Over the fireplace setup

[NAOQ]

Been reading threads for awhile and have been looking at a lot of the setups on the community forum. I haven't dug real deep but haven't seen any Tv's that were setup over the top of a fireplace like ours is. Currently have a 56 Samsung above ours. Just wondering if others have a similiar setup out there.

[Driver_King]

People normally stray away from the placement over fireplaces. It is a bad place to have your equipment (near heat), is difficult to conceal wires (can't run wires through fireplace), is straining on your neck (from looking up), isn't the best PQ wise, ect.

[plowmanjoe]

even if you don't use your fire place, the tv would be too high.

[gandytime]

I posted Q&A about this, since we really didnt use our fireplace I had a contractor come in and cover the fireplace so it looked like a wall then mount the tv a comfortable height,wall can be removed when we sell.

[NAOQ]

We never use our fireplace and with the size of the room it just makes sense for now. We are about 10-12' back so it really looks good. We really have no other way to have a big screen and still have seating in our basement. Cable managent is a pain but haven't addressed it yet. Sometime in the next few monthes our basement will get smaller, as we are going to add another bedroom downstairs. Instead of 20' by 12' our family room will become about 12' by 12'

[gandytime]

My thought was lets make the room useable I had my stuff in a Very small room we never sat in the living room,so the decision was just do a temporary cover up of the fireplace looks great

[NAOQ]

I like the idea of covering the fireplace. But it doesn't really look that bad. We have no plans to move in the next 20 years or so. Just wondering if anyone else had the same space constraints as we do. Have a cheap Samsung surround sound system for now but really want to upgrade at some point.

[Midnightsailor]

I'd love to see a pic NAOQ. I'm sure it's not that bad. I have a friend who did the same thing and it's not too high on the wall at all.

[vsidhu]

TV would be too high. I know b/c my cousin did the samething (against my advice) and it is really annoying. Try watching LOTR EE with your neck always looking up. It's worse if you have a small room and and have your sofa closer to the screen.

[CosmoKid]

I love the generalizations in this thread.

1- "The TV is too high" yet no one asked how high the mantle was or the Tv would be mounted.

2- "the tv is too high" yet no one asked how far he sat from it relative to it's height.

3- "You can't run wires"

If he was 5' from a TV that the base of the TV was at 5', I would agree.


I have my Plasma over my fireplace.

We sit ~14' away from it and the base is 54'' off the ground. It felt "too high" for a grand total of 1 hour. Any change in your previous height will take some getting used to.

The bottom of my fireplace is marble and wood and over the mantle is sheetrock. I have a power outlet behind the TV as well as HDMI wires run to a box behind the tv. My center channel speaker is above it. All wires run into the wall and into a media closet.

No one has EVER said it feels too high.

So to answer the OP with the only right answer to his question....

You can do anything as long as you do it properly.

[VinnAY]

We sit ~14' away from it


You can do anything as long as you do it properly.

Before you start telling folks about doing things properly, you should look into it yourself...ie.., viewing distances. Unless you have the one and only 110" plasma w/1080p, that is...
even @ 720p you'd need a screen of ~70" to sit 14 feet away. Unless that is you just like wasting the resolution by sitting too far away, in which case, too each his own...

http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/09...o-screen-size/

[HAMP]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

Before you start telling folks about doing things properly, you should look into it yourself...ie.., viewing distances. Unless you have the one and only 110" plasma w/1080p, that is...
even @ 720p you'd need a screen of ~70" to sit 14 feet away. Unless that is you just like wasting the resolution by sitting too far away, in which case, too each his own...

http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/09...o-screen-size/

I agree with you, 14 feet away from a 50" is a little far. I am 12 feet away and I tried to imagine looking above mine and I do believe my neck would get tired.

Unless you like going to the movie theater and sitting in the front row!

**** EDIT *********
By that chart he is sitting right on point, he has a 720 Plasma not a 1080P

[CosmoKid]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

Before you start telling folks about doing things properly, you should look into it yourself...ie.., viewing distances. Unless you have the one and only 110" plasma w/1080p, that is...
even @ 720p you'd need a screen of ~70" to sit 14 feet away. Unless that is you just like wasting the resolution by sitting too far away, in which case, too each his own...

http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/09...o-screen-size/

i have 20/15 vision.

and all my statements above are true.

1- the chart you provided (which i have btw) states that at my viewing distance 720p becomes noticeable

2- I purchased my television when I was in a different situation and am upgrading shortly.

3- i would bet 1% of this forum have displays the proper size for their seating distance according to the chart and whats worse is that most of them fell into the 1080p trap. so you could provide this chart to refute anyones argument you dotn agree with.

4- this is intended to be where we watch TV. i just finished an addition on my house which included a 17 x 17 theater room that will be finished with a front projector. so i am ok.

[Warjack Prime]

I set my 32" LG above our gas fireplace and it's fine. The mantle blocks almost all the heat from reaching the TV. After a few hours the wall behind the TV is not even warm nor are any of the knick knacks sitting on top of the mantle.

Mine is mounted on the wall and I used railways to hide the HDMI (16' Monster btw so long run) and power cables. I also tipped the TV downward and it's not uncomfortable at all to watch especially if you lie down on the couch and prop your head up with pillows. No biggie.

I always thought it was a bad idea too before I did it; however, in my livingroom, above the fireplace was the only option that we liked, so fuc* it we did it.

[Ataneruo]

We angled our 52inch Sony LCD down a little bit with the wall mount and it looks great above the gas fireplace about 5 ft off the floor, no heat and no wires visible (we went into the wall with the cables). No neck strain from about 10 feet away with couches and lounge chairs. Also, when it is that high up you can see it from across the room so we have had like 30 people watching at parties

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

Before you start telling folks about doing things properly, you should look into it yourself...ie.., viewing distances. Unless you have the one and only 110" plasma w/1080p, that is...
even @ 720p you'd need a screen of ~70" to sit 14 feet away. Unless that is you just like wasting the resolution by sitting too far away, in which case, too each his own...

http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/09...o-screen-size/

In my current setup, I sit 10-12' from a 37" 720p


Is it "too far" according to that chart??? SURE..... but this is the television I watch the news on..... I sit in various seats in the room also...... it's not a dedicated theater..... Many people have televisions that they use daily, for casual viewing, and not solely movies, or sitting 4 feet away playing video games for hours on end.......

I think his viewing distance and t.v. size/type is just fine.... especially if it works for the poster.

[gearyt]

A picture of your fireplace wall would help...
but...

I would use 2x2 studs and build a false wall over the mantle to hide the wires
and provide additional support to the TV If you like a brick or stone look you could buy stuff from TexturePlus. com. Tilting toward the viewing seat(s) corrects for the height

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by CosmoKid

I love the generalizations in this thread.

1- "The TV is too high" yet no one asked how high the mantle was or the Tv would be mounted.

2- "the tv is too high" yet no one asked how far he sat from it relative to it's height.

3- "You can't run wires"

If he was 5' from a TV that the base of the TV was at 5', I would agree.


I have my Plasma over my fireplace.

We sit ~14' away from it and the base is 54'' off the ground. It felt "too high" for a grand total of 1 hour. Any change in your previous height will take some getting used to.

The bottom of my fireplace is marble and wood and over the mantle is sheetrock. I have a power outlet behind the TV as well as HDMI wires run to a box behind the tv. My center channel speaker is above it. All wires run into the wall and into a media closet.

No one has EVER said it feels too high.

So to answer the OP with the only right answer to his question....

You can do anything as long as you do it properly.

They are very viable reasons to avoid placement over the fireplace, if possible. Nobody ever said it was impossible to place it over the fireplace. In most cases people don't sit that far away from the TV (hence the placement over the fireplace- to be near its warmth). They weren't "generalizations" either. I said people normally would avoid the placement over the fireplace for those reasons.

[Midnightsailor]

There's no reason he/she can't watch tv as he/she sees fit, however.

[Gremal]

Back when I had my condo, I used this approach which worked pretty well. I didn't hide the wires behind the walls because I knew I was moving into a house (that doesn't have a fireplace).