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TV above fireplace mounting dilemma - need a TV mount that does....

120K views 92 replies 58 participants last post by  curtishd 
#1 ·
After many days of arguing with my wife, I finally had to give up!
She wants the TV mounted on top of the fireplace. We have a raised fireplace and the mantle is about 68 inches from the ground. We have a 50 inch Samsung LED TV.


Both of us like watching TV and am really concerned about the viewing angle. I do not feel mounting something above the normal eye level is a good idea.
The couch is about 16 feet from the fireplace but still I do not like to watch TV for 3+ hours a day and then have a soar neck.


I know that there are mounts available that can tilt and pan the TV but I want something which is capable of lowering the height of the TV. I have been looking at all possible full motion mounts available on the net to find one that can be pulled out about 6 inches or so and then maybe pulled DOWN about 6 to 12 inches to lower the height of the TV.


I am sure that this is a very common concerns with many people who mount TVs on top of the fireplace. Is there something available for this scenario?


I'd pay top dollar for such a mount if there is one commercially available.


Does anyone know if there are vendors that can custom build a mount for the above scenario?


Please HELP! Thanks!
 
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#4 ·
Crimemastergogo,


Let me try and help you. Lazyman's link only angles down, it doesn't lower. I don't know of any that lower, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.


Now, to the point of my post. I have an LG 55LH90. I had it wall mounted above my fireplace mantle (before the LG, I had a 47" Vizio wall mounted in the same spot). It was on a tilt mount (aimed about 15 degrees down). We watched TV and played video games on it for quite a few months that way.


The mantle is about 5 1/2 feet high and the center of the TV, when on the wall mount, ended up being around 7 feet high.


We recently rearranged the living room and got this: http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...=5&item=411874


WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!!!!


Not only does the picture on the TV look better because I'm eye level, but when the TV was mounted above the mantle, our necks would get sore and our eyes would dry out. I read that looking up at the TV for an extended period doesn't give the tears in your eyes the ability to flow properly. It sounded like horse-pucky at the time, but I believe it now!


In addition to all that, the TV looks bigger now. I'm basically the same distance away, but since I'm not looking at it with that extreme angle, it seems bigger.


In all, the fireplace mantle idea was a good concept....it gave us some more room in the living room and got the TV out of the way, but it made it about 60% less enjoyable.


My wife and I are both SO happy we decided to move the TV down to eye level.


Good luck and let me know how it works out.
 
#5 ·
My fireplace setup is similar and I also had reservations about cricks in the neck. There is no way to rearrange my room. After a couple of days we got use to the height and now we don't even think about it.


Future renovations will lower the mantle as much as possible but for now it is NOT uncomfortable and my Lady and I just think the TV "looks" too high..
 
#6 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by TJ7 /forum/post/17351923


My fireplace setup is similar and I also had reservations about cricks in the neck. There is no way to rearrange my room. After a couple of days we got use to the height and now we don't even think about it.


Future renovations will lower the mantle as much as possible but for now it is NOT uncomfortable and my Lady and I just think the TV "looks" too high..

Well, THAT'S not going to help him!
 
#7 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by E-JTL /forum/post/17351996


Well, THAT'S not going to help him!

'just trying to sympathize with the dilemma - and BTW, you didn't help him either...


How about this then? http://www.inca-tvlifts.com/
 
#8 ·
The reason you get itchy eyes looking up at a tv is that your eyelids are rolled back and therefore don't keep your eyes moist. If you blink every couple of seconds you can reduce the itchy eye problem.

You don't see many/if any adds any more with TVs over a fireplace since the only people that benefited were the chiropracters and the eye doctors.
 
#10 ·
I am also in this situation. We have a huge cutout box above the fireplace for a big screen CRT, and our small 27" CRT is there now. It sucks having to lay back and look up to watch TV. I plan to wall it up. But then the wife wants to put the new flatscreen we will get above the fireplace mantle. The mantle is about chest level, and really can't be lowered due to the heat the fireplace produces. The underside of the mantle gets extremely hot as it is now. If you read some of the forums on other sites about TVs and fireplaces, you'll see a lot of other people end up killing their TV quickly due to the heat.


But she still likes the idea. I did hours and hours of searching and the best non-custom mount I could find was this:
http://www.av4home.co.uk/acatalog/Fu...all_Mount.html

There are other ones like it on the site, but all very expensive, more than the TV.


What you would have to do is turn it sideways, so when operated it would bring the TV out off the wall and drop it down to a more eye friendly level. Then when you were done watching, it would raise back up for that picture on the wall look the wives seem to want.


What I'm talking about the mount doing might seem confusing, but if you look at the pdf Datasheet at the website above, and think about turning it 90 degrees, you will see what I'm talking about.
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bambooben /forum/post/18133239


What you would have to do is turn it sideways, so when operated it would bring the TV out off the wall and drop it down to a more eye friendly level. Then when you were done watching, it would raise back up for that picture on the wall look the wives seem to want.

I wouldn't suggest doing that, since the mount is not designed to be used that way, it'll likely fall off the wall.
 
#13 ·
I felt your pain about 6 years ago when I got my first 42" plasma TV. Since then I designed and built 2 working prototypes of a wall mount to solve this exact problem. The later is currently in use on my wall over a ~64" tall mantle. It rotates out and down in front of the fireplace. The mount is only 3" deep when up and closed, mounts flush to the wall and fully hides behind the TV when the TV is up. It uses pneumatic springs to offset the weight of the TV, 80 lbs in my home application. I am nearly two years into a patent application process and still haven't heard from a patent examiner(backlogged). I can't get any real interest from the major mount manufacturers, which is very frustrating considering the obvious need for such a product. I see posts like yours all the time and design show after design show where they mount TVs over fireplaces at unreasonable heights. If there are more of you out there then please let me know.


If you want to see my design you can find it on the uspto site under description "Wall Affixed Vertically Articulated Flat Panel Display Mount". I would also love feedback on the design. The patent pending design has an option for automatic lifting/lowering with an additional linear actuator.
 
#83 ·
I felt your pain about 6 years ago when I got my first 42" plasma TV. Since then I designed and built 2 working prototypes of a wall mount to solve this exact problem. The later is currently in use on my wall over a ~64" tall mantle. It rotates out and down in front of the fireplace. The mount is only 3" deep when up and closed, mounts flush to the wall and fully hides behind the TV when the TV is up. It uses pneumatic springs to offset the weight of the TV, 80 lbs in my home application. I am nearly two years into a patent application process and still haven't heard from a patent examiner(backlogged). I can't get any real interest from the major mount manufacturers, which is very frustrating considering the obvious need for such a product. I see posts like yours all the time and design show after design show where they mount TVs over fireplaces at unreasonable heights. If there are more of you out there then please let me know.

If you want to see my design you can find it on the uspto site under description "Wall Affixed Vertically Articulated Flat Panel Display Mount". I would also love feedback on the design. The patent pending design has an option for automatic lifting/lowering with an additional linear actuator.
Anyone know if David ever came out with his product or if there is a way to contact him to purchase one directly? I've looked at other options out there but they are all over 4.5" deep and I need one that is 3.5" or less, making David's the only one I've found that would work for my very specific needs.

Thanks!
 
#14 ·
I still haven't bought a mount yet, so I would still be interested. I googled and found your application page, but no Figures that are referenced. I can't believe no major manufacturers would jump on this because I have seen other threads in other forums on the same topic.
 
#16 ·
My patent searches 2 years ago turned up nothing like my design or really anything specific to raising and lowering TVs from a wall mount. I haven't looked hard since but I check the internet for new products and still haven't seen anything. I have people tell me they saw something like my design but then in follow up they just saw a tilting device. I would love it if some company was selling something that would infringe upon my patent pending design because right now this looks like the most likely way for me to make money of my patent short of starting a small manufacturing company and selling these in fairly limited quantities and custom equipment prices.


Hopefully the attachment comes through and you guys can see my design.
 
#19 ·
That's a brilliant idea. I suspect the reason you're not getting action from the industry is that your claims look to be pretty easy to engineer around (a mount that doesn't have "two pairs of parallel links" and "a pair of telescopic pneumatic springs" doesn't infringe), but that's just a guess.
 
#21 ·
David,


How much would you charge to build one of those? I just bought a new house and am stuggling to find a place to put my TV in the living room. Above the fireplace is the place it would work best for furniture placement but the viewing angle would be horrible.


Please send me a PM if you don't want to post.
 
#24 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by tayl /forum/post/18636391


Bump with the hope someone has found a mount that can do this... If your interested in building another one pm me and ill get a deposit on the way to you!!!

The guy you are trying to talk to hasn't been here in a while:

Last Activity: 03-18-10


Might try to PM him in case he gets an Email notification from it.
 
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