SunBriteTV lights up market for outdoor sets

Firm pioneered video displays that show in bright sun

LOS ANGELES — University of Wisconsin officials wanted to please notoriously unruly Badgers football fans when they overhauled the team’s stadium, so they turned to SunBriteTV, a company that pioneered outdoor television and has kept its market-leading spot with endless product tinkering.

The school paid about $100,000 for 29 high-definition video displays bright enough to be seen in direct sunlight and tough enough to withstand Midwestern heat, humidity and snowstorms.

Adding the 55-inch SunBrite screens to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., “allows our fans access to video they didn’t previously have, which is a critical part of the gameday experience,” said Justin Doherty, the university’s senior associate athletic director.

SunBrite’s recent sale is part of a boom in outdoor digital displays, a growing industry with more than $1.8 billion in sales, according to trade publication CE Pro. The pricey screens have become so popular in public spaces and private homes that their use has acquired its own nickname: techorating.

SunBrite is “in one of the hottest industries, which is outdoor digital signage,” said Cameron Hill, who is interim chief executive as a new owner, SnapAV, takes over.

The products can play back the last touchdown, act as an electronic concierge or screen a film for guests in the backyard. They differ from indoor TVs in their picture clarity and ability to stand up to the elements outdoors.

SunBrite’s screens are designed and made by the company’s 60 employees in Newbury Park, Calif.

Major casinos, cruise lines, zoos, theme parks and the military are customers.

SunBrite got its start in 2004, the brainchild of Larry Kaiser, who had spent decades manufacturing audiovisual products. His co-founder was an electromechanical engineer named Tom Weaver.

The two met at a country club and talked about how tired they were of watching sports on their indoor TVs on days when the weather was beautiful, Hill said.

Taking a traditional indoor set into the outdoors didn’t work well; viewers could barely see the picture because of the sunlight, and the set had to be rolled back in the house afterward because even a slight drizzle would wreck it.

“Their idea was to make a weatherproof, outdoorrated television,” Hill said, “so that even in the worst climates, you could watch your sports games outside. Plus, it would be able to be permanently installed outside.”

Buyers usually were homeowners “who might have an outdoor kitchen, perhaps a swimming pool — everything but an outdoor TV,” Hill said.

But the commercial opportunities for outdoor video signage were soon apparent.

SunBrite was first in what would become a crowded and competitive arena. Others with a global reach and deeper pockets have been entering the market, such as Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Sony and Panasonic.

The head start has been crucial to SunBrite’s success, along with an emphasis on product innovation and vigorously seeking patent protection for its improvements, such as a 2011 airflow system to cool the LCD panel and allow longer exposure to direct sunlight. Three years later, SunBrite pushed through another cooling patent to improve the units’ ability to operate in extreme heat.

SunBrite is a private company that doesn’t reveal sales, but financial data company FactSet pegged the firm’s annual revenue at nearly $16 million.