HDTV Almanac - Is Your HDTV Mounted on the Wall?

[alfredpoor]

I received some interesting information from Peerless last week. This is one of the companies that makes top quality mounts for flat panel televisions. I was curious about how many people actually use mounts these days; the conventional wisdom from about five years ago was that fewer than 25% of all sets got mounted on [...]

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[ChaunceyGardener]

No. 46" on the shelf of a wall entertainment unit

[alfredpoor]

Thanks. Anybody else? (I'm also curious if more recent purchases are more likely to get wall-mounted.)

Alfred

[FullThrottleDave]

We bought a 46 LCD 18 months ago and mounted it on a swing/tilt wall mount. It is in a corner and can be pushed flat against the wall for entertaining, but is pulled out and swiveled for viewing.

[spartanstew]

Most people mount their displays because they don't know any better. They see it in magazine and think "Oh, that looks cool", so they do it. What they don't realize is that in most cases that places the display at an undesirable height. The ideal height for the vast majority of displays is at a level where your eyes (when seated) are between 1/3-1/2 up the screen. In most situations that means the center of the display will be about 4' high, but people routinely mount their displays 6' off the ground.

This results in most people constantly looking up at their display which can get a bit painful during a long movie, not to mention that it probably doesn't provide the best picture in terms of PQ. Additionally, many of the same people that mount their displays (too high), still use some type of low boy cabinet underneath it to place the rest of their gear.

Just place the display on top of that cabinet instead, and your display will probably be at the right height.

If nothing else, Americans are suckers for slick Marketing.

[alfredpoor]

I agree that you want to look square on to the flat panel, but I'm not sure that looking up is so bad. Do you stay out of movie theaters because you have to look up at the screen? I find that a wall mount with a vertical tilt feature is fine, provided the seating lets you lean back and get comfortable.

I also agree that American consumers are swayed by marketing -- why else the fascination with thin flat panels? -- but in this case I'm not sure that it's to their detriment.

Alfred

[Rodolfo]

This analysis/statistic of the higher % of large panel installations on walls did not mention some valid reasons that are beyond the preference factor of the “wall over tabletop” choice, I mention just a few:

a) The extra cost of the typical entertainment unit that can hold these larger TVs cost generally several hundred dollars (thousands in some elegant models), compared to the lower cost of the bracket for self installations,

b) The installation could be in a room that already has furniture for the A/V equipment but is not designed to hold the set (a rack style for example),

c) Some large panels charge separately for the stand (Pioneer Elite Monitor, when available, had an optional $500 stand). I installed several 60” non-monitor Elites, although these models included stands; one customer spent $2000 on the under cabinet. None were on walls, due to proper advice.

d) The common (wrong) approach of installing panels too high on the wall, such as above a fireplace mantel, for which a wall bracket is the most common solution and a cabinet is not an option, even when there is no restriction of wall space under it (no fireplace cases), and even when the viewing angle would decrease the quality of the image (considerably on LCDs) when fixed brackets are used. Regardless, the neck effect of viewing with the head inclined back should be a concern on prolonged viewing, even when the panel bracket can be aligned to reduce the vertical viewing angle as close as possible to 90 degrees,

e) The commonly pushed sales speech for the higher priced installation labor of the selling store, which in many cases creates more revenue than the TV markup, however, on some angled situations (90 degrees of two walls joining) the installation could not be done with most reasonable priced wall brackets.


Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

[spartanstew]

Do you stay out of movie theaters because you have to look up at the screen?

Nope, but I don't sit in the front row either. Additionally, most theater seats recline. When reclining, you can get away with the display being a bit higher.

[stevekaden]

Of course the nightmare of most homes is the idiotic "for the resale of the house" fireplace in the middle of where entertainment should come from. Yea we used to be entertained (and in some moments it still works) watching a fire and having a good discussion about global warming (don't yell at me, at least burning wood is carbon neutral).

BUT, if you are stuck mounting the TV over the fireplace (heat damage notwithstanding), simply having a more reclined couch-chair, can make the natural head position work. In fact that is generally the case in all bedroom viewing -mounting. So if you are stuck with a Fireplace there, then it really works very well.

My wife took the chainsaw away from me when she saw me heading for the fireplace in our house when we bought it, so I turned the orientation away from the fireplace. It is on the side, ignored as it should be (as air leaks up and out of the house). So I have, I think followed the rules and have one on a Stand, on a TV shelf unit in the living room (with relatively straight back couch. And mounted over the fireplace in the bedroom. No neck aches - but I am getting wider from all the sitting (I love movies and good TV).

At least in California - but really everywhere, securely mounting the TV is critical and mounting makes that easy. After all, we want our dogs and children in 3D, not 2D after a tip over.

[spartanstew]

When we bought our house 6 years ago, one of the main requirements (of many), was no fireplace in the middle of the wall.

When I'm spending that much money, I don't want to have to make sacrifices. If everyone would do that, the builders might get the hint.