LED/LCD monitor for outdoor use - fades to black

[Dirk_D 0]

I'm wondering what kind of display will offer best viewing in direct sunlight. I set up a 17" LED monitor in a weatherproof outdoor enclosure. It faces due south, works for a while, and then it fades out after a while.

 

Any suggestions on what would work best?

[Kawboy12R 0]

This isn't a power saving setting kicking in regardless of it being outdoors? I'd also check adaptive display settings in your menus. Some displays change screen brightness based on environmental brightness. If it has them I'd find them and turn off any "smart" settings to eliminate possible unintuitively strange results from it not expecting to be mounted outdoors. Also, what is the temperature in the enclosure? I wonder if some kind of overheating protection might be kicking in over time as it runs for a while and heats up as well.

[Dirk_D 0]

it's been at a customer site - the tech said it was fading in the center but slightly visible at the edges.... he thought it was just powered off at first. The customer said it fades out a few times per day.

 

I have it here now, I'm hoping to recreate the scenario....if the weather heats up.

 

It's a ViewSonic VA705-LED 17-Inch Screen LED-lit Monitor

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FC8DYK/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

 

I just know how my phone will be difficult to see if I leave it outside face up (streaming Pandora etc) for a while, or how my meters' screens will go completely black in the same scenario... I really don't know all that much about this technology.

 

I'm thinking I might put a little more space between the front of the monitor & the front of the weatherproof surface....and would there be some way to block some of the UV light? (tech's idea)

[Kawboy12R 0]

If the weatherproof surface is polycarbonate (Lexan) you're already covered. If it's glass, pretty much the same deal for UVB and UVC. To a lesser extent UVA unless it is specially coated. To be sure, find out exactly what the weatherproof surface is and Google it. Personally, I'd be more worried about the UV breaking down the plastic in the monitor over the long term rather than making the image on the screen fade in and out.

 

As far as personal experience goes, bright sun makes almost any screen difficult to see. As for my phone, the only time I remember sunlight affecting it over the longer term (rather than making it hard to read instantly) was when it shut down from overheating on the dash of my car and gave me some kind of thermal protection shutdown message. I don't work with any screens mounted outdoors in direct sunlight all day though, so my experiences are different from your installation.

 

I'd try to recreate the problem in a number of ways before travelling to the site if it were me. Leave a couple of brands of monitors out in the sun all day and see what happens. If they're closely monitored and don't do it while not in an enclosure and do it up at the site when installed, I'd suspect overheating. Maybe bring a digital thermometer that remembers max and min temperatures and stick the probe in the enclosure if it's not easy to have someone check it for you.

 

Also, does this happen only in the daytime on hot sunny days, or cooler cloudy days? It runs all night and is fine? It really sounds like a heat problem if you're waiting for things to warm up before recreating it. Sunny cold days don't do it, or has that yet to be determined?

[Dirk_D 0]

thanks for the ideas. I just went and looked at the original, it was recessed nearly an inch from the front surface.

 

At the plastics shop I was given 2 choices - impact or scratch resistant - I'll call them tomorrow & see what they were to see if I can get more info. Overheating could be an issue, I did a little weatherproofing of my own.

 

I think I'm going to make a spacer to push it farther from the front, look at cooling, & UV

[luckyfella 0]

Sunbright

[hardwired 0]

Orion makes monitors for outdoor/sunlight readable (Transreflective design), and also fan cooled outdoor enclosures for them- I have seen monitors that are overheating do the same thing. http://www.orionimages.com/product/17RTCSR.asp http://www.orionimages.com/product/ENCLA24.asp

[Dirk_D 0]

I think the problem has been solved.... It might've just been an intermittent VGA cable, a faulty board mod (me and my soldering iron), or the hot summer sun, but it's rocking steady for the last couple weeks (different monitor, I built a new enclosure).

 

I used 3/4" oak veneered plywood painted black with a 3/8" thick plexi (forget which type) screen.