TV mounting advice

coff66

Hey folks,

Total novice and will likely look to get a more competent person to do the final work but want to get some insight.

Looking to mount a 65" TV on a false chimney breast in a new build and looking to have the TV recessed in this. TV dimensions are 1450 x 836 x 53mm and the mount will have a dept of 47mm.

My question is what dimensions should I make the recess to ensure the TV looks flush in the space but also has enough ventilation. My initial guess was w1500mm X h850mm X d115.

Any advice greatly appreciated

Trouser Snake

Way too tight on the height, don't forget you need to hang the TV!! I'd be thinking 900 high.

A couple of things:

• Make the recess bigger and deeper, flatscreens are difficult to mount on wall frames in tight spaces.
• remember that by recessing your tv, you are pushing the speakers into a hole, sound will suffer, my advice, make recess big enough for a good sound bar, you have invested in a big tv, invest in big sound.
• remember you are going to have to run electric sockets/HDMI cables into the recess behind tv, otherwise you will have ugly wires/cables going from skybox/sockets visible at front.
• you are going to have to get someone to plaster the recess.
• you only get one shot at this, go big.

awec

It definitely needs to be wider and taller than 1500 and 850, that's only 25mm clearance at the sides and 7mm top and bottom!

I think you'd want 80-100mm on all sides. Certainly not less than 40mm I'd say.

Recessing a tv into a wall is such a fad tbh, I wouldn't bother my arse. You are literally designing your wall around this specific TV, yet the wall is going to be there a lot longer than the tv will. Spend the money on a tv that looks nice on the wall without needing to recess it instead.

coff66

Trouser Snake wrote: »

Way too tight on the height, don't forget you need to hang the TV!! I'd be thinking 900 high.

Definitely not something I had thought of at all, thank you.

dodzy

Another vote for non-recess approach. TVs are so thin these days, recessing is overkill IMO and creates needless work. By all means, use the void to take all cabling.

coff66

Dav010 wrote: »

A couple of things:

• Make the recess bigger and deeper, flatscreens are difficult to mount on wall frames in tight spaces.
• remember that by recessing your tv, you are pushing the speakers into a hole, sound will suffer, my advice, make recess big enough for a good sound bar, you have invested in a big tv, invest in big sound.
• remember you are going to have to run electric sockets/HDMI cables into the recess behind tv, otherwise you will have ugly wires/cables going from skybox/sockets visible at front.
• you are going to have to get someone to plaster the recess.
• you only get one shot at this, go big.

It's looking like I have been over ambitious with the TV size I think. May have to rethink the size. Had not even considered a sound bar. Sockets are already in place as the design had an electric fire to begin with and all the cabling is to be in place for sky box to be hidden away elsewhere and a magic eye will control changing channels.

Hoping to have all this planned to get it included in construction if at all possible, so that I won't have to go butchering anything.

coff66

awec wrote: »

It definitely needs to be wider and taller than 1500 and 850, that's only 25mm clearance at the sides and 7mm top and bottom!

I think you'd want 80-100mm on all sides. Certainly not less than 40mm I'd say.

Recessing a tv into a wall is such a fad tbh, I wouldn't bother my arse. You are literally designing your wall around this specific TV, yet the wall is going to be there a lot longer than the tv will. Spend the money on a tv that looks nice on the wall without needing to recess it instead.

Definitely looking like TV size will have to drop.

Valid point around the wall being there longer than the TV and something worth revisiting with the other half.

I have to agree with awec, it is a lot of bother for not an awful lot of gain. If you can hide the cables behind the tv, I would just hang the tv and sound bar on the front of the wall. If the plastering isn’t done yet, get the builder to run a plastic pipe/trunk behind the studding to a shelf/corner where you can have your sky box/blue ray. If the opening is behind the tv, no wires will be visible at all.

Trouser Snake

Same as that, I recessed my 43 inch TV and soundbar and had it slabbed out and plastered to suit. For what I gained and how much work went into making the recess, I'm not sure it was worth it.
If you have the room I wouldn't bother, imo.

awec

If the look of the TV on the wall is a driving factor in wanting it recessed here then take a look at Samsung's Frame range. They are designed so they look like picture frames, you can even buy different coloured bezels for them to make them suit your decor. They only have one super-thin cable that goes in/up the wall, as the connection points for HDMI and the power are actually in a separate box to the tv itself.

They genuinely do look like pictures when they are off, I have one in my kitchen.

Trouser Snake

Neighbour has one of those, paid €600 for a 32 inch though. It is classy and minimalist to be fair.

awec

Yea they are pricey but if you want a TV that you can hang on the wall, that doesn't look like a TV and blends into the room then they're the best option on the market.

That said, "normal" TVs are by and large very slim and tidy these days anyway, particularly if you can get the builder to put a run in the wall for the cabling.

The two worst things for mounting a tv, that will make it look crap every time:

1. Cables visible running up the wall
2. Not mounted flush to the wall.

Trouser Snake

Trouser Snake wrote: »

Neighbour has one of those, paid €600 for a 32 inch though. It is classy and minimalist to be fair.

I have two recessed TVs, they do look smart, but I had openings made for 55” and separate recesses for sound bars, but I really regret not having them made for bigger TVs.

Trouser Snake

Dav010 wrote: »

I have two recessed TVs, they do look smart, but I had openings made for 55” and separate recesses for sound bars, but I really regret not having them made for bigger TVs.

That's the killer, but had you made them too big day one they wouldn't have looked right either.

Lumen

awec wrote: »

Yea they are pricey but if you want a TV that you can hang on the wall, that doesn't look like a TV and blends into the room then they're the best option on the market.

LG do a similar "Gallery Design" range. The 55" one (OLED55GX6LA) costs about 2k :eek: but the panels and electronics are supposed to be amazing, particularly for the next gen gaming consoles coming soon (despite small risk of burn in with OLED). Unfortunately they don't come smaller than 55".

I was doing some testing last night with the 55 incher in my living room and found that my ideal viewing distance is about 3.4m (eyeballs to screen) without it being unpleasant to watch full 16:9 content (e.g. Netflix), although letterbox movies are OK, so for smaller rooms it wouldn't work for me.

It's a shame big TVs don't come with a picture shrink function, as my ideal TV would be 55" for letterbox movies and about 48" for 16:9 content.

Anyway, the one other downside of fixed wall mounts (including recessed ones) is that you can't change the angle. I realised that I sometimes sit at a desk and want the TV on in the background, and in order to see it properly I'd need it to swing out 90 degrees.

So one other option, if you need the flexibility, is to build a recess that's smaller than the TV, and use it for a hinged wall mount and any other electrical gubbins. These mounts tend to be about 50mm deep.

Daniel85

One thing you can do with the cables behind the TV is to organize them with the cable sleeves and zip the sleeve. No more messy wires around. That really helped me to organize wires in my house.

colm_c

OP, have you actually had a TV mounted in that position before?

For me, I end up straining my neck looking up at the TV the whole time if they are over the fireplace.

Better if the centre of screen is sitting at eye level.

Obviously if you are sitting a good bit away, it's not so bad.

Fine Cheers

Can I ask is there an actual fireplace below the tv i.e. open fire, stove, electric etc ? This could influence the options.

coff66

colm_c wrote: »

OP, have you actually had a TV mounted in that position before?

For me, I end up straining my neck looking up at the TV the whole time if they are over the fireplace.

Better if the centre of screen is sitting at eye level.

Obviously if you are sitting a good bit away, it's not so bad.

Ya have read that straining the neck can happen with a mounted TV but have spent time over the years watching mounted TVs with no issue so hopefully that continues.

coff66

DIY KING wrote: »

Can I ask is there an actual fireplace below the tv i.e. open fire, stove, electric etc ? This could influence the options.

There will be an electric fire below the TV, that will be mounted, not sure if that will be recessed though, it's being supplied as part of the build.

ozmo

Putting a TV over a fireplace never looks right imho.

Always too high (neck strain for long films) and at the wrong angle (perspective distortion) - plus you don't want ceiling lights reflecting off it either.
Plus rising heat from fireplace could damage it over time.

You can get a nice angled tv holder for about 30 euros (starbuys in dublin or amazon) like shown in the second video below and mount much more comfortably to the side of the fire place...


https://www.cnet.com/videos/why-a-tv-should-never-be-mounted-over-a-fireplace/

https://www.cnet.com/news/how-high-should-i-put-my-tv-morrisons-mailbag/

davebuck

I have seen a 65" TV recessed into a wall on a multi action bracket the gap around the TV was not too much so looks well to be honest. You just need to be careful when its pulled out to connect in the cables.

Trouser Snake

If it's a multi action bracket the margins around the TV can be reduced to centimetres. My downstairs TV I have it mounted on a Sanus pivotal bracket, it's pushed flush every morning and brought out in the evening for viewing. Works well.
Just got to be strategic with cable ingress into the recess.

awec

You would still want a decent gap to allow heat to dissipate.

Fine Cheers

Just had an insert stove fitted and had planned to put tv over set back into wall. However, concealed flue behind was bigger than we thought so not possible to recess. To protect surface mounted tv from heat of stove, we would have needed a geocast timber effect fire rated ledge (300e) and the tv would still be quite high so decided against it. Ended up getting a swivel and tilt bracket from freetv.ie for elsewhere in the room (kitchen / living) and at a lower level. Only ordered so we'll see. I think what the OP is planning should look good once not too high. We don't watch a lot of tv so didn't want ours dominating the wall as such - just a 32".

rob316

Used to have the TV mounted above the fireplace, you only realize how awful the viewing angle was until you put it eye level.

coff66

Will definitely be getting a full motion mount which will hopefully negate any potential issue with glare and viewing angle.

Trouser Snake

Have the Sanus vmf720-b2 myself on a 43 inch, brilliant piece of kit. Got it on a clear out sale for 75 notes I think.