, manufacturers provide two important specifications: operating temperature range and Ingress Protection (IP) rating. The IP rating is a durability scale that indicates the TV's level of protection against dust (scaled from 0-6) and liquids (scaled from 0-9).

The lowest IP rating you'll find on outdoor TVs is IP54. This means it offers excellent dust resistance at level five, capable of withstanding gusts without affecting its functionality. Additionally, it provides level four liquid protection, making it safe even when surrounded by water jets from all directions. These features ensure that your outdoor TV is well-equipped to handle various outdoor conditions while maintaining its performance.

Furrion Aurora® TVs are built to provide a premium outdoor entertainment experience year-round. These TVs boast an IP54-waterproof rating, ensuring they can withstand various weather conditions such as precipitation, UV rays, snow, dirt, dust, insects and even humidity. Additionally, they are built to handle extreme temperatures ranging from -24°F to 122°F, so you can enjoy your favorite shows and movies regardless of the season.

Within the Aurora lineup, you'll find three different types of outdoor TVs tailored to meet your specific needs. The lineup includes full-shade, partial-sun, and sun series models. A partial-sun outdoor TV is ideal for those seeking a TV that can handle partial sun exposure. Meanwhile, the full-sun models are equipped with XtremeShield™ IK08-rated impact-resistant screens, providing extra protection against flying baseballs, debris from lawn mowers and more. With Furrion Aurora TVs, you can trust that your outdoor entertainment is safeguarded, allowing you to relax and enjoy your favorite content without worrying about the elements or accidental impacts.

To have a truly satisfying viewing experience, your outdoor TV must have excellent resolution and brightness. While these TVs are ideally suited for partial or full-shade environments, it's important to ensure that the screen can still compete with the bright outdoor light when you're watching during the daytime or on sunny days. This is why an anti-glare screen is crucial.

With Furrion outdoor TVs, you don't have to worry about glare or reflections hindering your viewing. Each TV is carefully calibrated for a specific setting, providing a glare-free experience. Moreover, these TVs offer an impressive 4K ultra-high-definition resolution with HDR10, delivering stunningly vivid colors and deep contrast. 

When searching for the perfect outdoor television, it's important to go beyond just considering brightness. Outdoor light conditions vary greatly throughout the day, and your TV needs to adapt for optimal picture quality. That's why looking for options that offer auto-brightness control is crucial, ensuring that your screen adjusts seamlessly with the changing sunlight or cloud cover.

Furrion Aurora outdoor TVs come equipped with a convenient auto-brightness control feature. This innovative technology utilizes an ambient light sensor, which constantly measures the brightness of your surroundings. Based on this information, the TV intelligently adjusts the screen lighting levels to provide you with an optimal viewing experience at any given moment. Whether the sun is shining brightly or clouds are casting shadows, you can trust that your Furrion Aurora TV will deliver the perfect brightness for enhanced visibility and enjoyment.

Want to easily stream your favorite movies and TV shows? Then you’ll need an outdoor TV with smart capabilities and a strong WiFi connection.

Furrion Aurora outdoor smart TVs feature integrated smart functions powered by webOS Hub that allow for easy streaming of your favorite sporting events, shows and movies without additional streaming devices. Equipped with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Peacock and YouTube, you can seamlessly switch between streaming platforms.

Everyone knows that you’re further away from your indoor router when you go outdoors. The signal has to travel through at least one exterior wall and maybe even through a couple interior walls as well. Furrion outdoor smart TVs are also equipped with RangeXtend™ external antennas for boosted WiFi and Bluetooth® signal strength, so you don’t have to worry about how far your indoor signal must travel for a strong connection.

Proper installation is vital for maximizing your outdoor television's durability and your long-term satisfaction. While you may come across ideas online where people simply place their outdoor TV on a stand, this approach is less than ideal. It leaves your entertainment centerpiece vulnerable to unexpected gusts of wind, potentially resulting in a damaging fall. Although Furrion Aurora outdoor TVs are built to endure temperature changes and resist dust, they are not designed to withstand direct impact with concrete or even grass-covered ground.

To ensure the safety of your outdoor TV and enhance its longevity, it's highly recommended to plan for wall mounting. Securely mounting your patio TV on a wall eliminates the risk of it toppling over and encountering unnecessary damage. This safeguards your investment and provides a clean and visually appealing setup. So, when it comes to installing your outdoor TV, prioritize stability and reliability by opting for a secure wall mount. Enjoy peace of mind and uninterrupted outdoor entertainment without worrying about the safety of your valuable equipment.

Choosing the perfect TV mount depends on the level of viewing flexibility you desire. A fixed tilt mount will suffice if you only require a slight tilt adjustment. It allows you to tilt the TV up and down by a few degrees to find optimal viewing angles. On the other hand, if you prefer a broader range of motion, a full-motion mount is the way to go. With this type of mount, you can enjoy a complete 90° movement, allowing you to adjust the TV according to your preference.

A ceiling full-motion mount is worth considering for an immersive 360° viewing experience. This type of mount comes with tilting arms that offer adjustments from 0° up to 15° down. It provides the flexibility to position your TV at any angle within the 360° range, ensuring you never miss a moment, no matter where you are in the outdoor space.

Choosing the right backyard or patio TV and mounting location involves understanding your space. 

• How big is your space?
• How far away from the TV will people be sitting?
• How much space do you have to mount the TV on the wall?
• How strong is the wall you plan to mount to? Will you need to reinforce the wall before mounting?

Answering these questions will help you pick the right TV and mounting location best suited for your outdoor space.

Another thing to consider is whether your space is fully or partially shaded. An outdoor area that is fully covered, such as a screened-in porch or a deck with a cover or awning, requires a slightly different TV than a partially covered patio. It comes down to the amount of direct sun that might hit the place where your TV is located. The TV doesn't have to work as hard in a fully shaded area to outshine the ambient light.

When evaluating a television for your space, it's important to consider its specifications, specifically the number of nits. Nits determine the screen's brightness, with higher numbers indicating a brighter image.

The Furrion Aurora full-shade television is a great choice for fully shaded areas. It features a 400-nit LCD screen, providing optimal brightness for these environments. To put this into perspective, a typical residential flatscreen TV averages around 250 nits. However, if you're installing a TV in a partially shaded area, you'll need more brightness. The Furrion Aurora partial-sun television is recommended in such cases, as it offers a 750-nit LCD screen. And if your TV will be exposed to abundant sunlight, you can even go as high as a 1,500-nit LCD screen with the Furrion Aurora sun television.

By paying attention to the number of nits, you can ensure that the television you choose matches the lighting conditions of your space. Whether it's a fully shaded area, partially shaded environment or a sunny location, Furrion Aurora TVs have you covered with different models tailored to meet your specific brightness requirements.

To better understand the differences between each Furrion Aurora outdoor smart TV, take a look at the chart below.

Now that we've discussed optimizing your viewing experience, let's dive into the world of sound. To create a fully immersive experience that will wow even the most discerning audiophiles, you'll need an outdoor soundbar that can deliver powerful audio while also withstanding outdoor elements. That's where Furrion Aurora outdoor soundbars come in. 

Specifically designed to complement your Aurora outdoor TV, these soundbars provide exceptional sound quality that's perfect for large, open-air settings. Each soundbar features speakers and a subwoofer that produce crisp and clean audio. Plus, they offer Bluetooth® functionality and RCA/coaxial inputs, allowing you to effortlessly connect your soundbar to your mobile device. This is especially handy when you want to set the mood with music during a party or gathering rather than focusing on a movie or TV show.

What sets the Aurora soundbars apart is their IP45-rated waterproof housing. This protective feature ensures that the soundbars are shielded from rain, dust, insects, snow and even humidity. With this level of protection, you can enjoy your outdoor entertainment worry-free, knowing that Mother Nature won't disrupt your equipment.

When buying the best outdoor TV setup for your space, it's important not to overlook the value of investing in a cover. While Furrion Aurora TVs are equipped with excellent built-in protection to keep out elements and debris, you may still need to occasionally wipe down the screen or casing for cosmetic reasons. By using a cover, you can minimize the need for cleaning and maintenance, allowing you to simply uncover the unit, power it on and enjoy your entertainment without any hassle.

Each Furrion TV cover is crafted from premium and sturdy materials, ensuring its durability against fluctuating temperatures, UV rays, mold and mildew. With year-round protection, these covers are designed to withstand the elements and keep your TV safe and secure. Additionally, these covers feature a specially fitted pocket, providing a convenient storage solution for your TV remote during the summer months and throughout the winter season.

As you can see, creating the perfect backyard entertainment setup requires careful consideration of various factors, with the outdoor television taking center stage. Unlike indoor TVs, outdoor TVs are specifically engineered to withstand the challenges posed by outdoor conditions, ensuring their longevity and performance. With their durability and weather resistance, these televisions allow you to transform your outdoor space into a captivating entertainment hub.

If you are interested in learning more about how to choose the best outdoor television for your space, check out the frequently asked questions in the next section!

Q: Outdoor TV vs. regular TV. What’s the difference? 
A: The main difference between a standard indoor television and an outdoor TV is its durability and weather resistance. Indoor TVs are simply not built to withstand harsh outdoor weather conditions, leaving them vulnerable to water, dust and pesky insects.

Q: Can you use any TV as an outdoor TV?
A: Technically, yes. You can take your living room TV outside, but you shouldn’t. Indoor TVs are not weather resistant like outdoor TVs. Plus, you’ll have a hard time seeing the screen during daytime viewing.

Q: What do I look for when buying an outdoor TV?
A: Before you purchase an outdoor TV, there are several considerations you’ll want to assess: weather resistance, display brightness and smart functionality.

Q: What’s the best outdoor TV?
A: The best outdoor TV is one that suits your specific needs when it comes to weather resistance, display brightness, screen size and other factors to accommodate your space.

Q: What TV is best for outdoor use?
A: An outdoor TV is the best televsion of outdoor use, of course! Indoor TVs are not designed to endure the harsh outdoor elements, making them susceptible to water, dust and bothersome insects.

Q: Can a TV be left outside?
A: An indoor TV should not be left outside unless it is kept in a weatherproof enclosure. However, outdoor TVs are perfectly safe for the outdoors. Just be sure to check the IP rating to see how much water, dust and other elements your TV can withstand.

Q: Can an outdoor TV stay outside in the winter?
A: Outdoor TVs are built to withstand extreme operating temperatures and harsh elements. For extra protection in the winter, however, it’s a good idea to purchase a TV cover.

Q: Are outdoor TVs worth it?
A: The short answer is yes! Outdoor TVs are worth the money if you want to keep your TV protected from the elements. The long answer is that you should consider your space and the outdoor TV buying guide above to determine whether or not you need the extra protection.

From unboxing your brand-new Furrion Aurora outdoor smart TV to mounting it on a wall and connecting a Furrion Aurora soundbar, these helpful videos walk you through getting your TV set up for optimal viewing. You can also view AV entertainment support documentation here.