Beer Gardens, Pubs & Alfresco Venues

The outdoor area is the venue’s best room, and its worst screened one

Beer gardens, rooftop terraces, brewery courtyards and covered dining decks are where people actually want to sit. They are also, in most venues, the part of the floor with no usable screen — because the obvious solution keeps failing. An indoor television under a shade sail lasts a season or two before humidity and dust get into it, and on a bright afternoon it is unwatchable anyway. So the crowd migrates inside for the game, and the best space in the venue empties out at exactly the moment it should be full.

What has to be true for an outdoor screen to work in a venue

It has to hold a picture in daylight. Most sport is played in the afternoon, and that is when the outdoor area fills. A typical indoor television runs 300–400 nits against ambient daylight of 10,000–25,000 lux — it does not stand a chance. A covered position that never sees direct sun works at around 1,000 nits. Anywhere the sun actually reaches the screen needs 3,500 nits or more, and there is no cheaper way around it.

It has to survive being outside. Not “weather resistant” — a tested IP rating. IP55 covers a sheltered position under an overhang; IP56 handles exposed positions, coastal salt air and being hosed down with the floor at close. A sealed metal chassis rather than a vented plastic housing is what keeps humidity, dust and insects out of the panel.

It has to run without staff attention. Google TV on the panel means free-to-air over the built-in tuner, streaming apps for whatever service holds the rights this season, and no media player hidden in a weatherproof box to fail on a Friday night.

The sound has to reach the tables without reaching the neighbours. Built-in speakers are sized for a domestic terrace. A venue courtyard needs either an IP65 soundbar or, more often, a pair of weatherproof speakers positioned onto the seating so the audio lands on your customers and falls away at the fence line.

What we specify

• Covered courtyards, verandahs, dining decks — the Porch Pro at 1,000 nits, IP56, 43” to 75”. The rear anti-theft lock is standard, which matters for an area that is unattended after close.
• Beer gardens, rooftops, west-facing terraces — the Cinema Pro at 3,500–5,000 nits with a 120Hz panel. The refresh rate is the second thing that matters for sport: 60Hz panels smear on fast pans, and your customers notice even if they cannot name why.
• Feature screens and sports lounges — the 110” Cinema Pro, 2.47m wide, quoted with mount, electrical and install.
• Audio — an IP65 soundbar for smaller courtyards, or CF-series weatherproof speakers on amplification for a real crowd.
• Big match days — a permanent screen and an inflatable or fast-fold system are not alternatives. Plenty of clubs run a permanent outdoor TV week to week and roll out a 4m–6m screen for a grand final or a State of Origin night.

The licensing bit

Showing sport or film to customers is a public performance and needs the right commercial licence — a venue subscription for sport, and a public screening licence for films, which is not the same thing as a streaming account. This is straightforward and inexpensive to get right, and expensive to get wrong. Our guide to movie licensing in Australia covers the film side.

Tell us about the space

Send a photo of the area, which way it faces and where the seating is, and we will spec the screen size and brightness, the mount, the audio and the cabling — and tell you honestly if a cheaper screen will do the job.