As the weather in the Lower Mainland finally warms up, homeowners look to expand their living spaces into their backyards. But bringing high-performance audio and video outdoors presents unique engineering challenges. Here is how professional integrators bypass the elements to create a resilient outdoor oasis.

Why You Can't Put a Normal TV Outside

It's tempting to buy a cheap big-screen TV on Black Friday and mount it on the patio. However, indoor televisions are not sealed against humidity, dust, or insects. More importantly, they lack the brightness to compete with the sun. A standard indoor TV might produce 300 to 400 nits of brightness; on a sunny afternoon, the screen will look like a black mirror.

Dedicated outdoor televisions from brands like SunBrite or the Samsung Terrace series are fully weatherproof, heavily sealed against moisture, and push upwards of 2,000 nits of brightness to cut through the daytime glare.

Landscape Audio: Sound Where You Want It

Traditionally, outdoor audio consisted of two bulky speakers mounted under the eaves of the house, blasting music into the yard. The problem? To hear the music clearly by the pool, the volume had to be deafening near the house, much to the dismay of your neighbors.

Modern landscape audio takes a different approach. We install a perimeter of small, weatherproof satellite speakers hidden among the flowerbeds, pointed directly toward the seating areas. This creates an immersive canopy of sound operating at a comfortable volume, contained entirely within your yard.

The Buried Subwoofer

To complete the outdoor acoustic experience without ruining the landscaping, integrators utilize buried subwoofers. Similar in size to a garbage can, these heavy enclosures are buried underground with only a small, mushroom-shaped canopy protruding above the soil. The earth itself acts as an acoustic chamber, providing deep, resonant bass that you can actually feel on the patio.

Ready to make your backyard the ultimate summer destination? At Ultra AV, we design weatherproof entertainment systems that survive the West Coast winters and dazzle in the summer. Contact us today to plan your patio.