Flat Panel over Fireplace - Discomforting??

I can't speak for the fireplace mount, but my 42" Philips is on a stand that starts at 33"....midpoint to the plasma is probably about 48-52"....sitting on a couch, it's HIGHER than looking straight ahead without lifting your head, but it is NOT unreasonable. If you lay down it's actually EASIER late at night to watch TV with a pillow, etc.

Easiest solution would be to have lounges with adjustable positions that angle.

Our plasma is mounted over the fireplace out of necessity, we really don't have any alternatives in the room. We've had it there for the past 3½ years and it looks great. It's a bit higher than ideal, but we sit about 11 feet from the display and it doesn't really bother us. If we were any closer, it would probably start straining our necks a bit.

-Steve

Another one with a Panny plasma over the FP and abt the same height and distance as you and we have no problems. I do have a tilt mount though...can't imagine not having that! You're right though...it is beautiful!!!

We just recently installed a Sharp 42" above the fireplace, there is no where else in the room for a TV. At first it took a little getting used to, with having to look slightly up to view but after a day or two it seems natural. The middle of set is at about eye level when standing.... We also use a tilting wall mount and have the set pointing slightly down... we sit about 10 feet away...

I have mine on the wall in my basement about 5.5ft above the floor. We sit about 8ft away with no neck problems. Here's a pic from the seating position.

I will never do this unless I'm stuck as one of the other posters was. It bothers me the second I adjust my neck to watch a source up that high. I do suspect the further away you get, the less annoying this would be, but in general, I don't understand the trend of panels over the fireplace. To me, it's a designer thing. It's eye candy that is less practical in reality.

Obviously my opinion, but I would highly recommend somehow trying it out before you commit.

Other than the height issue, most 'new' homes have very large rooms and even a 50" display, to me, is too small for the 15'+ viewing distance.
Second, the issue of cables from the display to wherever all your equipment is should be a concern and asscess to the rear of the set (which applies to any wall mounted set no matter where it is).

Being able to easily access the rear of the set to move or change cables, troubleshoot etc. and not to have to bury cables in the wall (at least as few as possible) is at the top of my list. Of course, if everything is planned out, with everything working as intended and nothing ever going wrong, the above wouldn't apply..............

We have a 42" LCD above the fireplace on a tilting mount. We sit about 11' from the screen. The bottom of the screen (not the bezel) is about 65" from the floor. We suffer no discomfort as we adjust our eyes, not our necks.

I love how the cabling is routed through the walls and is invisible to the viewer. Because the tilting mount projects the set out a bit from the wall, the cabling is available, although, once it's set up, there seems to be little need to change anything.

For what it's worth, your eyes should be just slightly below the screen midpoint for optimium viewing comfort, so reclining for comfortable viewing would be highly recommended w/ this setup. Also, keep in mind that when more guests are over (for a game for instance) some will sit on the floor producing a particularly uncomfortable neck crane. I found having my eyes level with the stand on my plasma was uncomfortably high for me and purchased a lower stand to correct this. So be forewarned, installs this high don't work for all tastes/furniture/distances.

I'm kinda in the same boat. The only place I can really put the TV is over the fireplace. My mantel sticks out about 9 inches from the wall. I'm trying to find a mount that could pull away from the wall and then be lowered in front of the mantel. I've had a couple of suggestions, but they would only pull out from the wall and tilt, but you couldn't move it up or down. This thing would need to drop a few inches. Anyone on here that has there TV mounted have any suggestions? Has anyone else seen a mount that would do this?

Thanks for any help!
Kevin

I am looking for the same solution as Kevin S. Has anyone found a mount that would support a 46" LCD , that can pull out and down?

Chief makes a great articulating mount, it doesn't sag when fully extended like SOB.

I have looked at several sites, but can only find mounts that can move vertically by 1" at the most. Do you know of any models that could lower the screen by about 12 inches when it is extended? I too have a mantle over the fireplace and would like to pull the TV out and down for viewing as the seating distance is only about 7' away and the TV would be too high if mounted flat over the fireplace. The only space for the TV on that entire wall is the brick fireplace, so I do not have a lot of options. I currently have the TV (Sharp 46" LCD) on its stand right in front of the fireplace, but it can't stay there forever.

Thanks

I solved the 'too high' problem by deciding to rip my mantle down. I live in a condo with a small living room. I sit too close to the fireplace to consider putting the tv above the mantle. That would be way too high. I thought about alternative spots (too the side with articulating arms etc) but none would have worked well. In the end, I ripped the mantle down and will put the tv at a good viewing height and still looks good. Not up yet but I'm sure it's going to be fine (I hope, lol).

As for the mount that drops the tv down in front of the mantle I did talk to an installer that made that suggestion to me so I'm sure those mounts exist.

Sounds exactly like my set-up. I have the PH9UK mounted on a tilt mount over our fireplace, and we have been very happy with it. One thing to consider... I don't ever (at least voluntarilary) sit in an upright position while watching TV. Typically I'm laying on a couch, or slouched in a chair with my feet proped up on an ottoman - so that naturally tilts my head looking upward anyway.

Heath

nice helmet collection PHR!

TV looks good too

Thank you! That's the result of frivelous spending over several years to buy all 32 NFL mini helmets. One of my "when I get to it projects" is to build shelving for them. We're officially crazy regarding them anyhow. They all get lined up in "NFL Sunday Ticket" channel order facing each other on Sunday during the pre-game shows, and then after each set of games my wife goes and turns the winner forward. During the offseason they are organized by division in their final ranking from the year before

I'm tempted to start on NCAA football, but there are soooo many, and there's no good stopping point!

Heath

Hello:

I am facing the same issue. My mantel is 55" from the ground and I am not sure how well it will work.

Any other pics from people with higher mounting?

Splotto

If you want to know how it will look in your house, just cut a piece of cardboard to size and hang it place. Look at it for a few days and you will know!

Seriously, this is a quick and easy way to know if you will like it over the fireplace. We started out thinking a fireplace mount was the way to go. After 2 days with the cardboard, we realized we would have to find another place.

sticky

I also vary my position on the couches and it's very comfortable.
Yours is even higher than mine.

Hello:

Well, I went 1 step further and put my 42" LCD up there yesterday and it's just too high (and that was without the center speaker under it).

It sits too high for our comfort and it also brings the motion of the ceiling fan into the viewing scene.

Looks like I am sticking with my alcove.

Splotto

Guys.. Forgive my ignorance here.

I too have a fireplace with a mantel and eventually when my tube XBR bites the dust would consider a setup like you guys. My concern was/is heat from the fireplace.

Although I have a vented gas fireplace, the temperature above the mantle rises about 7-10 degrees. Do you think this can/could effect the life cycle of the flat panel??

Charles

I don't think 7-10 degrees is significant. I plan on buying gas logs during the summer for next year... (said that last year too). I'm sure I'll be checking it with an IR thermometer from time to time. I would say anything under 85* should be ok... probably under 95*.

Heath

Frankly, I would never consider putting one above the fireplace. In addition to the problems with the vertical angle of view, it eliminates the opportunity to have L/C/R speakers set up correctly.

Do you have a prefab fireplace with a metal vent pipe heading up through the roof or chiminey? Are your gas logs going to be ventless? If they're ventless the entire area should be safe... if you'll actually be using the "stove pipe" to vent something you'll want to maintain adequate space to avoid melting your cables. The vent pipe should be double-walled, so a few inches should be fine. I would probably just run the wiring and staple it to the back side of the studs. If your goal is to have a pathway that you can use to feed wire through in the future, PVC sewer pipe may be OK. They also make electrical conduit piping that may be more acceptable from a code standpoint.

In my case, the fireplace is cantilevered over the curtainwall of the house. The back of my house has vinyl siding - so I was able to access the fireplace "cavity" from underneath and from the side by removing a few peices of vinyl. I just took the cabling out from the crawl space by drilling through the sill plate, and then up through the subflooring in the fireplace "box" in a far corner. Then I ran the wires up away from the pre-fab fireplace unit against the stud on the back corner (held in place by stapled cable ties) and then ran them across to a box in the wall behind the TV.

I know all of this is difficult to picture... I can take some pictures of some of it if anyone has a similar situation.

Heath

Kal,

I agree that it's not ideal - but from a floorplan standpoint I really didn't have a choice. If I were building a media room from scratch, it would be different.

Heath

If you use display mounted speakers, then you can have a nice L/C/R setup even with a fireplace mount. I love the Artison speaker line for this type of configuration, but you MUST have a good subwoofer to enjoy them.

There's little to no issue with having cabling in the same chase as the fireplace as long as it's a double walled stove pipe. Just use plentum rated cabling for an extra margin of safety. Most of the modern fireplaces are quite cool when properly vented and there is a ton of open space in most installations. Masonry fireplaces are a totally different beast in this regard.