Experience with wall mounting of flat TV

[Mac1337]

I have a 50" Samsung plasma that I'd like to hang on the wall. What should I watch for? Has anyone been successful in routing all wires, including the STB, through the wall?

[3d]

Put alot of thought and planning into where you want to keep the cable box, components, speakers, etc., BEFORE cutting into the wall and routing all that cable. Maybe even do a dry run for a week or so with the cables exposed everwhere so you're 100% absolutely sure the placement of the components work for you both aesthetically and functionally.

[BernDog]

I've done it, but I'm not really sure what advice you're looking for. I have my tv mounted in a recess above my fireplace. I ran power to the recess when I framed it in, as well as conduit for the wiring. My gear is in a credenza about ten feet over. I used cable channel from that to the side of the fireplace, and flexible conduit from there.

If STB means set-top-box, I'm not really sure why you'd do that. Here's what I have running through the conduit: one HDMI for all audio and video, optical audio back to the receiver for OTA sound, coax for antenna, and wire for my xantech remote sensor. I did have cable at one time though, and I just used the HDMI for that as well. All A/V goes through my receiver to limit cabling. I would not have wanted to do it this way if I had all my components attached directly to the TV. If you do something like this, make sure to run one or several heavy strings or light rope through the conduit to pull your wiring through. You can use just one, but make sure you run another attached to each cable you pull through so you've always got another. If you don't you can still get a line through by attaching something soft (I used a small piece of fabric) to the end of the string and sucking it through with a vacuum.

FWIW, I also have my left and right speakers wired through to the sides of the fireplace, and another recess below the TV for the center channel.

My project was fairly extensive, and I wouldn't have done it if I didn't already have to rebuild the fireplace surround. If I was flush mounting the TV on a wall, I'd just use cable channel and paint it the same color as the wall.

Edit: I reread your post and I understand the STB part now. I thought you wanted to have it up by the TV. My advice, as i did, is to limit cabling by using a decent AV receiver with HDMI.

[3d]

In your planning, you might also want to look into getting one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Re..._1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248447002&sr=8-1

IR to RF remote converter.
You can hide that ugly cable box (or anything else) into a cabinet or closet and not have to worry about controlling it with a remote without a line-of-sight.

I just got on for my small kitchen LCD TV. The cable box is hidden in a nearby kitchen cabinet and i still have full functionality of the remote. Power, volume, channel, mute, etc.. Up until a few months ago, i had no idea something like this even existed. LOL

[BernDog]

Another thought: Beware of running AC alongside AV cables. The magnetic field can cause interference. In my experience, some crossing is ok, but don't run them parallel, as in a cable channel. Also, don't run a regular power cord (or extension cord) through the walls. Shouldn't need to be said, but there it is anyway.

[Robert M]

Dakota,

Bern's concern about the proximity of the cables to the AC lines is exactly why I didn't run speaker and other AV cables in my walls when the opportunity presented itself. It would've been in a channel behind the base model very close and parallel to the electrical wire in the walls of my apartment. While the guy doing the mouldings offered to run the cable for me, he as well as two electricians said it's not a great idea for the very reasons you described in your post. So, I decided against it.

The only cable that really concerned me was the speaker wire, I bought it in a color that was a very close match to the paint I used on my mouldings and trim. I ran the cable and used removable adhesive putty (similar to Fun-Tak) to hold in place. The putty is also a very close match to the paint I used on the trim. End result is cables that blend into the walls. If I have a problem with the cable, it's easy enough to replace it. Or, if I want to rearrange the speakers, it's easy enough to remove and run to the new locations. That's not so easy when the cables are in the walls.

As for mounting a TV to the wall, I'd make sure the mount can handle a TV that is larger and heavier than the one you purchased. If nothing else, it will ensure the the mount can support the weight with a bit of extra leeway. I'd also be inclined to buy a mount that raises, lowers, tilts up and down and swivels left and right.

Robert

[Mac1337]

All great advice. About the fireplace, BD, what about the heat? We have one of those gas fireplaces with no venting so it doesn't generate a whole lot of heat. We don't use it that often anyway. I have to let an electrician do the work. I am afraid I'll end up doing something stupid.

[BernDog]

Dakota wrote:
All great advice. About the fireplace, BD, what about the heat? We have one of those gas fireplaces with no venting so it doesn't generate a whole lot of heat. We don't use it that often anyway. I have to let an electrician do the work. I am afraid I'll end up doing something stupid.

From my research, it shouldn't be that big of a deal (maybe if you mounted right to the brick chimney?). I have studs and sheetrock in between. If there was going to be a problem with the heat getting to the TV, I'd already have bigger problems.

[cbelt3]

You can of course resolve Bern's excellent noted issue by using metal conduit (EMT or flex) that is properly grounded to run the power cable.

[BernDog]

cbelt3 wrote:
You can of course resolve Bern's excellent noted issue by using metal conduit (EMT or flex) that is properly grounded to run the power cable.

Grounding takes care of that? Cool. Anyone know how far apart they'd need to be if you didn't do that? Would 12" cover it? I don't need to know, other than my curiosity.

Edit: Now that I think about it, I do have my stuff running about a foot apart for about 3 feet. Haven't noticed any problems. I just knew to avoid the parallel runs being really close. Now I'm really curious to know if anyone has any specs regarding distance of the lines vs. length of the run...or something like that.