Mounting flat screen TV on wall and discreet cabling

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I'm re-mounting the 42" Panasonic plasma on the wall above the fireplace.

All the important cable entries are to the back of the TV and so a right sod to get at when the TV is on the wall because of the limited room between TV and wall.

Between 75mm and 90mm depending on which connection so just enough for a stiff cable to bend, but not a lot extra to line it up and fit it.

I've just measured my fist in "grasping" position and the distance from the back of the hand to the finger tips is about 75mm - much the same as a clenched fist - so not a lot of space with my sized hands.

I can't really fit all the cables prior to mounting because they will be coming through a hole in the wall roughly mid way to the back of the TV and the connections are to one side.

I suppose I could stand the TV on some very high supports before lifting it onto the brackets, but if I want to modify the cable connections at all then I would presumably have to lift the whole thing off again which is a two person job.

I could space the TV further out from the wall (plenty of spare 18mm OSB and quite a bit of other sheet material to space the bracket out from the wall) and this seems to be the most obvious option - bring the TV further out without compromising the strength of the bracket. Just need longer fixings.

So - how far out from the wall looks acceptable for a 42" TV?

How do others manage the cable connections (as most TVs seem to have the permanent connections at the rear, and temporary connections like PC, AVI and SD card on one side for easy access) on wall mounted systems?

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David
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I mounted mine lower on the wall, so that the TV height was the same as when it was on the stand.

The bracket I used was a "flat to wall" one, not tilting/swivelling etc, except that it is hinged at the top, so you can pull the bottom of the TV away from the wall by about 4" and prop it there to reach the various sockets.

Reply to
Andy Burns

Be wary about mounting the screen too high. We stayed in a holiday cottage where the screen was mounted over the mantelpiece and it was impossible to watch from a normal viewing distance without getting severe neck ache. In fact, the most comfortable place was from the conservatory, but we couldn't hear the sound very well.

Phil M

Reply to
phil m

Reply to
Tim Watts

That would need to be built like a garden gate that kids could swing on!

Plasma TVs are seriously heavy, and mounting them flat takes a lot of big screws. A mounting which will support the weight on just one corner whilst the TV swings out would require some serious metal work. Anyway, I have the mounting and wasn't planning to change it. :-)

So far, nobody has said "Well, what I did was..."

Best option so far looks to be spacing out another 18-25mm.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

Way too high. Don't even think about it unless you hate television and enjoy sore necks.

The correct height is your eye level when you're slumped on the sofa. Anything higher will be a real pain in the arse. For God's sake, don't do it unless you want to look like a chav out to impress the neighbours.

Reply to
Tim+

What's wrong with Theo's suggestion, and some mechanism, (piece of string) to pull them up out of sight?

Reply to
Graham.

It wants to be eye level when you're sat down too. Mine is about 400mm from the floor.

Reply to
harryagain

There are lots about. I have a tilt and swinvel one. Mind you, it has serious fixings into a 200mm concrete block wall.

Reply to
harryagain

[snip] Same here, it was remarkably uncomfortable.
Reply to
Chris Bartram

Make a home-made pivoting mount. What I did was to cut 4 lengths of extruded aluminium angle and drill a

6mm hole at the top of one face of each piece. Fix 2 lengths to the mounting holes on the back of the TV (up/down) and carefully fix the other 2 to the wall at the same spacing and the desired height (eye height when sat down); in each case the face with the holes in is "sticking out". Get someone to hold the TV against the wall so you can pop a couple of bolts through the 2 holes and hang the TV; it now pivots on those bolts and the viewing angle is set by a packing piece that goes between the wall and the back of the TV. Access to cables is easy from underneath because the whole TV pivots out on the bolts. The position of the pivot holes (and hence the length of angle) needs to be thought about so that the top of the TV doesn't hit the wall and stop the TV pivoting before you can get to the connectors.

I did this a long time ago and it's worked well. It gives access, is very strong, prevents easy TV theft, and is close to the wall.

Reply to
<no_spam

I'd have thought that Plasmas were not really long for this world by now in any case. heavy generate rfi and often bloody hard to set up. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

One solution adopted by a good few people on the excellent AV Forums website is to build out a false wall a few inches deep, to accommodate cabling. The leads can be long enough to allow connecting up with the TV while it's off the wall, and simply coil into the hollow space when the set is mounted.

Reply to
Bert Coules

Thanks - I think I am being blinkered by my original choice of bracket plus some less than brilliant experiences with another cantilever bracket for a 32" TV.

The bracket you link to looks promising (although the price reduction looks bizarre).

Some promising ideas from others, as well.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

However, we have already had the TV on the same wall since 2009 and haven't suffered the neck ache you mention.

Possibly because we sit with out backs leaning backwards (not upright) so our eye line with the head in neutral position angles upwards (not flat).

We were even thinking of moving it up slightly based on our experience to date.

{Visualise me slumping on the sofa and the Poang chair to check this out again....sorry if this is a painful experience!}

Yep, comfortable viewing angle has the TV quite far up the wall at a distance of 12 feet.

Not being total numpties all the time we did check this out before mounting the TV for the first time.

So it really all depends on how you slump on the sofa.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

Thanks.

Instead of a false wall I have a chimney - so I can run the cables into the chimney void and then have them drop down into the fireplace which will be the AV/Hi-Fi cupboard.

The main issue is the "off the wall" bit but it is starting to seem less of a problem as various options are suggested.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

Remember the BBC investigation into this (many years ago) for 'racks' operators who set the camera exposure etc in a studio, so watch monitors all day. The monitors were positioned slightly below their eye line.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

I'm not surprised. I would have thought that the natural (and therefore most restful) direction of human vision would be 10 to 15 degrees downwards. It's the angle most of us have been watching TV at since the

1930s.
Reply to
Ian Jackson

That's basically what I did, excuse the dodgy pictures, neither is a before or after, they're both during!

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Reply to
Andy Burns

David, could you not sink a channel in the wall of the fireplace to accommodate the cable run from its central entry point to where the TV's connectors are?

Reply to
Bert Coules

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