Wall or ceiling mounting

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There are inherent dangers to mounting a TV set onto a wall or ceiling. If your inexperienced with DIY the best advice is to pay an engineer to install the mount for you. Especially with ceiling mounting, you really don't want the mount to fail and for a heavy piece of electrical equipment to fall to the ground. If anyone is in the way there could be a result of serious injury.

An average wall mount will add around two inches of depth to any flat screen television. If your willing to take the risk, then what's required it the knowledge of how to use a drill, a solid understanding of how to accurately measure distances, a balance to level off any measurements, and the ability to follow the instructions laid out by the mount manufacturer.

With a larger LCD TV you will probably need the assistance of a second person to place the screen onto the mount, and also to place the TV on different walls and at varying positions to see which suits it best. You could find a poster or picture which replicates the size of the TV, and place this where you plan to mount the TV.

During this process it's important to take your time, not to rush, and to consider that your dealing with an expensive piece of equipment. You should also consider the responsibility that comes with placing a heavy appliance at a position which can cause serious injury if it falls on an adult, or especially a child or pet.

Most people like to watch a TV at eye level. Looking up or down for prolonged periods of time can become uncomfortable and cause neck strain. Therefore if you watch TV sitting on a sofa it should be placed alot lower than if your standing up. When finding a position to mount a screen the installer is usually standing. Therefore it's quite easy to place the TV higher than is needed.

The next issue is what to do about the cables. A professional installer would probably run the cables through the wall. This is the ideal decision, because it looks a mess to have a power cable, and numerous sound and scart cable hanging down underneath the TV.

For the amateur DIY'er the ideal of drilling additional holes in the walls will seem alarming, and rightly so. At this point you can make a real mess of your home entertainment space. A reasonable alternative is to create a bespoke molding or camouflage which is the same colour as the wall, and which the cables can be placed within it.

When buying the mount you should make sure it's VESA compliant. This is the industry standard for mounts and wall kits. And is piece of mind, that once the bracket is fixed securely it will not fail.

There are quite a few options when it comes to mounts, some tilt vertically or horizontally, some are fixed, and others can swivel. Some can also do this automatically by aid of a remote control. The vital point however is to make sure the mount is VESA compliant.

Additional: If you wish to write a brief paragraph about the strengths and weaknesses of your LCD TV, then place a LCD review about your views, with a rating and your name etc.