Home Theatre Big Screens for Small Rooms

The flat panel TV is a good solution for people wanting a larger screen size, but not wanting to sacrifice all their living space. Television manufacturers spend millions of dollars each year advertising flat panels, and flat panel TV sales are jumping despite their higher average price versus other types of televisions because they are wall mountable, which makes them a true space-saver. This is especially important for people living in residences with small living areas. A 42″ rear projection TV has a 2.5 foot x 3.5 foot footprint including the stand for the television.

A wall-mounted flat panel television is very cool. However, before embarking on this type of project, ask yourself a few questions:

• Is this something I can really do?
• Where and how do I mount the television?
• Do I want to run cables into the wall or hang them on the wall?
• What type of mounting bracket do I need?

Anyone with an understanding of how to operate a drill, measure accurately, use a balance to level off and follow instructions can install a flat panel TV. But, it is at least a two-person job, and will take more than our magic twenty minute time allotment for small projects.

Plan out the process before drilling any holes. I like to hang a poster or piece of cardboard on the wall in the space for the television, and test the location for a few hours or even a few days first. It is much easier to move two ounces of paper than a hundred pounds of expensive tv ..

What location is best ? For me, it would have to be on a wall at least twice the width of the television because I would want to have room to hang speakers and shelves for media and electronics.

I recommend mounting the television in the center of the wall and at the height at which you will watch from: If you watch TV while sitting on the couch, then the flat panel should be mounted at eye level to the center of the screen from your height sitting straight on the couch. However, this could make the TV seem low when standing next to it so if you were to adjust the television in direction vertically, then adjust up so the bottom of the screen is eye level while sitting and the top is eye level when standing.

Most people will choose to run cables through the wall, but others might not want to start cutting more holes in their walls. Instead, they would have a bunch of wires running up the wall, which is an unacceptable situation for anyone wanting a well-designed entertainment space. Running cables through the wall is also a great disadvantage if you change equipment, because you will have to run a new cable up the wall every time you add a new device to the television. So, how do we hide wires running up a wall?

We can either place an obstacle under the television, which would look odd, or we can cheat the eye with camouflage. I have a friend who had this very problem, and his solution was to create a molding that would be used as a cover for his cables. He painted the molding the same color of his wall, and when placed over the cables it looks like part of the wall. Granted, it’s raised about 2-3 inches off the wall, but it looks very natural. As far as supplies, small strips of wood (a 1×2 for the sides and 1×4 for the face) cut to the length of the TV to the floor should be enough.

All flat panel televisions and mounting brackets should be VESA compliant. This is a standard rule of measurement for wall mount kits. I recommend a wall mount that swivels, tilts or does both. I do not recommend fixed brackets because they are more difficult to manage the back of the television. This is important because not all flat panel sets have convenient inputs, and not all people have little hands

A tilting bracket is nice because it allows a person to change the vertical viewing angle of the television dependent on the position of the viewer. A swiveling bracket allows the user to change the horizontal viewing angle of the television. The choice is up to the individual, but I stress that you find the one that allows for vertical and/or horizontal movement.