Using an Outdoor Screen – Importance of Air Circulation

More and more LCD and other types of flat panel displays are being installed in outdoor locations for advertising, information, brand awareness and marketing. This rise in outdoor digital signage is leading more and more people to consider the options of an outdoors screen but is also paving the way for many common mistakes to be initiated when embarking on an outdoor digital campaign.

One of the most common errors that are made when installing a screen in an outdoor location is protection. Commonly, installers ensure the screen is protected from the weather by either using a waterproof TV or housing it in a waterproof LCD enclosure but often they forget about the air circulation.

The circulation of air is highly important for most electrical and electronic devices. All electrical devices generate heat and ensuring that this heat is transferred away from the components is vital in preventing overheating.

An circulation fan and filter used in an LCD enclosure

The problem intensifies when you have shrouded the screen in a digital signage enclosure. Commonly this is done as the LCD enclosure provides the weatherproof protection required for the device to operate outdoors; however, because the device is covered heat is able to build up at greater degrees so any LCD enclosure needs to have adequate air cooling systems.

Air circulation does pose a problem in an outdoor LCD enclosure, though. Due to the need to ensure an LCD enclosure doesn’t let in water or other weather elements, having a vent to allow air in to be circulated can be problematic as this can allow water and other weather elements to enter too.

The most common solution undertaken by outdoor digital signage and LCD enclosure manufacturers is to have the air vent and filter underneath the enclosure so air can enter but rainfall cannot. This is not entirely a fool-proof system as splashes can potentially still get into the enclosure so quite often a zigzagged chimney, known as a plenum chamber is added to reduce the risk of water ingress.

Failing to provide adequate air circulation is a common cause of overheating, which , in itself, is one of the commonest cause of a failed screen.