I bought a Panasonic Plasma TV to go over the fireplace in the basement. I put it up this weekend with a a Sanus VMPL50 Universal Flat Panel Mount (about$75 at Amazon). Here’s the steps I followed.
I set the TV on its stand on the floor and then mounted the brackets to the back of the TV. The mount came with plenty of hardware choices and it had the screws I needed. I then attached the wall mount to the brackets. I placed a level on the top of the TV and measured from the top of the TV to the top of the wall mount.
I transferred this measurement to the wall and found that the wall bracket would hit the bottom of the electric outlet. The mount is a universal one, so there is some room for adjustment. I was able to move the mounts on the back of the TV down by about 1 inch, which gave me the clearance I needed. I rechecked the measurements with the level and drew a level line on the wall to indicate the top of the wall mount.
I found the center of the studs over the fireplace. I temporarily attached the wall mount with some wood screws. I then drilled pilot holes for the lag bolts into the center of the studs. When I was finishing the basement, I added some additional blocking in the wall, so I was able to secure the mount with six lag bolts (four are required). This mount isn’t going anywhere – I could hang it.
Next it was time to put the TV on the wall. This is definitely at least a two person job. The top of the brackets mounted to the TV have a lip that catches the wall bracket. Once both brackets were firmly on the wall bracket, I was able to move the TV laterally to center it. Once in place, there is a safety screw in the bottom of the bracket to keep it in place.
This mount has a nice feature that lets you tilt the TV. Each bracket has a tension knob that controls how much pressure is required to tilt the TV. This is a nice feature - some of the wall mount reviews I read said you had to take the TV down to adjust the tilt. This would be a hassle.
Posted by jpmorrissey 