OT: Outdoor TV

Yo. I recently bought a house in Gluckstadt and i have a decent back patio overlooking my backyard. The previous owner of the house had a tv hung on one of the outside walls and I would like to do something like that so i can watch msu football and grill and whatnot.

I have Directv, but it's only set up inside.

What's the best course of action for me to get my tv set up and fully functioning? How do i go about wiring things so i can watch tv outside? Is there a way to split directv (i dont think there is but not 100%)

Fairly tech savvy, but have no idea on how to go about doing this for an outside television.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I'm interested in the responses here. I've been wanting to do the same but I have cable.

+1

Don't buy a TV made for the outdoors. By an indoor TV for $2500 less and replace it every 4-5 years when it goes out.

I bought a 52" Samsung in 2008. Used it indoors until March 2014. New house in 2014 and Samsung got put on the covered patio. It has survived, in the Houston TX heat, through 2 summers and is still going strong.

Outdoor TVs are typically priced 4 to 5 times higher than indoor equivalents. Go drop $700-$800 on a 50"ish indoor TV and wait it out.

ETA: I had a cable jack placed on my patio when I built the house. So we wire directly to it. I have a separate uverse box that has survived 2 Houston Summer's outside as well.

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Originally Posted by missouridawg

Don't buy a TV made for the outdoors. By an indoor TV for $2500 less and replace it every 4-5 years when it goes out.

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+1

Here is what I did. Bought a wireless video transmitter and receiver off ebay for less than $100 and use it. It hooks to the VGA plugs on the direct Tv receiver and the receiver does the same on the outside TV. The only negative is that its not HD but the receiver I have it hooked to is SD so it doesn't matter to me and both TVs will have to watch the same channel. If you order a wireless transmitter/receiver, make sure it will send the remote signal back from the outside tv to the inside receiver, some do some don't. Some of the new Sat receivers only have HDMI cables and no VGA ports so that could be an issue. My grill sits in a direct line between the transmitter and receiver and smoke plays heck with the signal sometimes?????

Don't fall for buying a tv that's made for the outside. I'm rocking a 55" Vizio from Wally World that's going on its fifth year. I added a 100 dollar sound bar last year to it. The best options are if his uverse or direct tv with their wireless receivers. I always bought 3 receivers. If you are going cable you can easily get a plug mounted onto the wall. A lot just depends on your carrier option.

I have a cheap TCL 50 inch on my back porch with an over the air antenna. You can get the wireless receiver for your outside tv with direct. If i'm being honest with you, I use the outdoor tv alot less than I thought I would. It's just too hot outside for 6 months out of the year and too cold 2 months.

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Originally Posted by louisvilledawg

Yo. I recently bought a house in Gluckstadt and i have a decent back patio overlooking my backyard. The previous owner of the house had a tv hung on one of the outside walls and I would like to do something like that so i can watch msu football and grill and whatnot.

I have Directv, but it's only set up inside.

What's the best course of action for me to get my tv set up and fully functioning? How do i go about wiring things so i can watch tv outside? Is there a way to split directv (i dont think there is but not 100%)

Fairly tech savvy, but have no idea on how to go about doing this for an outside television.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

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There is a way to split direct tv. Just take the output hdmi cable and plug it into an one into two hdmi splitter like this: https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-SOWT...=AY17ZJJFXFB6Q Both TV's will show the same display.

The downside to this is for it to look good you will need to run this through your ceiling, fish it down the wall to behind your tv and then put an outlet by your outdoor tv (presumably in the soffit rather than trying to fish down the exterior wall with all the insulation). One thing to be careful is that if you are making a long run, the hdmi cables are unidirectional, so make sure you have the direction running from the splitter to the outside tv.

The other option is to have a TV and box inside that you have set up to move outside. Just have the bracket in the wall and the mounting on the back of your tv, and move the tv out when you want to watch. This will keep your tv out of the weather (although that's not a big issue as long as it's covered), and allow you to watch different things on the inside and outside tv, which is helpful on football weekends. The problem with this set up is that if not all of the power cords to your Directv boxes are the same, and if you are moving the one closest to the satellite, it can cause problems to where you basically have to flip the power on all of them at the same time and then turn them back on at basically the asme time and let it go through a setup.

I agree on buying a nice but inexpensive TV. Not worth the price of an outdoor TV. I had Direct TV run a cable though the ceiling from the Living Room set. So, both sets show the same program. This is actually on the back porch for grilling. As for the pool house, I just bought a unit from Apple TV. Could not cable through the yard. The Apple TV works great with all of the free apps, and we actually use it for tailgating too. We can watch all the games on Saturdays at State. Hope this helps.

I don't have DTV but don't they have a multi-room DVR? Quick check and they have this. http://www.directv.com/technology/genie

You just need to make sure you have the Genie DVR as your main one and then get a wireless mini box for your outdoor TV. That should handle everything you want. Another option is just to get a roku stick for the outdoor TV if you're just going to watch MSU stuff. It's what I use. It has the ESPN app and I just watch all the games that way. The only downside is that you can't skip commercials like with a DVR.

I'll also second what everyone else says and don't pay extra for an outdoors TV. You're much better off getting an inexpensive one and use that until it stops working.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by louisvilledawg

Yo. I recently bought a house in Gluckstadt and i have a decent back patio overlooking my backyard. The previous owner of the house had a tv hung on one of the outside walls and I would like to do something like that so i can watch msu football and grill and whatnot.

I have Directv, but it's only set up inside.

What's the best course of action for me to get my tv set up and fully functioning? How do i go about wiring things so i can watch tv outside? Is there a way to split directv (i dont think there is but not 100%)

Fairly tech savvy, but have no idea on how to go about doing this for an outside television.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

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I have a dedicated DirecTV receiver for outdoor, but the receiver is inside in a closet on the outside wall very close to the tv. I ran component cable (RGB + Audio) to the tv. Connect the box to the internet and you can change channel via the iPhone or iPad app. I also have an old AppleTV connected for SEC+ (MSU baseball) broadcasts. You can buy a waterproof cover from Home Depot to protect the tv from the elements.

My DirecTV guy hooked me up with the whole home DVR, plus a wireless Genie mini. Can set that up next to your TV anywhere it is, and it will wirelessly transmit between the base and mini unit. No wires required, and will transmit through walls.

Other than a slight lag when fast forwarding through a recorded show on the base unit, we have had no issues it with....and it is hooked up on a 4K Samsung.

Do what I did if you live in the Jackson area. Go to a pawn store and pick up a basically new TV for basically nothing and put it outside. I got a 50 inch LG for 300 bucks and it has been awesome.

Call an electrician to have them Run coax. Call direct tv and get a wireless genie or a box depending on what you have room for and boom.