With the growing use of outdoor digital signage the term IP65 is becoming more relevant and commonplace in the advertising and information sectors.
IP65 is a European rating system that has been around for many years. Its primary use was to allow contractors to establish the protection and electrical component’s enclosure would afford against hazardous elements such as dirt or water.
Now with the growing use of digital outdoor signage, the term is commonly bandied about in the digital signage industry but very few contractors are aware of its meaning.
In the enclosure business IP65 has become synonymous with outdoor protection. This is not because IP65 in anyway means an item is suited for outdoor use but the protection IP65 denotes does mean that an LCD enclosure or other digital signage system will be designed to withstand rain.
The IP system does not just denote how much protection is offered against water. The two digits in the IP system define the two types of protection with the first digit representing solid materials (dust, sand etc) while the second digit represents the water protection.
IP65 LCD enclosures (or plasma enclosures) can therefore be used in other areas (such as factory floors) not just outside but the protection granted by the IP rating does make them ideally suited for outdoor use.
However, as previously mentioned IP65 is no guarantee that an enclosure will be suitable for outdoor use. While IP65 does denote water protection there are other elements to take into account that are not governed by the IP rating such as heat and cold.
When erecting digital signage outdoors it is important to establish the temperature extremes that the outdoor digital signage is to operate in. Many LCD enclosures are manufactured with additional heating and cooling components installed to combat the extreme lows and highs of the local winters and summers.
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