Question on wall mounted TV's

[smokey982]

I'm considering wall mounting my TV and after looking at other people's setups, I would like no wires showing from around my TV. With that said, I would obviously need an outlet mounted behind my set for the power. But what about protecting the set with a surge supressor? I'm assuming in those situations there's no way to use a surge protector unless there's an access cabinet in the wall behind the set?

 

[Kevinw]

Fish the wires to ground level. I am assuming you would have your STB and such below TV in a cabinet.

 

[smokey982]

So your saying run the power cable through and down the wall and then back out of the wall into a surge suppressor? I assumed people had an extra outlet installed directly behind the TV. If I run it through the wall, down, and back out, do I use some sort of wall plate for looks or do I leave 2 holes in the walls?

 

[Kevinw]

Id use a plate for the HDMI. You could run the electric yourself or have an electrician do it your choice. Yes you could just make a hole and drop the power cord but it would have to be to code if you ever sell the house.

 

[smokey982]

I don't think by running the TV power cord down the wall, back out, and then into an outlet could ever be made code. I guess if I ever sold, the TV would come out anyway, and then I would just patch the holes in the wall.

 

[Kevinw]

That's the way I Do things, patch it up after I move A little redneck but hey, no one can see it

 

[navychop]

Keep in mind, your TV mount should swivel up and down as well as left and right.

 

[Kevinw]

Wall Mount Bracket

 

[jayn_j]

I'd make 2 changes. First, I would use a couple of electrical boxes that mount from the front. The reason is that the wallboard will eventually get chewed up if you just drill a hole and run wire. Also, the box will trap the wires so they don't fall back down the hole if you disconnect from the set.

The second thing I would do would be to run a separate pair of boxes for the power, probably on the other side of a wall stud. That would keep the 120V power away from the low voltage signals. Not so much a safety issue as a crosstalk one.

Since I rent my house, I decided not to make big holes. I use one of those flexible tubes made for computer cabling. That way, I only have a single tube running straight down from the set to behind the dresser.

 

[smokey982]

As for the swivel wall brackets, I really would never have any use for the swivel. The TV is in my main viewing area with all of the seating in front of the TV. It might be useful to have one that tilts forward slightly. But I would never need to turn right or left.

 

[jayn_j]

As for the swivel wall brackets, I really would never have any use for the swivel. The TV is in my main viewing area with all of the seating in front of the TV. It might be useful to have one that tilts forward slightly. But I would never need to turn right or left.

A lot of the fixed brackets offer two mounting options; one fixed and one with a slight downward tilt. If I had it to do over, I would save the $30 extra I spent on the tilting mount.

 

[navychop]

Tilt can accommodate TVs that might lose PQ when not viewed straight on.

I have/had a 24" LCD in an RV I bought. Mount could not tilt down, no fix, no workaround. TV had terrible blacks from slightly below straight on. I'm giving it to my MiL and mounting it on a tilt & swivel bracket for her. I'll buy another small TV for the RV next year, that has tolerable blacks and overall PQ when viewed from slightly below.

 

[jayn_j]

Tilt can accommodate TVs that might lose PQ when not viewed straight on.

I have/had a 24" LCD in an RV I bought. Mount could not tilt down, no fix, no workaround. TV had terrible blacks from slightly below straight on. I'm giving it to my MiL and mounting it on a tilt & swivel bracket for her. I'll buy another small TV for the RV next year, that has tolerable blacks and overall PQ when viewed from slightly below.

I agree. However, most tilt mounts are never changed after the initial adjustment. Probably most are purchased because the consumer doesn't know his viewing angle ahead of time. If a 15 degree fixed down tilt will put you above the horizontal plane of the display, then the money spent on the tilt mount is wasted. Virtually all LCD displays are more tolerant of being viewed from above the horizontal plane than below it.

A little bit of planning can save some real $$ here.