Choosing a TV Wall Mount

Clean lines and hidden cables are two great reasons to install an LCD or Plasma TV with a TV wall mount.

A 20" LCD TV mounted to a white wall over a white country writing desk is one perfect vision of the simple life. Mounting a 42" Plasma in the midst of a home theater room full of silver speakers, rich leather, and plush carpet is affordable high tech chic.

Before you pick a Plasma TV Mount, take a few minutes to think about what is needed in your specific case.

Questions to ask might include:

* What surfaces can I use for a TV mount?
* How much does the screen weigh?
* How much space is available?
* How much screen movement is ideal?
* What elevation is the screen going to be at?

With Tube televisions, a flat installation was an extravagance that required a 12 to 15 inch deep hole in the wall. Conspicuous consumers like the JR Ewing on Dallas and the villains on Airwolf would have wall mounted TVs.

Times change. Flat panel TVs are too thin to stand up on their own the way a tube TV or the big DLP televisions do. Flat panel TV manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic charge extra for a pedestal or a pair of little feet that would allow a plasma TV to stand upright in an entertainment center that used to house an older TV. In some cases, the wall mount and the basic equipment to let the TV stand up are about the same price.

So now a TV wall mount is not an obscene luxury. If the manufacturers do not include the basic equipment to let TV stand on an entertainment center, then a wide variety of equally priced options are open to customers.

The choice between a wall mount and the classic entertainment center becomes simple economics at which American customers excel. We each make our own choice based on style, desire, and price.