LCD, Wallmount and Video Sender

Ben · 13 Jan 2006 at 21:31

Hi,

Been thinking about this a lot recently, and I want to get a LCD TV that I can use for my computer and watch Sky on in my room. I have decided on two of the three things already.

LCD: Samsung LE26R41B - £589.00 - pretty set on this. Seeing the Freeview model in Purely Plasma in Bluewater pretty much sold me on it too.
Video Sender: AEI Digisender Gold - £118.99, picking this up from a store tomorrow (I know I can get it online cheaper, but want the option of returning it if it doesn't work properly). Basically between here and where the main TV is, is about 12 Metres, however there is a wall in between, not sure whether it's completely solid (as it joins onto a lift), At a stretch It is possible to get an almost direct line of sight between the transmitter and receiver. (Barring putting it behind a sofa on one end, and just having a door frame in the way at the other). Hopefully this should be OK. Anyone got any experience or thoughts on this? I take it my Wireless NIC won't interfere with it?

Wall mount: I was looking at the Stil-Stand SMS Aero 3D Light (~£115). I'm guessing it is compatible with the Sammy. However our walls aren't all that strong, my dad reckons if it uses 4 fixings then it should be OK, but 2 would be pushing it.... I can't find anything to say how many fixings it has. Does any one have one of these or know how many fixings they have?
Or can anyone recommend an alternative...
Basically I'd like to have it sitting flush to the wall for when using it with my PC... and when I want to watch TV in my bed, I can pull it out and rotate it ~90 degrees. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Bobbler · 13 Jan 2006 at 21:49

You got partition walls then or are they just crumbling/old plaster?
I mounted our LCD (23") to a partition using the umbrella type fittings available from Focus/B&Q etc. Its never showed any signs of moving with two of those drilled into the wall like this http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=100067&ts=88574&id=11143.

If its loose plaster thats the issue, get a deep mounting which will take the strain (not that an LCD is very heavy) into the brickwork rather than the outside layer of plaster.

Looking at the size of the plate on that bracket your after I would estimate its at least 4 point fixings, but you can always ring them for advice before ordering. Its certainly a pretty pricey bracket IMO

Ben · 13 Jan 2006 at 22:35

Dad says they're stub walls, looking at our "Tenant Manual" says for the Internal Partitions Use a plasterboard plug and screw.

As for the actual wall mount, it was the first one I came across that meets the two criteria I mentioned (found it out of curiosity rather than doing a big hunt for wall mounts). Am fully open to suggestions on a different wall mount.

Bobbler · 14 Jan 2006 at 10:03

In that case you can either use the mounting like I have above or you can find the wall studs (wooden battens that hold the plasterboard in place spaced at even intervals) and mount into those. I used two of the "umbrella" type plugs to hold our 23" to the plasterboard wall in our bedroom with a tilt mount and its there very solidly and hasnt moved an inch in 12 months. The articulated mounts will obviously be used a lot more than what we are using but with a four point fixing should be secure enough as your LCD doesnt weigh a massive amount.
Those mounts are dead easy to use, just drill a hole (6mm IIRC but its on the packets) hammer it in the same as a rawlplug. Screw the supplied screw all the way in, this causes the metal inside the wall to spread out just like an umbrella. Unscrew the screw and put your mount up using them.
Theres a decent selection of mounts on www.ricamstore.co.uk (I have used these guys a few times in the past and pretty decent service) with similar to what you where looking at for 70 notes.

Ben · 14 Jan 2006 at 16:27

Thanks, looks pretty good.

Got the Digisender today. And am rather disappointed The aerial on the transmitter was snapped

But I thought I'd test it anyway since there was no mention of RGB on the box (I was under the impression it did RGB). So basically used it in place of the Sky->TV Scart. And so no RGB.

I'm wondering what my choices are here? DigiSender™ Control Zentrum™ ? or am I better off trying to wire it somehow? (direct distance is about 12 metres, so will possibly need nearly 20 metres to run it around the walls etc).

Cheers

Jez · 14 Jan 2006 at 17:26

Signal wise you would be best wiring it, an option is to do what i did and build your own long scart lead using cat5e and some ends.

Alternatively i guess there will be some 20m ish scart cables available somewhere.

Either way though wire it, you'll get much better results.

Ben · 14 Jan 2006 at 18:59

Jez said:
Signal wise you would be best wiring it, an option is to do what i did and build your own long scart lead using cat5e and some ends.

Alternatively i guess there will be some 20m ish scart cables available somewhere.

Either way though wire it, you'll get much better results.

Does this get the RGB signal across fine? As I would have thought 20m might be a bit of an issue for it.

Seems like the Zentrum doesn't output RGB to the wireless receiver (which doesn't seem to be well advertised).