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Evaluate the room's lighting. You do not want the reflected outdoor sunlight to cross the screen of the TV because it can create glare and obscure the picture. The same goes for any type of indoor lighting that may shine directly onto the TV. Wall mounting a plasma TV requires wood framing or studs---each screw should go into something sturdy and weight-bearing. Ceiling mounts as well must be fastened into the overhead wood joists. Failure to do so will cause the mounting fixture to fail and the TV will fall.
People with small children or pets may not want to use a floor-mounting system. Although there are fixtures that screw into the floor's framing, it may not be strong enough to keep children or animals from knocking over the unit. -
A professional-looking installation will keep all wires out of sight. You'll have to fish cables through walls---and possibly the floor or ceiling. Speaker placement should also be kept in mind when considering wall-mounting locations. Typically, the speakers will take up as much room on either side of the set as the screen itself. In other words, allow for 50 inches of space on either side of a 50-inch plasma screen. This will allow for proper audio projection in certain systems. Specific audio systems, such as surround sound and Stereo 5.1, may require more space.
Run an extra set of wires through the system while you're doing the installation. Wires can break or go bad over the course of time. This approach may cost a bit more at the outset, but having to run new wires later on will be much more time-consuming and costly. -
Plasma TVs are best viewed when the center of the screen is between 40 and 45 inches off the ground. It may be tempting to have it lower or higher, but neck and eye comfort may be compromised.
Distance from the screen to the couch will depend on the picture resolution. Standard-definition signals over a large-screen plasma TV may require you to sit back approximately 11 feet from the screen. The same set with a high-definition signal may require only 6 feet of distance. For sets 42 inches and greater a general rule of thumb is to have two to three times the screen width as your viewing distance. A 50-inch screen would fall into a viewing range of 100 to 150 inches, or roughly 9 to 12 feet, from the screen.
