Fireplace no-no
One universally bad idea when mounting your TV is to put it above a fireplace—active or otherwise. The electronics inside a TV are sensitive and could be destroyed by the intense heat generated by the fire, and the occasional smoke and soot that escapes and rises straight into the TV.
The fireplace height is an unnatural angle to cock your head.
Second, the viewing angle for a screen mounted that is uncomfortably high. The reason the front row of the movie theater is empty is because you get a stiff neck after looking up for prolonged periods of time.
The fireplace height is similar in that it’s an unnatural angle to cock your head. The ideal viewing angle is to have the middle of your screen at eye level.
But sometimes you have no choice; the shape of the room, orientation of the furniture and TV usage habits may dictate mounting it above an inactive fireplace.
Just remember, in this case, you’re going to want to use an adjustable mounting bracket that tilts forward significantly so that you’re not grabbing your neck for three hours during The Godfather (the original, of course).
You’re not ever going to get the perfect angle, you just need to tilt the screen until it’s flat-facing your viewing position--and feels right.
Ask 20 people how they mounted their flatscreen TVs and you’ll probably get 20 answers. Find out the ideal viewing angle and height to get the most immersive television viewing experience.
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Historically, a general rule for optimum viewing distance from the television is 2.5 times the diagonal length of TV screen.
Keep in mind, though, that there are different opinions on that rule, and some now recommend a TV that is larger relative to the space in a room.
With newer, high-definition televisions, some recommend an optimum viewing distance of 1.5 times the diagonal television length.
For a television intended primarily for viewers seated on a sofa that is 12 feet (144 inches) away from the television, either a 55- or 60-inch TV can work in the space (144 inches ÷ 2.5 = 57.6 inches), but you can certainly find examples where 65- to 70-inch televisions are used in the same circumstance.
Let’s say you select a 60-inch television. A 60-inch television is about 32 inches high, meaning the center of the screen will be at 16 inches from the bottom of the television.
Most sofa seating heights are close to 18 inches above the floor, and eye level for an adult seated in a relaxed manner is about 24 inches above the seat.
That puts the optimum, center-of-television height for a typical seated viewer at 42 inches (18 inches + 24 inches).
So that 60-inch television should be installed with the bottom of the screen at 26 inches above the floor.
A Television Over the Fireplace
With the parameters described above (distance = 2.5 times the diagonal length and the mid-height of the TV being at eye height of the primary viewing perspective), some media experts will tell you to never put a television over a fireplace.
That is sound advice in consideration of the optimum TV viewing experience from a seated viewer’s perspective.
Today we look at an important question to consider when locating your television: How high should you set it?
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