Sep 22, LCD Mounts Installation Guide - Part 1: LCD TV Installation Basics

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.

It 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.

Furthermore, there is the need of some planning to go into the process to:

Identify an optimum location for your flat-panel TV.

Determine how best to run and hide cables from the various sources to your television.

Select the right LCD mount for your needs.

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.

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.

Placement: 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.

A flat panel TV looks at its best when all connecting cables are completely hidden. This is not much of an issue with floor-standing LCD mounts such as the Sanus PFFP2B Universal plasma/LCD TV floor stand or the OmniMount G3-FP-DARK flat panel floor stand for up[ to 60-inch HDTVs.

These pedestal LCD mounts will enable you to hide interconnecting AV and power cables inside the central supporting column.

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.

An interesting inexpensive wiring solution for the DIY comes from 'Superb Home Theater'.

It consists of low profile wall-mounted wiring channels. The channels come with a  rounded edge design that blends perfectly well into the wall between the display and the equipment rack. These wiring channels would almost disappear once painted with your room color paint.

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.

The biggest concern here when installing a wall-type LCD mount is buried electricity wiring in the wall. Be careful not to drill or screw into any wiring. The best way to work safely is to get an inexpensive electricity cable locator - usually available from hardware stores.

It is true that LCD TV sets are slim, but they are rather heavy. A 46-inch LCD HDTV may easily weigh over 80lbs. This means that not all walls are suitable to take a wall-type LCD mount. If in doubt, either call professional assistance or use a pedestal stand.

If you are installing your LCD mount on a drywall, be sure to screw your mount into wooden studs.

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.

Whatever the case, always ensure that you penetrate the stud.

If for some reason, you cannot locate the studs, get an inexpensive $20 stud finder - available from any hardware store.

For slightly more, you can get an all-in-one metal and wood stud finder and electricity cable locator. A great all-in-one product is the Zircon StudSensor i65. It sells for under $30 and includes auto depth sensing, auto re-calibration, and even an integrated erasable marker to make it easy to mark the spot for anchoring without removing the tool from the wall. For those who has never used a stud finder, this particular model also comes with DVD how-to guide.

For more information on the Zircon i65, click either on the image above or the link here: Zircon StudSensor i65

Next: LCD TV Installation Guide (2) - Choosing the right LCD Mount

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