When it comes to home technology for the outdoors, it is all about entertaining. In the last decade, we have seen a huge push towards turning our yards into even more fun recreations of our interior spaces. A swimming pool is great, but a pool next to a kitchen, dining, and media room is even better.

Outdoor Speakers

Outdoor technology in the past was pretty basic. There were outdoor speakers, which were typically connected to complicated A/V systems inside the home. There is a good chance there was rotary volume control by the door to the yard, but outside of that, there was little that you could do to control what you were listening to. You would simply pick a radio station or fire up your CD changer, and if you wanted to change the source, you would go back inside.

Today’s outdoor music systems leverage streaming technology and control systems, making them far more user-friendly. With just a smartphone, you can control music through a system like Savant, Control4, or Sonos without leaving your lounge chair. Speaker options have improved substantially as well. No longer do you need large box speakers mounted to your home. Systems like the Sonance SLS system feature small landscape audio speakers that can be distributed throughout your yard. These speakers resemble landscape lights, both in appearance and in installation. Other options include “bollard” or tower speakers like we see from James Loudspeaker, Coastal Source, and Origin Acoustics. These vertically oriented speakers can be designed to project sound in one direction or distribute it in a continuous 360º arc.

Above: Outdoor Speaker installed by BRAVAS (Minneapolis, MN)

Outdoor TVs

The ability to watch TV outdoors has also changed how people use their yards. Watching a sporting event from a swimming pool means everyone is entertained. Outdoor TVs traditionally were dim, complicated and very expensive. Over time Sunbrite began creating outdoor televisions that were more competitively priced, allowing more people to enjoy a reliable TV outdoors. In the last couple of years, Sunbrite, Seura, and Samsung have all produced 4K outdoor TVs that bring the indoor experience out, with brightness and clarity we have come to expect from a modern TV.

Above: Outdoor TV installed by BRAVAS (Boca Raton, FL)

If a TV isn’t big enough for you, projection systems have also come a long way. Motorized lifts and screens allow us to hide a full-size theater underground, or in the eave of a home. We truly have the ability to recreate almost any indoor home experience in the outdoors.

If you are looking to update your outdoor space, please let BRAVAS Austin help make your yard a better place to live, work and play.