TVs & stereos grow more popular
GateHouse News Service S by Dina Gerdeman
Stephen Puliafico didn't want to miss any Red Sox games while he was swimming in his backyard pool. So he brought the Red Sox poolside by installing a 42-inch flat-panel television set behind a covered bar on his deck last year. He also has a stereo behind the bar, and around his deck - dotted throughout the landscaping - are speakers that are disguised to look like rocks with wires that run underground to the stereo. S"We're big sports fans and we're also huge outdoors people," said Puliafico, who lives in Sharon, Mass. "It's like having an entertainment room in the house, except the beauty of it is that it's outside. Baseball is meant to be enjoyed outdoors."

ABOVE Many people are bringing technology outside in the form of waterproof TV and stereo systems. RIGHT A speaker disigned to look like a rock sits in a flower bed.

An increasing number of people are bringing the technological comforts of their home outdoors by installing TVs and stereo systems in their back yards and on their decks.

"It's super popular. People want to be outdoors more," said Michael Leafer, owner of MHL Security and Sound, which installed Puliafico's system. "I'd say half the people who have in-ground pools also have TVs now."

PHOTOS BY ERICA BENSON AND GREG DERR GHNS

Leafer said he has been installing one or two outdoor audio and video systems each week. He also enjoys his own outdoor entertainment system at his home and loves having friends over from 11 in the morning until 11 at night.

"We start by sitting by the pool, we'll end up in the pool for a swim, then we'll order pizza or Chinese, take a hot tub and light the fire pit, and the TV is running the whole time," he said.

David Berman, director of training and public relations for the Home Theater Specialists of America, said 10 years ago there were few products on the market that were built to withstand wind, rain and even snow, but these days consumers have many more options.

"They claim you can take a garden hose and wash it off; it's weatherproofed to that level," Leafer said.

For example, Planar sells the Climate Portfolio WP-42HD, a 42-inch LCD screen designed to be used outdoors in temperatures ranging from minus 4 to 104 degrees.

Many outdoor TVs receive video and audio wirelessly, so homeowners don't have to run wires from their indoor systems to their back yards. The TVs even come with waterproof remotes.

"The products are becoming more affordable, so we're seeing more middle-income families putting TVs outside," said Berman, who noted that a weatherproof LCD television runs about $2,500.

Philo Pappas, head of merchandising for Tweeter in Canton, Mass., said a growing number of customers are asking for audio systems that allow them to dock their iPods outside.

"People think of the outdoors as a good space for entertainment," Pappas said. "When you entertain, you want to have music."

Dina Gerdeman may be reached at dgerdeman@ledger.com.