TV Wall Mount Buying Guide: Types, VESA Standard, Cost

A few months back one of my friends ordered a wall mount for his 43 inch LG TV. He did not have much idea about wall mounting and pre-assumed that it’s just a wall-mount and wall mounting his TV would not be a big deal.

He mounted his TV himself which is fine.

But he ran into some problems!!

He wall mounted his TV a little higher and now the view is not great from his couch.

Ideally, the screen should be in perfect alignment with the viewer’s head or eyes. Or to say the line of sight between the screen and someone’s eyes should be in alignment. After some degrees from the perpendicular plane of the TV screen, the visuals start to degrade.  

That’s why I decided to write this article to educate my readers about TV wall mounts.

Let’s start with types of wall-mount.

Types of Wall Mount

types of mount

There are basically 3 types of wall-mount with others just a variation of these three

1. Flat Wall Mount

Features

  • Simplistic Design
  • No moving mechanical parts
  • Any kind of movement not allowed for the TV

Also called as the fixed mount, these are the most basic, low-cost, and simplest type of mount.

It does not allow any kind of movement – tilt or swivel of the TV. Once fixed on the wall the TV screen will remain fixed.

While wall mounting your TV using a flat-mount you should be careful with the position of the TV screen.

The TV screen must be in proper alignment with the sitting spot such that the viewer’s head is perpendicular to that of the TV.

You cannot mount your TV high or low, it should be in alignment with your head.

This is ideal for viewing a TV from the same position which is in front of the TV to the centre.

Accessing the ports of a TV can also be somewhat difficult especially when it is behind the backside.

The flat mount leaves a very narrow space between the wall and the TV. Keep this point in mind.

Connecting various components to the TV – soundbar, set-top box, consoles can be difficult.

2. Tilting Wall Mount

This is similar to that of a flat-mount but with a tilting feature.

You can tilt the TV vertically by 5-15 degrees upward or downwards. The degree of tilt varies from mount to mount.

With the tilting feature now you can fix the TV mount higher or lower on the wall.

To make the right alignment of the screen with yourself you can tilt it.

Suppose you want to fix your TV above on the wall(such as over the fireplace), by tilting the TV downward you can easily view the screen 

However, I do not recommend placing your TV above the fireplace. I will cover this topic in the coming section.

This is better for viewing experience, you can tilt the screen to reduce glare or reflections from any light source.

In a small room using a fixed-mount will be fine but with bigger rooms using a tilting-mount can be advantageous and its price is similar to that of a fixed-mount.

3. Full Motion

Full motion or articulating wall mount is the most sophisticated and complex wall mount.

It has articulating arms or to say its arms can tilt and swivel both.

This type of mount allows greater flexibility for the positioning of the TV screen.

It allows the TV to be pulled away from the wall by some metre, tilting upward or downward, or rotating the screen horizontally. 

Some full-motion mounts even allow the screen to rotate by 90 degrees horizontally.

With more moving parts it is more costly to purchase.

Let’s see some cases where this type of mount are very handy

Scenario 1: Have a large room with different viewing spots

With a large room, you can have different viewing spots – near to the screen, farther to the screen, left or right to the screen.

To maintain the viewing angles, you can easily adjust the screen for aligning with you in case of a full-motion mount.

The farther one goes from the TV screen, it becomes more difficult to aling the TV for better viewing angles.

Scenario 2: You like to sit on the ground with family

If one day you decide to have dinner with family and friends sitting on the ground.

Just tilt the screen down by some degrees and you are fine with the viewing angles.

Scenario 3: Want to mount your TV above the fireplace(Not recommended)

This is applicable for both tilting and full-motion mount.

There can be cases when you want to mount the TV way higher on the wall like in the case of a fireplace.

In the case of a fixed-mount, the viewing angle will be nuts and the visuals will appear weird.

But with an articulating wall-mount, the viewing angles can be easily aligned with you.

Scenario 4: Your dog or cat scratches the TV screen

cat watching tv

We love our pets – dog or cat.

They have a playful nature and there can be times when they like to scratch the TV screen.

A big size dog can even break the screen.

Though normal TVs are affordable but with 4K, OLED, QLED TVs the pricing is way higher.

You don’t want your newly bought TV to get broken or scratched.

A simple solution to this can be placing the TV with a wall mount higher on the wall where your pets cannot reach.

With a full-motion mount, you can easily adjust the viewing angles.

Scenario 5: You want to mount your TV in a corner of the wall

wall mounted tv in a corner of the room
Source

Mounting a TV in the corner of the room or wall looks odd.

But due to some reasons, you decide to mount your TV in the corner.

Only a full-motion wall mount can save you here using which even if the TV is in the corner it can be aligned such that you can view the TV from any spot in your room. 

If you are looking for the best wall mount to use in your room then click here.

What is the VESA Mounting Pattern?

If you looked for wall mounts online you must have come across the VESA pattern.

VESA stands for Video Electronics Standards Association

This organization develops standards for the video electronics industry.

VESA mounting standards refer to the hole dimension of flat TV and monitors for the purpose of wall mounting.

There are some fixed VESA patterns like 200 mm x 200 mm, 400 mm x 400 mm, etc. 

It is measured in millimeters.

Using these VESA patterns, wall mounting manufacturers make their mount. If they follow the VESA standard then they cannot use a dimension or pattern other than proposed by VESA.

This ensures the compatibility of a TV with a wall mount.

How to determine my TV VESA pattern?

The easiest way to get your TV pattern is.

Take an inch-tape or measuring tape and measure the horizontal distance and vertical distance between the holes on the back of your TV.

VESA pattern on a TV

Use this pattern when buying a wall mount. The mount must be compatible with the pattern your TV has.

Check the manual of the wall mount or if looking online, the patterns will be given in the specifications like this below

supported vesa patterns of a wall mount

If you think your TV does not follow any VESA pattern then you can buy a universal wall mount that is flexible in terms of fitting and can fit any TV.

Can the wall mount support your TV size and weight?

After you have decided which type of mount you want

You have to look at the screen size a wall mount supports and the max weight it can handle.

There will be a range of screen sizes given on the mount specifications along with the maximum weight it can support. 

Your TV size should come inside of this range and its weight should be less than the max supported weight.

Check this product whose screen size range is given as 32 to 55 inches and can support a max weight of 50kgs.

screen size and weight support for a TV wall mount

So if you have a 50-inch TV which weighs around 15 kgs. You can use this mount with it.

Wall mounting your TV

After buying the right mount compatible with your TV, the next step is to mount the TV on the wall correctly. 

There are two components of a wall mount – the mount and the arm.

The mount is fixed on the wall and the arm is fixed on the TV.

The TV along with the arm is hanged or fixed on the mount.

The mount needs to be correctly aligned on the wall horizontally. It should not tilt.

You can call a professional or mount the TV yourself.

The procedure is easy and will require some tools like a drilling machine, leveling equipment like a magnetic spirit level, and some screws.

Follow the videos below for mounting your TV yourself.

For Normal Walls

For Stud walls

If you want to mount your TV on a stud wall then I highly recommend calling a professional for this.

Unlike a normal brick wall, a stud wall is made of a wooden frame. The frame is covered with plasterboard.

Never Mount the TV above the Fireplace

“HEAT + ELECTRONICS = BAD

The heat generated from the fireplace is not very good for any kind of electronics. 

Electronic devices operate best at normal room temperatures. Excessive heat can cause temperature-sensitive materials to degrade quickly.

Basic physics tells us that hot air rises up and cold air sets down. This hot air from the fireplace rises up towards the wall-mounted TV.

This heat shortens the life of your TV.

In case you use wood for burning, the smoke and soot rising from the fireplace can coat the TV screen with a film of dirt and filth.

With a more conventional fireplace using a gas insert, there will be no smoke and soot.

This does not save the TV from the hot air from the fireplace.

Reference:

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00021291
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/please-dont-mount-your-tv-over-the-fireplace/

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