New HDTV -- Installation Questions (1 Viewer)

[Ron Katcher]

I am purchasing a 37" flat panel for my bedroom and will be running the wires and installing myself. I have a couple of basic questions concerning the install:

(1) The TV will be wall mounted with an articulating arm mount. What is the recommended height for the bracket to allow for comfortable viewing from bed and, allowing for some vertical movement via the mount, from chairs in a seating area in the same room?

(2) We use a cable television provider and our bedroom is not currently wired for cable. I will be running the cable up from the basement. I would like to avoid the mass of wires to the extent reasonably possible. I assume I will need to use a HD/digital cable box for now. If I run the cable all the way to the mount, I would have a visible cable to the box and then the video cable(s) back to the TV. Should I run the RG6 to a wall plate low on the wall and have some type of video connection run up inside the wall to the mount? Is there going to be a time where HD signals might come entirely through the RG6? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Marc L]

is the cable box the only piece of equipment going in that room? No DVD player, XBox, surround sound receiver, etc....

all those other considerations will determine how you want to wire it.

Does your cable provider have HD boxes with HDMI, DVI, or component video only? That will also determine how you will wire it.

more info is needed to help you.

 

[Ron Katcher]

OK-- sorry for being less than complete.

The only pieces of equipment I foresee being attached long-term are the cable box (or some other channel decoder, be it satellite or fiber-based) and possibly a DVD player.

I use Comcast and the box has component and DVI outs. The TV does not appear to have a DVI input, so the choice would be to run component connections or HDMI (with use of an adapter for now). Because the cable box does not have HDMI native, I would need to run L/R audio channels, correct?

Is there any chance that full HD broadcasts will come through on coaxial at some point, justifying a run of RG6 as well? I am leaning towards doing this anyway, just in case I want to get SD over the cable and use an off-air antenna for HD at some point. Does this make sense?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Marc L]

I don't know if a cable company will ever allow themselves to send you a pure HD signal with out a box. I'm sure the residual income from box rentals is amazing!

Anyway, I would run 1 component video run, and on quality audio line to the tv. If you add a DVD player later, then you can just a A/V switcher to go back and forth between the two sources. I personally wouldn't worry about using the HDMI or DVI connections, you can get 1080i and 1080p through component video with out the hassle of adapters and compatibility issues.

If you are mounting this TV on an interior wall, then fishing the wires down the wall to the box/switcher should be a piece of cake...
Even if it's an exterior wall, it's not that hard, you just need a flexible rod of some sort to push with wires (taped to rod) past/through the insulation.

There are a number of ways to do what you want to do, this is the way I would do it though...but then again, i could be wrong!