Cannot tilt a plasma? (1 Viewer)

My father was told by salesmen at two major electronics stores lately that setting a plasma at an angle is detrimental to it? My immediate response was to laugh, but is there any truth to this? I know that plasma tv's cannot be shipped lying flat, but does that mean that they can't be affixed to a wall-bracket at an angle? Also, why is it harmful to the plasma if it is allowed to lie flat?

I'm going to guess that plasmas big thin screens could not possible support any weigth and if something hapened to fall on it ,even something not terribly heavily, could damge the screen if it was layed flat. Or it could produce a LCD-like rainbow. I dunno. Most people wont let you push their plasma screens in until they distort.

How much tilt are you talking about? There are a number of plasma wall mounts which let you tilt the panel 5 or 10 degrees, which should be enough for most uses. I wouldn't want to tilt one more than that, though.

Jack

Don't people mount them on ceilings?

I've heard this story a few times, but never from a manufacturer. If the story is not true, it likely originated because of the 'tilt' indicators that are on many of the shipping boxes now. If the story is true, the only issue that I can think of is that there is potentially too much strain on the glass when the unit is tipped forward.

Personally, I don't think there's any truth to this at all. If it's not mentioned in the owner's manual (and I don't know if it is), then I can't see how it could be true.

I don't know for certain, but I don't think there's any reason not to tilt a plasma. I've tilted them as much as 45 degrees for tradeshow displays, and I just saw an installation done at Bloomingdales in Chicago with four plasmas flat on their backs in a video wall configuration so that people coming down the escalator could see the ads.

When all else fails, check with the manufacturer for the real story. I've built a number of rear projection systems where the projector tilts upward toward a mirror. Certain projector manufacturers will void their warranties if the projector is tilted past a certain angle. I'm not sure if the same applies to plasmas, but I'd check with the manufacturer. Better safe than sorry.

In my experience with plasma displays you can tilt them to at least 20 degrees without any adverse effects. All of the displays we use in our shows are tilted (they are mounted on the wall near the ceiling of the display room) and are at at least a 20 degree tilt. That said they all came in boxes with tilt indicators but those only filled up if the box was set complete upside down or on its side.

Oh, a peice of information from the site we bought our displays on:

"Check for any visible damage to the box and packaging before signing for your plasma screen. There is normally a "tip and tell" indicator attached to the outside of the plasma display box. This indicator will "tell" you whether the plasma TV box has been "tipped" sideways. It is important that plasma displays be kept upright in shipping. Therefore, if the "tip and tell" indicator is activated with blue sand, it is essential that this be NOTED on the freight bill. Sign for the plasma display shipment, but NOTE any damage to the box or activation of the "tip and tell" indicator. Just write the description on the freight bill. Here is an example, "tip and tell indicator activated, one corner of box badly dented."

I'm not sure if they are just playing it safe, but like I said above you need to tilt the box almost completely over for the indicator to activate.

Supposedly, these salesmen also said that a tilted display causes burn-in, so I'm thinking that it's a bunch of malarky. Not unexpected from these two electronic chains. Of course, my father believed them, but that's another problem...

So you can't mount them on a cieling?
I thought I remembered seeing them mounted above beds on MTV cribs before.

If you tilt and shake the plasma, it will erase the entire image a-la Etcha Sketch

we routinely tilt our plasmas downward - usually about 10-degrees, sometimes the 15 that our mounts allow.

As for rotation, I saw a Panasonic trade-show booth where they had a giant 'windmill' where the arms were lined with plasmas and the whole week they rotated the thing (albiet slowly.)

You *can* place them face up or down - GENTLY. They are just extremely sensitive to shock of any sort in that position. But I've seen touring shows where they lay them flat, mount them onto the free-standing pedistal mount, and then set them upright. (These were the 60+" variety.) I don't know anything about operating them whilst they lay flat.

Leo

That's a good one, Chris!