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Home Page - LCD TV Guide - LCD Mounts - Installation Guide Part 1 LCD TV Installation and LCD Mounts - Part 1An Introductory Guide to Mounting a Flat Panel HDTVThanks to the different LCD mounts, installing an LCD TV is often a relatively straightforward job that can be carried out by the end user, but... Mounting an LCD TV is not like hanging a picture on the wall. In this first part of our LCD TV installation guide, we show you how to first identify an optimum placement for your flat-panel TV. We then discuss various installation issues, hiding and running connecting cables, and safety considerations.
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Quick Guide to Home Theater Design Easy-to-follow e-book on how to design and build your Home Theater
by Duncan McClelland
Article last updated on:
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LCD Televisions: It is like a picture on a wall but...LCD HDTVs are sleek, sexy and versatile. Together with plasma TVs, LCD flat-panel televisions are considered by many as the coolest thing you can have in your home entertainment area. Surely, one of the greatest features of flat panel LCD TV sets and plasma televisions is their slim footprint - with most displays being no more than 3.5 to 4 inches thick. It is this peculiarity that opens new mounting options - by using appropriate LCD mounts - otherwise impossible with bulkier CRT and rear projection TVs. You can literally hang your LCD HDTV set on the wall like a picture, or even go for a ceiling mount in a bedroom installation. At the same time, you can still opt for a standard table-stand or a stylish column floor-stand. It is also this slim footprint that renders a flat panel TV, the television display of choice when it comes to wanting a large screen size without sacrificing floor space. Use a wall-type LCD mount and your 50-inch high definition LCD television will simply take zero floor space! This 'wall mountable' characteristic makes LCD TVs true space-savers - an aspect so important for those with small living areas. It is also this same characteristic that renders flat panel HDTVs an easy option to integrate within any room decor. Of course, an LCD TV is not just a picture. Hence, all these mounting options are accompanied by several constraints that one has to be aware of when placing and mounting an LCD television. Issues to ConsiderIt is true that the many different LCD mounts available on the market, make mounting of an LCD TV a relatively easy process especially for the end user with average DIY skills. Yet mounting a flat panel TV is not as easy as it seems.
Note: Though this discussion focuses on LCD televisions and LCD mounts, yet the steps detailed in this guide equally apply when mounting a plasma television, with a few exceptions: Plasma TVs are substantially heavier and generate more heat. For more information on mounting a plasma TV, please check our Plasma Television Installation Guide. Mounting a Flat Panel LCD TV1. Can YOU do the Job?As expressed earlier on in our introduction, the use of LCD mounts renders mounting of a flat-panel TV, a relatively easy job that can be done by most end users. Furthermore, the many different variants of LCD mounts do provide an easy-to-use mounting solution under most circumstances. Yet, mounting of a flat-panel TV would still call for a minimum of DIY skills; in particular, you need to know how to operate a drill and use a spirit level to level off the TV panel. Fixing the mount perfectly level is critical - it will be hard to fix a poorly done job later, so re-check your measurements. Mind you, you do not need to be neither a carpenter, nor a qualified electrician - though a few basics within these areas will surely help you get the job done. Still, you need to be able to work with precision for a professional looking job. You would also need a good pair of helping hands. True that LCD TVs can be substantially lighter than their plasma counterpart by as much as 30% to 40% (depending on model and screen size), and therefore, they are easier to handle, but they are still heavy gear. A typical 46-inch LCD HDTV may easily weigh over 70 pounds. In other words, this is at least a two-person job. Finally, you need to know how to follow through the installation instructions that come with your flat panel television, and eventual, the instructions that come also with the LCD mount of your choice. This is essential since you will have to plan your work accordingly - in every detail before drilling any holes. 2. Where to Place and How to Hang Your LCD TVPlacement: Before deciding on your LCD mounting options, you first need to consider where in the room you are going to place your LCD flat-panel TV. While this in itself is purely subjective, yet there are a few considerations that come into play. Considerations that relates to the fact that what you will be hanging on the wall - or in that case, even on a pedestal stand - is not some movie poster, but a TV screen. For best results, avoid setting up your LCD HDTV facing large windows, doors, etc., where sunlight may fall directly across the screen. While LCD TV screens tend to be easier on the eye when used in brightly lit rooms due to their inherent anti-glare technology, yet any bright source of light shining onto the screen surface will surely ruin your viewing experience. As expressed in our plasma installation guide, the best way to decide before installing your LCD mount is to make a note of how sunlight travels across the room you plan to use. Try to place your seating along the wall where light hits and your flat-panel screen on the opposite wall. The next consideration is available wall space, or floor area in case of a pedestal-type LCD mount. Try to find enough clearance. Typically, you need a minimum of twice the screen width. This is required to fit in your left and right channel speakers and/or possibly, some other decoration to augment the aesthetics without shifting the attention from what should be the real center of attraction - that flat panel LCD HDTV. A final consideration related to screen placement - irrespective of the type of LCD mount you will be making use - is the available viewing distance between your LCD HDTV and your seating area. For a high-definition LCD TV, this should theoretically be between 2 to 3 times the screen width. Check our TV viewing distance guide for more information on this subject. If you do not have the available space for your screen size, either go for a smaller screen, or try to go for a diagonal TV/seating arrangement. Note: While the above should help you identify a suitable spot for your LCD TV, at the same, keep in mind that the ultimate placement of your TV is one that best suits your needs and room decor. In other words, go for a placement that you feel comfortable with. Still uncertain about the chosen spot - why not give it a test-run? Hang a poster of similar size to your TV, on the space where you plan to mount your television. If finding the right size poster turns out impossible, you may always cut a piece of cardboard to the required size and fix a few magazine posters! Leave it in place for a couple of days and see if you like the location. Mounting: Once you decide on the spot where you plan to hang your LCD TV, it is time to decide on whether you will be making use of an LCD TV floor stand or a wall-type LCD mount. If you opt to hang your LCD HDTV on a wall, then you also need to determine the optimum height at which you will affix your LCD mount. There are a number of considerations that come into play when setting the screen height. The idea is to come at a level that proves comfortable on your neck. The guideline is that the maximum vertical angle of view i.e. the maximum vertical angle measured at the seated eye height from the front-row center-seat to the topmost part of the screen, should not exceed 35 degrees (more on this in our TV viewing distance article). Nevertheless, this represents the maximum vertical setting. Ideally, the center of the screen should be at eye level when seated. This is the position that will result in a minimum of eye and neck movement during TV viewing. Many may consider that aesthetically, this yields a too low placement for a wall-mounted display. The alternative is to place the LCD mount such that the bottom part of the screen is no higher than the eye level when seated, while the top of the display is no higher than the eye level when standing. Anything between these limits should always lead to a comfortable viewing experience. 3. Running and Hiding Connecting Cables
This is not the case when hanging an LCD HDTV on a wall. The solution here is either to run your connecting cables through the wall, or hide cables by camouflaging them behind suitable trunking. Camouflaging is the easiest and least expensive approach for the DIY to hide that ugly looking bunch of interconnecting wires between your flat panel TV and the rest of the equipment. It is also the least invasive in that it does not require you to drill any sizable holes, as is the case when burying cables in walls. These holes may turn to be expensive to patch latter should you want to move your audio video installation elsewhere.
More information on the Superb Home Theater wiring solution and other similar surface mounted cable management systems is available on our site at The 'Superb Home Theater' and other Wiring Channel Systems. Running cables through a wall is surely more expensive than the camouflage approach, but aesthetically it yields a better result. Running cables through drywall is relatively easy. It requires cutting two holes - one behind your TV, and the other where you want them to come out; once these holes are completed, just fish the cables through the wall. Running the cabling through a brick wall can be a little bit trickier - you may need to hire an electrician though you can do it yourself if you are handy with that kind of construction project. 'Future-Proofing' your installation: While running cables through walls has a visual advantage, yet it has a disadvantage when it comes to adding cables later. The only way to tackle this issue is to future-proof your installation. Look at the inputs available on your TV and possibly identify the inputs you will be using in the future. For example, include a second or third HDMI cable especially if your set has two or more HDMI inputs even if for the time being, you will only be using one. This may appear as an unnecessary expense, but it is easier to put in an extra cable while the respective holes are still open than to fish extra cables later. Furthermore, with the rapid advancement in AV technology, there is a big chance that it would not take long before you put that extra cable into use. Keep in mind that while the use of good quality AV cables is essential, yet this is even more so when it comes to running cables through walls. Therefore, buy quality cables that will prevent interference from power wires and other wiring in the walls. Once you get this mounted, you do not want to find out that you have a problem. More information on AV cables is available at our Home Theater Cable Guide. Safety First
Plasma and LCD Mounts at Amazon.comIf you are in the market for a flat panel TV mount, we advise to visit the amazon storefront; the vast choice of products and the various buying options available from the different retailers are among the best online. However, prior to any decision, we recommend to do some research of your own. Look at what other customers had to say about their LCD mount following their purchase. This will give you extensive insight about the product of interest - in particular about the built quality and ease of assembly and installation. A good starting point is the customer feedback posted on the amazon site. You can search the amazon storefront for LCD Mounts without leaving our site by using the amazon search box below; your search results will appear here under.
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LCD TV reviews & product guides appearing under this section LED LCD HDTVs - Sony vs. Samsung Part 1: Samsung A950 Series LED LCD HDTVs - Sony vs. Samsung Part 2: Sony XBR8 series LED LCD HDTVs - Sony vs. Samsung Part 3: Which is Better? The Sony S4100 Series of entry-level 1080p LCD HDTVs Samsung 2008 LCD line-up - Part 1: Series 9, 8, 7 and 6 Samsung 2008 LCD line-up - Part 2: Series 5, 4, and 3 Samsung LN-T53/54H 720p LCD HDTV Series Samsung LN-T4665F 1080p LCD Television Sony KDL-46XBR4 46-inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Recommended Technical Guides
Plasma Television Digital TV
Guide to
Digital Satellite TV
The HDMI Cable Guide TV Viewing Distance Should You Opt for a 1080p
HDTV? Home Theater
Design:
Check out the latest special offers on LCD HDTV sets at amazon
Samsung 2008 Flag-ship LED LCD HDTV. Our detailed review available here
For our LCD HDTV review of the Samsung A650 series, please check our 2008 Samsung Product Guide.
The LG 47LG90 is a first attempt from LG in LED backlight LCD HDTVs.
Check out the latest offers on Flat-panel TV mounts at amazon
For a full range of plasma & LCD TV
mounts, please check the Alternatively, use the search box at the end of the page to search the amazon storefront without leaving our site. What about a refurbished HDTV as an inexpensive TV option? Save up to 80% on Clearance and Refurbished HDTVs Visit RefurbDepot.com to see their vast range of factory-direct refurbished HDTVs
More information on refurbished gear is available
in our guide to
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Would You like to get the best out of your LCD HDTV Set? There is no better way to make the most out of your LCD HDTV then to invest in a set-up DVD. A great calibration disc is the Avia II Home Theater Set-up DVD, which is suitable for both the novice and the expert.
Another interesting
calibration disc is the
Digital Video Essentials HD For more information, check our Guide to HT Set-Up DVDs. |
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...next LCD TV Installation Guide (2) - Choosing the right LCD Mount |
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Alternatively,
if your drywall makes use of metal frames, use the appropriate spring loaded
fixtures for the job; ordinary self-taping screws are not safe enough to hold
your TV.
,
suitable mainly for advanced users.