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Introduction to Wall Mounting a Flat Panel LCD or Plasma TV

By Matthew Torres, About.com

A solution for people wanting a larger screen size, but not wanting to sacrifice space is the flat panel TV. Is this shocking? It shouldn't be. After all, television manufacturers spend millions of dollars each year advertising flat panels. So, it should be the obvious solution, and maybe it is because flat panel TV sales are jumping despite their higher average price versus other types of televisions.

So, what makes them more desirable?

One reason is because they are wall mountable, which makes them a true space-saver. This is especially important for people living in residences with small living areas or when trying to add a 42" TV to the bedroom. In a typical 12x14 bedroom, a 42" rear projection TV will cost the average person at least a 2.5x3 patch of carpet assuming they have a separate stand for the television.

While some people might have room for a TV stand, others might have to resort to placing the rear projection TV on an existing structure, like a dresser. The TV would then take up valuable table-top space, which was probably allotted to various decorating notions like jewelry boxes, candles or picture frames.

In addition, a flat panel TV is a conversation piece. You can ask people for advice on where and how to wall-mount one, describe how amazingly thin it is and let everyone know what they are missing out on by not having one.

You would be right in doing so because a wall-mounted flat panel television is very cool. However, before embarking on this type of project you should ask yourself a few questions:

  1. Is this something I can do?
  2. Where and how do I mount the television?
  3. Do I want to run cables into the wall or hang them on the wall?
  4. What type of mounting bracket do I need?

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