TV over Fire Place?

[jardster]

Personally I hate it and vetoed the idea when my wife wanted to do it. We found another way to organize the room... I want to watch TV, not a planetarium.

[davester]

I would anticipate that even if the TV is not operating, high temperatures would shorten the life of some of the electronic components anyway. As others have opined, I think it is quite unpleasant to watch a TV that is positioned so high up. It's easy enough to move a TV antenna/cable connection to a more logical location.

[Article Accelerator]

DavidS wrote:
We'll be sitting far enough back that I hope it won't be much of a problem, though.

No problem if it's not an HDTV. If it is, you're throwing away its advantages.

[LyleH]

Whenever I get into these "Should I or shouldn't I" situations I usually set something up temporarily to be sure what I want to do will be satisfactory for US. So set a TV temporarily on some stand so it will be approximately where you want it to be and use it there for a couple of days.

When I was trying to figure out what size HDTV to buy, I cut up a piece of cardboard to the size of a 50" TV screen and placed it where I wanted it to go. Took about 2 minutes to see that the 50" was the optimum size for the location and our viewing distance. May seen like a lot of effort, but I wanted to be happy with an expensive appliance that would be used for a long time. And in retrospect, a 46" TV would have been a little small.

LyleH

[AlphaDog]

LyleH wrote:
Whenever I get into these "Should I or shouldn't I" situations I usually set something up temporarily to be sure what I want to do will be satisfactory for US. So set a TV temporarily on some stand so it will be approximately where you want it to be and use it there for a couple of days.

When I was trying to figure out what size HDTV to buy, I cut up a piece of cardboard to the size of a 50" TV screen and placed it where I wanted it to go. Took about 2 minutes to see that the 50" was the optimum size for the location and our viewing distance. May seen like a lot of effort, but I wanted to be happy with an expensive appliance that would be used for a long time. And in retrospect, a 46" TV would have been a little small.

LyleH

I did pretty much the same thing when I was deciding where to have my set positioned on the wall. I taped together several paper grocery sacks and made a "TV", which I then taped on the wall. I moved it several times before finding the spot that was right for that particular room.

[decocritter]

Just Say No.


A TV is not and should not be a "focal point" of any room except a Home Theater.


I am not saying a TV cannot be in the room, just not THE focal point

[BernDog]

decocritter wrote:
Just Say No.


A TV is not and should not be a "focal point" of any room except a Home Theater.


I am not saying a TV cannot be in the room, just not THE focal point

When the TV is over a fireplace, it can easily be made a secondary focal point by turning it off an lighting a fire. IMHO, the only better way to draw attention away from the TV is to put it behind closed doors. Putting it on a cabinet at eye level sure doesn't help it to blend in.

[AlphaDog]

decocritter wrote:
Just Say No.


A TV is not and should not be a "focal point" of any room except a Home Theater.


I am not saying a TV cannot be in the room, just not THE focal point

I beg to differ. Some people organize their homes so they're convenient and comfortable for the family, and that often means making the TV the focal point of a room. Plus, not everyone can fully convert a room to a "Home Theater," even if they wanted to. I do understand that from the standpoint of a decorator a TV should not be the focal point, but not everyone can afford the luxury of always staying within the guidelines of the interior decorators' handbook. If people want a TV hanging over their fireplace, and if that's practical, then I say go for it! I had a room in the last house where that arrangement would have been perfect, although it wouldn't work in this house for several reasons.