How to watch outdoor cinema

Posted on 13 Jul 2010 at 19:32

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When the weather's nice, there's nothing better than spending time outside. Sadly, for most of us, we have to venture indoors when we want to watch TV or a movie. Wouldn't it be great if we didn't have to and we could get the home cinema experience outside? Here's what you need.

Screen

The first thing you need to do is work out what you're going to project on. Outdoors you're not as limited by space, but you're more likely to need a dedicated screen, as few people have an unbroken white wall in their garden.

There are quite a few choices. At the cheap end you can hang up a white sheet (double fold it for the best results) and project onto this. However, gusts of wind will ruin the picture and it's hard to hang a sheet absolutely flat.

A better method is a dedicated screen. A freestanding screen, such as you'd use indoors, is an option, but wind can blow them over and you could damage the screen. A dedicated outdoor screen is the best bet.

For our testing we opted for a Gemmy Airblown Inflatable Movie screen, which costs $170 (around £111). As this is a US product, you'll also need a step-down voltage converter, which will turn 230V UK power into 120V US power.

Our 12ft screen has two powered fans at the bottom that constantly inflate the surround, a bit like on a bouncy castle. The projection screen clips onto the frame. It can get quite creased, as it's folded in the bag, but hang it up a few hours before you use it for the best result. Some people even recommend giving the screen a quick tumble-dry before hand.