How To Choose the Right TV Wall Mount

When space is an issue, mounting up your HDTV on the wall may seem like a good idea. Not so fast there slick. Do you have a proper level? Have you done all your research? If not, it may be a good idea to check out these few tips before you begin punching holes in your sheet rock...

When purchasing a TV wall mount, consider these 5 things:

1) Price. Electronic House recently surveyed a $15 mount sold at Monoprice.com and a $110 Monster wall mount sold at Best Buy. The result? Not too surprisingly, they found the $15 performed just fine compared to the $110 one, with a few reservations. "We would have preferred a more accurate bubble level and more robust drywall anchors be included, but both were easily overcome by my iPhone and an inexpensive third-party anchor system."

2) Weight supported. It's always a good idea to check your tech specs to make sure the mount itself supports the allotted weight of the TV. Otherwise, you're just asking for trouble.

3) Screen-size supported. Some mounts actually have differently shaped VESA mounts depending on screen size. It's best to keep on eye on this as well.

4) Equipment required. While the iPhone has a decent bubble level app, we'd highly suggest making sure you have the proper equipment if you're mounting something that relies so much on a proper level for optimum performance. Skimp on a $10 and you may end up with a eye-sore later on. Or simply find a mount that has the equipment all pre-included.

5) Got studs? As we've seen in previously underdesired outcomes, forgetting to pre-drill and finding those studs can be a bad, bad thing. We're guessing this won't that big of an issue in the future when TVs weigh as much as the iPad, but for now, it's something to think about. Find them. Pre-drill. Double check.

Lastly, no one likes ugly hanging wires, so it may be wise to consider some wire management. Choose one from the many options available we've covered in the past and the Unplggd police will be sure to stay out of your business.

[Via Electronic House]

Comments (10)

I just went through all of this when I moved into my new place. I ordered basically everything through Monoprice. It's a little bit of a small space, and I figured that I wouldn't always watch my TV from the same spot, so I picked up a mount that also swivels and can turn the TV nearly 90 degrees. At $43 it was a bargain compared to what I'd buy retail.

I can't stress how important it is to actually find your studs when putting up a flat panel. You don't want to hang $500 on the wall that's connected only by a couple of screws into sheetrock. My place has metal studs, which aren't the greatest thing in the world and meant that I couldn't use the included lag bolts. After some searching I concluded that I could use an array of either butterfly bolts or mollies -- I chose the latter because they can be removed. If you're not certain, talk to the guys at a local hardware store, they can probably help out. Each of my mollies is rated for 75lbs, which is more than the mount and 32" TV, and I have 8 of them in the wall (six in studs, two into sheetrock).

The next step was to deal with the wires. There are two ways to do this, the ugly and cheap way (leave em hang), the less expensive way that isn't quite as pretty, or the really expensive pretty way. The really expensive and pretty way is to put in jacks for each set of cables -- that would have been a trio of HDMI jacks, some coax, an optical jack, a USB jack, power jack, and audio jack. That's just too much for me. Instead I picked up a pair of low voltage cable wall plates and some old work boxes from Home Depot. I carefully cut a hole into the wall for a box right behind the TV and another near the floor where it is hidden by other furniture. Because this is a rental I kept the pieces of sheetrock and I'll patch them up when I repaint before I leave. All the cables run through these from the TV down to the other devices and power outlets. Of course, this only really works if you don't have to cross any studs, but I was lucky here.

The total cost for everything was about $100 (including shipping, longer HDMI cables, mollies, etc) and took me about 2 hours of actual work, the finished product looks great and is much better than a monster entertainment center.

I got a monoprice articulating mount and mounted them to the drywall using snaptogglers (http://www.toggler.com/products/snaptoggle/overview.php). The snaptogglers are incredibly strong, i hung onto the mount for a while before installing the TV and it was rock solid.

I hid the wires behind the dry wall through some low voltage box, but did a proper electrical box for the power. please do not run the power cable that came with the tv though the wall, it carries a lot of voltage and you do not want to run the risk of a fire. And if there is a fire, your insurance will not cover it.

wow, thats an ugly tv/entertainment unit...personally, I think its tacky to have such a huge tv in ones living room/den. The tv SHOULD NOT be the focal point of any room. Go with a tv small enough to fit on a credenza ..and for the love of all that is good...please please dont install a tv over the fireplace ever...!

If you're running cables through the wall, DON'T run the TV's power cable! This is against fire code in most states. Get some romex and a outlet/wall plate from the hardware store and install a new outlet that daisy chains from an outlet below. I did that and everything looks great and works perfect. It only cost me $50 thanks to monoprice!

@swobo04 I was just about to add that. Once wireless HDMI goes mainstream, there'll be even less trouble with wires... I can only hope it becomes available within the year!

Mikey1234:
Not everyone feels televisions are some shameful secret that needs to be hidden away or disguised within a room. Televisions are a part of life in many people's homes, and while this setup may not be to your (minimalist?) taste, it is not the worst stand/speaker combination I've seen. Those huge speakers probably sound amazing, and at least all the wood matches. :P I do agree with you on one thing, though: IMO, fireplaces are not good places for televisions, especially if the fireplace is still in use.

Regarding outlet covers for cord management:
I found some at Lowe's/Home Depot that are generic access panels for all cords. I can't rembember what they're called, but picture an outlet with a rectangular opening in the center, which is lined with soft bristles on the left and right sides. The bristles "close" the opening, but allow cords and cables to poke through from inside the wall. They were a lifesaver when I mounted my TV -- running individual outlets would have been a nightmare.

I know I like to read the comments to hear about other peoples situations .. And I thought the story was good ... Plus I just hung my first tv .. 55" if possible try and spend a little bit for your mount you don't have to get the best one - cause there are some nice ones, motorized that's not that bad .. like 4 5 hundred dollars that extend out ..go in turn right left, by remote all that ... But i was like I'm in a apartment so i don't need to get the best .. I'm not stay here .. So the worst of the best was like 200 bucks at Walmart you can have it flush on the wall .. pull it out, at-least a good foot .. Which i really love cause i can sit on my autumn pull the tv out .. really get some good gaming in .. Turn it right left tilt it up or down.. Which is a pretty nice distance when extended all the way out .. And twist it like you turning a steering wheel both ways .. Which really came in handy for me .. when i finished mounting it .. And trust me i had everthing they mentioned on the list but the mount stilled looked a little crucket when i hung the tv up and i really didn't want to have to remount it .. Thr tilt down isnt bad eather ill get down on the floor with a pillow tilt it down put on a good game and im in it .. which brings me to my main point for writing in .. I think they forgot LOCATION .. Height if you would is another key factor when mounting your tv .. You see on the tv and in mag's the tv mounted up high above fire place .. I'd subject hanging it low .. As if it was sitting on top of a regular tv stand ... Im 5'9 and My 55" come right about square with my shoulders when I stand next to it .. So when I'm sitting on the couch which is mainly where I watch my tv .. I'm looking square on at the tv and not having to hold my head up or look up the whole time ... If your wondering what I did with my wires i was lucky enough that in my apartment layout.. my spare room .. Office .. Game room .. Junkroom what ever you want to call it is a Jason to my living room wall .. So there's sheetwall stud sheetwall room .. I just cut a hole in both walls .. got some mount that the wires a run tough to make it look nice .. Landload wasn't trippin ..and I'll pay the few bucks it a cost to patch it up when I leave .. Then I just ran all the cord power and all though the wall where all my stuff is .. TiVo, surround, ps3 xbox, wii with everthing sitting on the stand in the other room .. You can get a ir extender at eather frys are bestbuy that you place in front of your boxes that plug in and come with another wireless box you put in the area where tv is and it shoots your remote Signal wirelessly to the other box which in turn shoots an ir signal to the receivers .. I got the box sitting on the center surround speaker so It can be close to the other box .. Seems like the ranges a little short .. Good Lucy people

pridkett, thanks for the shopping tip re monoprice.com! I've been looking for a reasonably priced swivel mount. Now I just have to corral someone to install it for me...

I can't stress enough on how to properly run the power cables correctly if you are going to wall mount your tv.

DO NOT RUN THE POWER CABLE THROUGH THE WALL. It is not to code if you do that and every insurance company will deny any claims if improperly installed.

buy a power outlet from monoprice.com or powerbridgesolution.com and some Romex cables from your local hardware store.

also, most wall mount brackets are made in the same factory. A $30 Monoprice wall mount is virtually identical to a $200 Sanus mount. Add the cost of features (swivel, pull out, rotation, etc marketing) is what will garner a $200 mount.

Soft Mount is a Non-Invasive TV mounting and wire management solution.

Keyword: Soft Mount