Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 One more question on the new TV but thought it worth a seperate post with an appropriate title. Basically the TV is going to be on a bracket on the wall and all the cables put into a conduit sunk into the wall coming straight down and then routed across to the corner where all the AV stuff will be. Then it will be plastered over and painted so's to be no sign of it. We're going to put a cable for every single plug on the back of the set in so's I never want to plug anything in and find I don't have the cable for it, so quite a lot of cables! Just wondered what experience people have of doing this and the best/lowest mess way of doing it? Also, any suggestions on mounting height? My current TV is a CRT on a stand in the corner so pretty low. If I mount the new one on the wall that low I think it will look odd, but equally I don't want to have to sit looking up at the thing. Is there a recommended height? All thoughts, comments and suggestions gratefully received. Only really get one chance at getting this right, not easy to shift it about after the event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I always think the TV should be at the same height your old one is at. Or maybe a tad higher. I hate the ones sitting above a fireplace or anything over chest height. Why crook your neck by having to look up at the thing each time. Most uncomfortable. But that's just me - maybe??? If I were you, I'd sit down, look at the existing one, then put a point on the wall at double the height. Stare at that point as you sit down and see how uncomfortable/comfortable it could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I purchased a wall mount for the TV I bought at the weekend but ended up not using it and have it on a stand with the same height as my old one. A friend has his plasma mounted quite high up on the wall and it's terrible for watching, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I agree with you both. Viewing comfort has to be the priority. Wil probably mount it not much (if any) higher than the old one. Now what about putting these cables in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingermouse Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 id just run a plastic trunking up the wall and paint it the same colour as the wall. Or cut a groove out, if its dry lined its easy if its plaster onto brick / stone then I wouldn`t bother and just use the conduit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mb Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Cold chisel & hammer is OK for a short run, although an SDS drill with a channel attachment will produce a more even result with less mess & quicker so worth seeing if you can borrow, don't think I would bother hiring though... Put some PVA glue all over the brick work as it will help the filler stick to the brick + help hold the conduit is in place. Best filler I have found is "easy-fill" but you have to mix it up, 2nd best is the very light ready-mixed polyfilla. Shove as much as you can in with a filling knife then leave it to set (try to resist having another go) then once it is dry sand/add filler etc. expect it to take a few goes to get it right. Have you looked at the shaped conduit that you stick on the wall as had to run some cable along skirting recently & this blends really well (white skirting, white shaped conduit, white wall & some furniture to distract) ? May be worth considering for part of the run ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I had some AV kit and a flat screen installed at my old apartment. The installers used a wall chasing machine and chisel to cut the channel (solid external wall with plaster direct onto it). They dug a channel that was about 2" wide by 1.5" deep, with a vertical section up to the screen and a horizontal run from where the AV rack was - about 4 metres in total. Inside this they fitted some circular cross section conduit and screwed it to the wall, they also fitted a 90 degree joint to it for the horizontal to vertical transition and a 90 degree joint coming out of the wall just above the bottom of the screen. Inside the conduit, they installed a SCART cable, component cables, VGA cable and two regular stereo audio cables to carry sound back from the TV to the amp. At the TV end they left the cables hanging out of the wall with a bit of slack. At the rack end, they cut off all of the terminals and soldered them to the back of a special wall plate that I could plug the kit straight into. They also left a length of nylon "wire" in the conduit to assist pulling through another cable at a future date. They then filled the channel and skimmed over the top of it all, to hide it. Very neat. This was at the time where HDMI was only really being talked about, otherwise most of the cabling would have been HDMI. Just before I moved, I tried to pull an HDMI cable through. It worked in the end but was a pain in the proverbial getting it around the 90 degree joint and I had no way of integrating it into the wall plate without replacing and resoldering everything. So, if I ever did it in the future, I'd not bother with the wall plate and just get another 90 degree joint to stick out of the wall (you can trim them down to make them flush with the wall surface). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 It's about a 2 metre drop I guess. These are what are going in. 2x HDMI 2x Scart 1x Componant 2x Phono 1x Optical 1x PC cable 1x CAT 5 lead 1x Aerial Co-ax 1x Sky Cable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Feck me. That's going to need a 6"x6" channel. You might wan't to add another HDMI as some of the newer generation TV's come with 3 these days. Maybe lose one of the SCART's to free up a bit of space? Kind of depends what you're connecting to it as a lot of AV amps will/can handle the source switching and just output whatever goes into the amp out through one HDMI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 This one has three, but only two are on the back, the third is on the front. Hence just the two HDMI cables being installed into the wall. Think I'll have to have two conduit channels for that lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 It's about a 2 metre drop I guess.These are what are going in. 2x HDMI 2x Scart 1x Componant 2x Phono 1x Optical 1x PC cable 1x CAT 5 lead 1x Aerial Co-ax 1x Sky Cable why are you messing with scart/component. pointless as hdmi better. cheap hdmi cable is 20 quid for 10m or less, and will give perfect quality at 1080p/24 bluray or 1080i/50 sky hd. you should use cat6 cable not cat5 though. price very similar and cat6 futureproofs you. also run string through to upgrade in future with new types. and why do you need so many hdmi/scarts to tv. tv should just need one, and av amp outputs single hdmi to the tv. if you dont have hdmi amp, get a hdmi switch box and dont route so many pointless cables through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 in fact, if i've read your first post right, you just need a hdmi cable, power for the tv, and a piece of string routing through. confused why you need anything else going to the tv??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 My logic (for what it's worth :D) is to basically replicate all the sockets in the back of the set down in the corner of the room where the AV equipment will be kept. That way, should I ever want to plug anything into the back of the set in the future, I just have to plug in down at the corner of the room and it's effectively straight into the set. Agree it's very unlikely I'll need them all straight away (or ever in some cases), but I'd much rather have them and not need them, than risk needing them and not having them. Appreciate it might seem an expensive way to go, but it's a one off expense, won't cost any more from the installation point of view, and means I'm completely future proofed with regards to adding anything else to the system in the future. Rather spend a bit more now and know it's all done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 in fact, if i've read your first post right, you just need a hdmi cable, power for the tv, and a piece of string routing through.confused why you need anything else going to the tv??? What about aerial cables for the roof aerial and the dish co-ax for example? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 they dont go to the tv though - they go to sky box in the avrack. i still think its pointless messing with scart/component - why would you ever downgrade your cables. digital is the way forward........ 46" wont be as bad, but scart/comp etc is nowhere near as clean a signal as hdmi. with hdmi carrying bluray or skyhd on a 9ft+ screen, theres absolutely no noise on the picture. no point hooking up roof aerial if you're getting freesat or sky.. also analogue gets switched off soon. sky also good for listening to radio too. and you have to change tv input to get an analogue channel - what a pain. and crap quality anyway, so why.......?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm Chris Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Ari- I appreciate that hidden has an aesthetic advantage, by in all honesty why not use D-Line Plasma Tv Trunking PVC Dline It comes in a multiple of colours, clips on and off (to add / remove cables) and avoid the need for stupid amounts of dust from chopping plaster and brick. From what you have suggested is required for a cable once solution you will need a 50 x 75mm cavity behind finished plaster (and then a redecoration). Negatives- dust, work, decoration, all cable permanently in wall, no ability to move TV, when you move it will look silly. So the trunking solution may well be far better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 they dont go to the tv though - they go to sky box in the avrack. There is no Sky box, the TV has a built in Freesat reciever. So the cable goes straight from the dish to the telly doesn't it? :confused: i still think its pointless messing with scart/component - why would you ever downgrade your cables. digital is the way forward........ 46" wont be as bad, but scart/comp etc is nowhere near as clean a signal as hdmi. with hdmi carrying bluray or skyhd on a 9ft+ screen, theres absolutely no noise on the picture. True. But for example, if I want to use mt VHS video player (I know I know, but I've still got some stuff on VHS ) for example. Plus I'm going to use my current DVD surround sound unit till prices come down a bit/I can afford a Blueray surround sound system (preferably one that will record too). Both these things will need Scart connection. no point hooking up roof aerial if you're getting freesat or sky.. also analogue gets switched off soon. sky also good for listening to radio too. and you have to change tv input to get an analogue channel - what a pain. and crap quality anyway, so why.......?? There's some channels on Freeview that aren't on Freesat yet. Plus, for the cost of a bit of aerial co-ax, why not? And again, the dish won't be going up straight away so will use Freeview in the meantime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Ari- I appreciate that hidden has an aesthetic advantage, by in all honesty why not useD-Line Plasma Tv Trunking PVC Dline It comes in a multiple of colours, clips on and off (to add / remove cables) and avoid the need for stupid amounts of dust from chopping plaster and brick. From what you have suggested is required for a cable once solution you will need a 50 x 75mm cavity behind finished plaster (and then a redecoration). Negatives- dust, work, decoration, all cable permanently in wall, no ability to move TV, when you move it will look silly. So the trunking solution may well be far better Good suggestion, and from a practical point of view I agree it makes a lot of sense. But you can't beat just a cableless flatscreen on the wall can you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Just remembered, need to have another wire routed in for the centre surround sound speaker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Good suggestion, and from a practical point of view I agree it makes a lot of sense.But you can't beat just a cableless flatscreen on the wall can you? And all at a decent height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m4ttm4son Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 If you're going to mount the screen that low and above a unit anyway, why isn't it just on a stand? :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I quite agree, that was just the first Googled pic I came across of a TV on the wall with concealed cables. Looks so much better for it I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Height depends on how you sit watching the TV. I tend to lie on the sofa, so I have mine fairly high, bottom of the screen is the same height at the back of the sofa. If you sit bolt upright you really want the bottom 1/3 of the screen at eye level. For years we have had the screen far too low, and the only reason for that is if it were at the correct height the stand would look bloody ridiculous!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G60jet Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 The Center of the screen should be at eye level from the mai viewing point. As the for the cables dont run the power and single cable together, get a sparky to put a plug socket behind the TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby_simon Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 Ari, Re the "cannot take it with you" when you move... We saw a house some time ago that have 25mm ducts all over the place for this sort of stuff; they had run "string" thru them all to allow "the new owner to configure the electronics and hi-fi how they want"; if you make the ducting big enough, you can pull thru / replace as you wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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