There has been a growing rise in the use of outdoor televisions, especially in the hospitality industry. Pubs, bars and restaurants now realise the benefits of providing outdoor entertainment for customers, who are increasingly interested in dining and socialising outdoors, especially in the summer months. An outdoor TV provides a great way of encouraging customers to visit a bar or restaurant. Watching live sports and other entertainment provides that added reason for people to spend the evening out with friends, rather than stay at home. Outdoor TVs also increase customer retention, encouraging people to stay for longer and not rush home to watch the latest talent show or football match.
Of course, a TV required to operate outdoors is going to need protection from the elements and ensure security. An outdoor LCD enclosure is perhaps the most cost effective method of providing outdoor television and offering the best return on investment for a hospitality business. The enclosures protect TVs from the weather, physical damage and the variable temperatures of an outdoor environment and are ideal for providing a simple TV solution to entertain customers outside pubs, bars and restaurants. While there are many outdoor TV systems available, nothing provides the comprehensive protection and the return on investment of using a standard TV housed in an Armagard outdoor TV enclosure.
Outdoor dining
Alfresco dining has plenty of benefits for both restaurants and diners. For restaurants, it provides that extra space and added incentive for customers to dine at a restaurant during the summer, knowing they can eat outside and enjoy the warm weather. During times of popular sporting events, such as the recent London Olympics, providing outdoor diners with a TV adds that extra incentive to eat out and enjoy the atmosphere with other people.
An increasing number of restaurants with outdoor eating facilities are seeing the wisdom of this. Recently, before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games, several restaurants have installed outdoor TV enclosures, to attract customers to dine and view the Olympic events with friends, family and work colleagues. However, finding the right outdoor TV solution is sometimes difficult, which is why many restaurants turn to Armagard and their range of outdoor TV enclosures and experience in installing outdoor TV systems in all sorts of hospitality locations.
A good example is Italian restaurant Amerigo Vespucci (shown above) based at Canary Wharf, London, who wanted a TV installed in their alfresco bar in time for the 2012 Olympics. Armagard provided two of their PDS 42 outdoor enclosures, which enabled the restaurant to attract customers during the Olympics to take advantage of the welcome boost to trade provided by London 2012.
Smoking bans
Restaurants are not the only hospitality businesses that are seeing the advantage that outdoor TVs can offer in attracting and retaining customers. For the pub and bar industry, the smoking ban had a dramatic affect on trade, forcing many businesses to install smoking shelters to help retain smoking customers. During times of big sporting events in pubs and bars that provided big screen entertainment, the smoking ban, however, did result in a drop-off of trade. Customers did not want to miss any of the action to go outside and have a smoke, and many stayed away and chose to watch football tournaments and other sports at home.
Armagard have installed numerous outdoor TV enclosures outside pubs and bars. An outdoor TV provides the perfect accompaniment to an outdoor smoking area of a pub beer garden, especially for when the big match is on. Allowing people to watch the same game outdoors that is playing on the big screen inside, ensures people won’t have to miss any of the action if they choose to go outside. This encourages more custom during sporting events, helping to boost trade. It also ensures people are more likely to stay for longer or turn up with friends.
Homeowners
It is not only businesses that can enjoy the advantages of having an outdoor TV system. Armagard has seen an increase in homeowners wanting to install an outdoor TV in a patio, barbecue or decking area to allow them to enjoy all the pleasures of the garden and outdoor area, while not missing any of their favourite TV programmes.
An outdoor TV provides a great complement to a patio or outdoor area and offers a great alternative to having to come home from work when the weather is nice and have to sit indoors when you want to watch a TV programme. Of course, installing an outdoor TV doesn’t just require protection from the elements, but also it needs to be secure and protected from potential theft. An outdoor TV enclosure is ideal for this. During the winter, the enclosed TV can even be removed and taken back inside for use around the home, and then reinstalled outside once the weather improves, which ensures you get the most out of the TV.
All year round protection
Whether it is a pub beer garden, bar smoking shelter or an alfresco dining area outside a restaurant, any TV installed outside has to be able to operate all year round. Even in winter, people will not want to miss out on any of the live entertainment when they go outside, so it is important that whatever solution is used for an outdoor TV it can operate in all weathers and all temperatures. This means not only ensuring that the rain is kept out, but also that the TV screen won’t overheat during the summer months or freeze in winter.
With an outdoor enclosure the TV is not only completely protected from the elements, ensuring that rains, sleet, snow or even windblown dust can’t get inside and damage the device, but also the enclosure provides a complete sealed environment that ensures the TV is always running at the most optimum of conditions. With air filters, cooling fans, heaters (if needed) and climatic control systems, any enclosed TV will not overheat, or freeze, regardless of the ambient conditions. This means that the TV can operate all year round, come rain, snow or a heat wave. Furthermore, with special anti reflective solutions, the TV will remain visible even when exposed to intense sunlight, ensuring that sun glare won’t cause complaints from customers.
Security
Security is another issue that all outdoor TV installations need to take into account. A busy bar or pub can become quite boisterous, especially during a football tournament. It is not unknown for a screen to be hit by bottles or glasses from over enthusiastic drinkers, or be accidentally struck by something. Any screen operating in such a vibrant atmosphere, needs to be tough enough to prevent damage caused through impact. Furthermore, as most outdoor TVs are left out overnight, they can become targets for vandals and thieves, so the screen needs to have adequate protection to prevent theft or deliberate damage.
An outdoor enclosure provided by Armagard provides a secure and vandal proof solution. The lockable enclosure is made from steel and once secured, can’t be accessed or removed by any unauthorised personnel. Furthermore, shatterproof screens provide unparalleled impact protection and are capable of withstanding the severest of blows without incurring any damage. This provides the confidence to leave the outdoor TV outside all year round, without having to worry about theft or vandalism.
Flexibility
An Armagard outdoor TV enclosure offers the freedom to choose exactly what make or model screen you want for the outdoor environment. Because the enclosure provides all the protection needed, almost any TV can be used outside, doing away with the need for buying highly expensive waterproof or outdoor TV systems. For homeowners, this means you can take a secondary TV from the home, and use it outside during the summer months and return it indoors when the garden is no longer in use. For pubs, bars and restaurants, it offers the freedom to source the best value system to suit the requirements of the business, and as Armagard enclosures come in a variety of sizes, you can install a TV as small or as large as necessary.
Return on investment
Perhaps the biggest advantage of using an Armagard outdoor TV enclosure is the return on investment it offers. Unlike a standard outdoor TV, which will have a limited operating lifespan, an Armagard enclosure can be used to house generation after generation of screen, providing a long-term solution for offering outdoor TV entertainment.
Most TVs, whether for outdoor use or for indoor viewing, only have a finite lifespan, which means that any screen installed outside will eventually need replacing. However, an Armagard outdoor TV enclosure will continue to provide protection year after year, and because they have industry standard internal mounting systems, the same enclosure can be used to provide protection for every successive TV screen (as long as the TV is the same size as the original). When you compare the costs of a single enclosure housing a standard TV with the repeated high price of buying successive outdoor TVs, many of which have a price tag many times that of standard screens, the savings can be incredible.
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