TV hight above fireplace

[c019740]

I have a family room that is 13 x 20 with 8 ft ceiling. I want to place an LCD above the fireplace that is in the middle of the 13 ft wall. I was wondering if there is a formula or general info that could guide me and tell me if the television would be too high on the wall above the fireplace for comfortable viewing. I placed a cardboard cut-out on the wall of the actual TV size and it appears to be borderline. Rather than sit in my living room and stare at a cardboard cut-out for two hours was wondering if anyone has experience with this dilemma? If it wont work above the fireplace I have to rethink everything.

Also, dealer tells me that my Sony Progressive Scan DVD will not provide a worthy picture on a 46 inch Sony W series LCD HDTV. Any truth to this? Dont want to spend the money yet on a DVD system yet as I suspect blue ray with drop signifcantly by year end.

[Alloroc]

A buddy of mine had one placed over the fireplace - the centre of the the screen being about 5 feet or so off the ground. Awful, just awful. The viewing position is all wrong - particularly for any extended viewing. He even installed it with a tilting wallmount to try compensate for neck strain but it's still all wrong. He sees and feels it now, but his wife likes the look and won't change it.

I appreciate the aesthetics of such an install but imo, the viewing position needs to be really considered (which is what you're doing!). What size TV and how far will you sit from it?

[c019740]

46 inch TV from about 12 feet or so! It would be about the same hight. Might have to reconsider the plans .... aesthetics are nice like you say and there are advantages but enjoyment could be reduced.

[deke]

I disagree with Alloroc. I have a TV right over the fireplace. It is on a tilted bracket. No problems whatsoever. My wife loves it as does everyone who's been to the place so far.

[Alloroc]

Deke that's great for you but if you want to wallmount a screen, no matter where - there are some facts that must be considered. Height and viewing distance. I've no algorithim but common sense should prevail. It's like working on a PC. For proper ergonomics, the the centre of the screen should be eye level, but most have a tendancy to look down at a screen or laptop. This is not ideal but not so bad - we have more muscles at the back of your neck than the front and they can support better. Anyhow, my observations of my buddy's install were that it was not comfortable and led to some awkward slouching viewing positions to try and get comfortable. His kids hated it, as kids tend to sit on the floor a lot when watching TV and playing games - it was really uncomfortable for them. He had it installed too high and they sit too close. For occasional viewing it's probably not a big deal, but this was his family room and that's where they live and watch TV, movies and play games.

My TV is unit mounted. The TV stand sits on unit roughly 24 inches or so off the ground. The centre of the screen is eye level when sitting comfortably and is decent enough for kids playing games etc. I would like to wall mount a screen at some stage but that would require a new house!

[deke]

It definitely depends on your desired viewing distance (kinda like the sweat spot in an audio setup). Absolutely you're right that if the kids are sitting 2 feet in front of it, it will be awkward.