What is a TV mount?
When we talk about TV mounts, we are talking about a piece of hardware meant to affix a TV to a specific surface—most commonly a wall—as opposed to a TV stand, which is a non-fixed element that allows a television to sit directly on top of a surface such as a floor or piece of furniture.
Today, TV mounts have become commonplace in the home, not only among professional AV installation firms who offer TV mounting as a standard service, but also for DIY enthusiasts looking to save a little extra in service cost.
Overall, many people prefer to use a TV mount over a TV stand nowadays for a variety of reasons, such as:
- It helps save space by removing the need for bulky TV furniture.
- It is safer and less likely to tip over when installed correctly.
- Mounted TVs can be a more aesthetically pleasing option for home entertainment systems.
Depending upon the type of mount being used, a wall mounted TV can also offer a variety of viewing angles and heights to accommodate different room layouts and mounting options. Swivel and Tilt mounts are just a couple of mount types that do just that.
Even the larger 65-inch, 75-inch or even 90-inch flat screen TVs are capable of being mounted to a wall or ceiling, provided you follow the safety ratings outlined by the mount manufacturer. It’s not even limited to indoor environments, as outdoor TV mounts open up a whole new ecosystem of possibilities for an outdoor entertainment area.
Given CE Pro has had the opportunity to meet and speak with AV professionals for decades regarding their work, while also working with industry experts on a variety of topics, we’ve pulled together everything you need to be able to mount a TV in today’s home. Whether you are interested in starting an AV installation service yourself, or just recently bought a TV you’re intending on mounting to the wall, this Master Guide everything that goes into purchasing and ultimately installing a TV mount in a home, including:
- How to select a TV mount
- What the VESA standard means when selecting a TV mount
- How to determine how high you should mount your TV
- What are some of the best TV mounts you can find today
- How to mount a TV onto drywall
- How to mount a TV over a fireplace
- Ideas for mounted TVs
How to Select the Right TV Wall Mount
There are many different types of TV wall mounts to pick from, and which one is the ‘right one’ is going to depend upon your needs.
How big is the TV you plan on mounting to the wall? Is it alright if you can’t adjust the viewing angle of the TV once installed? Do you want the TV to fit flush with the wall or is it alright if it sticks out a little?
Different types of mount are going to offer different advantages and disadvantages. For instance, the fixed mount is the simplest and usually the cheapest type of TV mount you can buy, but they don’t offer much else aside from holding the TV in place. Full motion TV wall mounts are also called “fully articulating mounts” and can extend, tilt and swivel along multiple axis, but they’re also more expensive.
A good rule of thumb is to figure out what where you want to mount your TV first. Then you can better determine what you’re going to need from your TV mount. Our buying guide for TV mounts goes incredibly in depth on the different types of TV mounts and what they offer for a project.
Understanding the VESA Standard
One thing to note when you start looking into TV mounts to buy is that you’ll likely start coming across something called a VESA measurement. VESA—also known as the Video Electronics Standards Association—is a professional organization made up of video electronics professionals that review proposals and develop standards to promote uniformity in the video electronics industry.
Put simply, the VESA Interface Standard for TVs and TV wall mounts is used to determine whether your mount will fit with your TV. These VESA specs use millimeters as the main unit of measurement and are read in horizontal to vertical.
For example, if the distance between mounting holes is 200 millimeters across and 100 millimeters high, the VESA size would appear as 200×100. This also means you can measure out your TV or mount’s VESA specs yourself, barring you have a measurement tool that reads in millimeters.
We go more in depth in VESA specifications, as well as other important product information, such as UL safety ratings, in our TV mount buying guide as well.
Finding the Top TV Mounts on the Market Now
Interestingly, it’s not common for TV manufacturers to develop their own associated mounts. Instead, we have a wide variety of separate TV mount manufacturers to look to when shopping for our products, which provides a tremendous amount of options to pick from based on quality, pricing, performance, capabilities, complexity of install and more.
Some of the more well-known and well-respected TV mount manufacturers within the AV installation space include Sanus, Chief, Peerless-AV, Future Automation and MantelMount, to name a handful from the variety that CE pros will often turn to for their projects. However, even between just these five manufacturers exists product portfolios that can easily overwhelm someone who is just getting into the space.
Manufacturers are also always updating their inventory, so what might be the best TV mount today might not be the case next year. That’s why we looked at what the top 100 AV integration firms are using on their projects with our yet-to-be-released CE Pro Brand Analysis and developed a list of recommended TV mounts based on their purchases.
The list features a variety of mount types, including tilt, swivel, fixed, full-motion, drop-down and motorized mounts, so it offers a good selection of the available market. Additionally, for a comprehensive listing of companies that make mounts, lifts and concealment hardware for flat screen TVs, you can check out both AV-IQ and CE Pro-IQ.
Figuring Out the Ideal Height and Viewing Angle
By far the biggest concern people will have when mounting a TV is the height and viewing angle of the TV itself. It’s not without reason. An improperly positioned TV can lead to poor image quality, neck pain and eye strain among many other issues. Overall, it leads to a poor viewing experience, so it’s worth taking the extra time to ensure the TV is positioned at the exact perfect height and viewing angle.
When deciding on this, you’ll want to consider the general layout of the room and where the intended audience is going to be seated. A good rule of thumb is to have it so when a person is seated, their line of sight is aimed at the center of the TV. However, much like the English language, there are a series of conditionals that come attached to that statement.
Room layout, audience positioning, audience height and even the size of the TV itself can all be influential in determining how high you will want to mount the TV. If you’re interested in learning more, Lee Marc of MantelMount goes into greater detail on this topic in our guide on how high a TV should be mounted for optimal viewing.
Installing a TV Mount on Drywall
When mounting a TV onto a wall, drywall is by far the best and most preferred surface to work with, as it is far less rigid and not nearly as thick as something like brickwork or concrete. It also happens to be the most commonly used material for interior walls. However, it’s not the drywall you want to affix the TV mount to: it’s the studs behind the drywall.
By securing the TV mount to the studs, you are using a secure foundation that offers support and stability for the TV being mounted, assuming proper safety recommendations are being followed.
If you’re planning on mounting a TV on drywall, check out our how-to-guide over here.
Mounting a TV Over a Fireplace
While it isn’t nearly as simple as mounting a TV on drywall, mounting a TV over a fireplace has become a very popular option over the years. This is because fireplaces are often already centrally located in a room, putting them in an ideal viewing position as most of the room is usually laid out with respect to the fireplace.
However, most fireplaces are made out of brick or stone, and as mentioned above, these materials can be rather challenging to work with when mounting a TV. Additionally, because of the heat a fireplace gives off, a fireplace mounted TV needs to be positioned higher than usual to avoid damaging the TV when the fireplace is in operation.
Don’t let all that dissuade you, however. Fireplace mountings may require careful knowledge of the surrounding structure in order to avoid damaging both the fireplace and TV, but when done correctly, they can make for a striking yes cozy gathering space for watching movies and shows.
For more information about the myths and best practices surrounding mounting a TV over the fireplace, check out this article by Spencer Greenwald of MantelMount.
TV Mounting Ideas
So that’s it. You have your TV. You have your mount. You know how you’re going to install it. But since a wall-mounted TV can be considered an important part of a room’s design, maybe you need a little design inspiration? After all, there have been some incredible projects surrounding mounted TVs over the years, and it seems there’s simply no end to people’s creativity.
Be it for the living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, or even the garden, there are a number of ways to style a TV. For instance, what about having a TV drop down from a hidden compartment in a ceiling. Or how about disguising a TV as a painting when not in use, only for it to rise up in all its viewing glory.
CE Pro has amassed a tremendous number of these types of projects over the years, and rather than sending you off to sort through the project archives, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite (as well as award-winning) ways people have found to mount a TV in a space.