Planning

Modern flats screen TV’s offer some of the best pictures available and can really enhance your viewing enjoyment.

Their slim and sleek design is also ideally suited to wall mounting which can save space, keep your TV out of children’s way and significantly improve your room design. Similar benefits can also be achieved in the office environment.

Our aim is to help you optimise your flat screen TV experience by providing essential tips for planning your TV room and achieving a successful and trouble free wall mount installation.

Room and seating layout should dictate your TV size, how it is mounted and where in the room it is located. Your choice of wall mount bracket is important as it will to achieve an optimum viewing position. When planning your room you will need to consider constraints such as room size and shape, key pieces of furniture, windows, fire places, location of AV equipment eg DVD player, and cable routing.

We hope you find these guidelines useful and good luck with your installation. Remember, safety first and if in doubt consult a professional contractor.

Viewing distance from TV

The optimum TV screen size is directly related to the available viewing distance. Sit too close to your LCD or Plasma screen and you will see the image build up, appearing smudged or pixelated, thus ruining your viewing experience. Sit too far away and you will miss out on the impact your TV can provide. Advice is varied on min/max distance and can range from 1.5 to 5 times the screen width. As a good rule of thumb we recommend the nearest viewing distance for your big screen TV should be no less than 1½ the screen width, and the maximum viewing distance should be no more than 3½ times the screen width.

16:9 TV diagonal screen size	Min viewing distance feet/metres	Max viewing distance feet/metres
26	3.3’ / 1m	7.6’ / 2.3m
30	3.8 / 1.2	8.8 / 2.7
34	4.3 / 1.3	9.9 / 3.0
42	5.3 / 1.6	12.3 / 3.7
47	5.9 / 1.8	13.7 / 4.2
50	6.3 / 1.9	14.6 / 4.4
55	6.9 / 2.1	16.0 / 4.9
60	7.5 / 2.3	17.5 / 5.3
65	8.1 / 2.5	19.0 / 5.8

 

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Ideal height from floor

For optimum viewing, the viewer’s eyes should be level with the middle of the screen. Positioning the screen too high could lead to increased neck stain for the viewer. Where room layout or personal preference dictates an elevated position, perhaps where you need to mount above a fireplace, mounting brackets with tilt function should be used to angle the TV down inline with your line of view

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Avoiding screen glare

As part of your screen mounting decision, check to see if from your preferred viewing position you are likely to see a reflected glare from light sources such as a window or lamp. Is there light reflecting off the mounting area? This could be quite distracting and annoying. If so you should seek to resolve this before installation by moving the light source or angle the TV by using a tilt or swivel wall mount bracket.

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Cable Management

As a minimum, your TV will need wired connection to a power source. However, it is likely that you will also need a connection to a DVD player, Cable or Satellite and possibly a sound system. These cables can look unsightly and ruin the clean and uncluttered look that is possible with a good installation.

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Healthy lighting tips

Lighting in the TV room is a very important health consideration. Many viewers like to watch in a brightly lit room whilst others like to sit in the dark. To avoid unnecessary eye strain, opticians recommend viewing under normal daily lighting conditions.

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