Good Life.

Byline: Michael Hastings, Sandy Lawrence Edry, Ginanne Brownell, Anna Kuchment, Ramin Setoodeh, Tara Weingarten

Technology: Television Served Alfresco

By Michael Hastings

For well-heeled TV lovers, the newest frontier in channel-surfing is moving from the couch to the patio. Manufacturers are coming out with sleek-looking sets that you can watch and keep outdoors, whether on a yacht, a beachside veranda or at a ski chalet. "It's an extension of the outdoor-living concept," says Dale Potts, chairman of Mirage Outdoor Concepts. "It's happening all over the world--in Sweden, Portugal, South Korea. It goes with the trend in high-end outdoor furniture and outdoor spas."

With consumers now transforming their backyards into living rooms, two American companies have come forward to complete the picture. Their new all-weather outdoor TVs are aimed at luxury consumers, many of whom already own a plasma-screen TV or top-of-the-line LCD flat screen. (Customers have also shown great interest in putting them on yachts.) "We're introducing it to people that have the most and want the best, the latest and the newest," says Larry Kaiser, CEO of SunBrite TV, a California-based firm. "Even though the price is high, the demand is incredible." The gadgets are also well suited to hotel and bar owners who want to provide their patrons with alfresco programming without the hassle of covering up the TVs or bringing them inside when it rains.

Mirage Outdoor Concepts (mirageoutdoorconcepts.com ) sells two outdoor HDTVs: a 26-inch LCD ($2,995) and a 32-inch wireless LCD ($3,995). They were designed from scratch, says Potts, and both are made with a waterproofed aluminum cabinet frame. The inside is also specially coated to protect against the humidity. You can leave the TV out year round, and it's able to endure high winds, freezing temperatures and buckets of rain. With the wireless set, you don't even have to worry about finding power outlets or ruining the landscape with unsightly extension cords. Of course, the biggest challenge is glare: the Mirage LCD screens shine much brighter than a conventional screen, making it possible to see even in direct sunlight. (Your regular screen loses about 20 percent of its image even with a little glare from the sun, Potts says.) Since LCD screens burn very hot, there are small holes at the bottom to allow air to circulate. A UV filter dims the sun's rays by polarizing the light. The wireless 32-inch has a small base station, which transmits the digital signal. That's also where you'd hook up, say, a DVD player, and you can tune the remote control so all you have to do is point at the screen outside to change the DVD.

SunBriteTV (sunbritetv.com ), which designed the original TV-VCR combo, offers a 20-inch outdoor model ($2,695), and says a 32-inch will be available next year. The HDTV works from minus 31 degrees to 60 degrees Celsius, says Kaiser. When the temperature drops below freezing, an internal heater kicks in to keep it warm. The "superbright" screen, says Kaiser, is about three times brighter than normal and is antireflective and scratch-resistant. The SunBrite, too, is cased in a waterproofed aluminum cabinet frame, making it virtually immune to the elements. Right now, it's a niche market, says Kaiser. But like the great outdoors, it's wide open.