Wall mounting the TV, some cabling questions

[grenpayne]

Chaps, apologies if this has been done to death but I keep reading conflicting things. Basically, we'll be wall mounting the TV when we renovate the downstairs of our new house very soon. The wall in question is an outside wall so brick or block, as such I'm not concerned about actually mounting it, however I'm confused about the cabling, of which I want to completely hide by chasing them in to the wall.

Plan is to get a new 48" TV and simply connect our existing Sky Box and Blu-Ray to the TV. Sound wil be handled by our existing 5.1 amp and speakers.

A few questions, first do I need to have a plug socket mounted behind the TV or can I run the power cable up a conduit in the wall to come out behind the TV? And secondly are there any fire regs that need adhering to with regard to what and how many cables I can run from floor level inside the wall to come out behind the TV?

Finally what cables would you run? I was thinking of 3x HDMI (giving one spare) and 1x Cat5/6 network cable. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated

[megaphone]

I would also run a standard aerial co-ax cable so the TV can be used without Sky. If you can, chase in a'duct' between the TV and the AV cabinet so you can pull in new/extra cables in the future.

[Salesy]

I would throw in another cat5/6 and an optical cable.

If you have room then a duct would be great but i know from experience that is not always an option.

[bristolracer]

If you do put a plug behind the TV be careful where it is.

The amount of customers i get who place them right in the centre of the Tv is amazing. They forget the depth of a)the socket and b) the plug which can add 40mm to everything, and then moan the TV doesnt look very flush to the wall! Also do not buy an expensive matching chrome socket. once the TV is up you will never see it again!

As others have said
At least 2 HDMI ( dont buy expensive ones they are snake oil)
1 x cat 5 (for smart tv)
1 x coax for terrestrial
1 x optical.

At least then if you ever need to give up sky or the AV amp goes you have flexibility.

Edited by bristolracer on Tuesday 25th August 10:40

[VEX]

Depending on how deep your ducting is you might run into 'technical' issues. I spec'ed some ducting to be chased in to the blockwork of an outside wall and the building reg's man didnt like it because it effected the internal structural integrity of the wall.

Also, plan you wall bracket, so, as has been said, the plates don't clash with it or the position of the connections on the TV.

Finally, you don't have to have a socket at the tv point, you could have just a cable outlet plate wire to a switched fused spur in the corner where your sockets and electronics are.

For cables,

2x CAT6
2x HDMI
1x Coax.

Personally I wouldn't bother with an optical, modern TV's and Amplifiers have an ARC channel on one of the HDMI's that send the screen audio back to the amp.

HTH's

V.

[WinstonWolf]

I'd also pull a draw wire in for... Well, you never know what's around the corner

[talkssense]

These are pretty good if you have plasterboard or Dot n Dab (I know you don't but may help other people reading the thread)

http://www.sync-box.com/recessed-tv-socket/

[Salesy]

VEX said:

Depending on how deep your ducting is you might run into 'technical' issues. I spec'ed some ducting to be chased in to the blockwork of an outside wall and the building reg's man didnt like it because it effected the internal structural integrity of the wall.

Also, plan you wall bracket, so, as has been said, the plates don't clash with it or the position of the connections on the TV.

Finally, you don't have to have a socket at the tv point, you could have just a cable outlet plate wire to a switched fused spur in the corner where your sockets and electronics are.

For cables,

2x CAT6
2x HDMI
1x Coax.

Personally I wouldn't bother with an optical, modern TV's and Amplifiers have an ARC channel on one of the HDMI's that send the screen audio back to the amp.

HTH's

V.

Unless that is the client is using a Sonos playbar.

[VEX]

Salesy said:

Unless that is the client is using a Sonos playbar.

True, except that the Sonos soundbar (apart from being a poor physical design) is designed to be next to the screen, wire optically from the tv screen and then learn the Volume up/down from the standard remote. So an optical feed from the hardware in the corner would be a poor configuration.

Edited by VEX on Tuesday 25th August 22:18

[grenpayne]

Thanks all, much appreciated Although I have no need yet for an optical I have one in my 'spare cables box' so I may as well include one in addition to the HDMI and Cat6 cables.

Two more questions though, why co-ax, I thought terrestrial had been turned off and even if we ditched Sky, surely all FreeSat/View boxes are HDMI or built in to the TV negating the need for it?

Also, building regs?! Will I need the buildings control inspector out for something as minor as chasing the cables in? I realise it's an outside wall but it does seem a bit extreme?

[h0b0]

Does your AV amp have HDMI out? If so I would put 3 cat 5/6 cables and power (not socket but to a fused spur) behind the TV. Then locate your amp somewhere hidden in an AV cupboard. This is your chance to do things properly and get everything out of sight. I would then control everything with a wifi or RF remote such as Logitech ultimate.

I have this set up in my basement but with a projector instead of TV. All the boxes are in a cupboard out of the way. If I need to change the configuration to add something I just put it in the stack. The amp takes care of everything else.

[megaphone]

Freeview is terrestrial. The reason for the co-ax is to allow you to use the built in Freeview tuner in the TV, an alternative to Sky, that's assuming you have an aerial?, still worth running in a wall chase.

No need for building regs, just chase and plaster over if you're not going to install a duct. You house won't fall down!

[VEX]

Sorry, that may have been my fault. No need for building regs or inspectors ours was involved because it was a new build house.

V.

[grenpayne]

VEX said:

Sorry, that may have been my fault. No need for building regs or inspectors ours was involved because it was a new build house.

V.

No worries, but the building control people seem to be needed for all sorts these days, so it wouldn't surprise me!

All understood re the co-ax, as you say no harm in running one in the duct. My AV amp does do HDMI out too so I could quite easily run the Cat6 as suggested.

Next question then What size trunking would you guys recommend? I'm guessing something around 40mm to ensure the cable end connectors go through? And another bit of googling looks like some brush plates like these might fit the bill too.

[Jarcy]

bristolracer said:

As others have said
At least 2 HDMI ( dont buy expensive ones they are snake oil)

At least then if you ever need to give up sky or the AV amp goes you have flexibility.

I only bothered with one HDMI as I let the AV amp do the switching. The only reasons I see for needing more that one is for if(when) your AV amp breaks down, so you need to separately connect up as a stop-gap until replacement amp arrives. Or perhaps if you have an old AV amp that is pre-3D, then you'd want two HDMIs to the TV so that you can feed a 3D signal direct from the BD player.
However, test the HDMI lead first. Many cheap (or even expensive) ones won't carry a 3D signal, whereas they seem fine for 2D. Even if you're not worried about 3D, the ability to carry the signal is a good indicator of a reliable (future-proofed) HDMI lead.

grenpayne said:

Next question then What size trunking would you guys recommend? I'm guessing something around 40mm to ensure the cable end connectors go through? And another bit of googling looks like some brush plates like these might fit the bill too.

Go for trunking as big as you can get into the wall. 40mm might be a bit tight. They quickly become jammed once 3 or 4 cables are down there, and feeding a new cable down becomes tricky, even if you have incorporated a chase wire. Those brush plates are the only solution that I could find, although I ended up not bothering with the brushes - you're not really going to get a significant draft down them, and mine are hidden.

megaphone said:

Freeview is terrestrial. The reason for the co-ax is to allow you to use the built in Freeview tuner in the TV, an alternative to Sky, that's assuming you have an aerial?, still worth running in a wall chase.

When my Virgin service goes down for 24hours, I can still watch TV using the Freeview tuner and coaxial. Otherwise, no TV, no Internet. You'll thank yourself when it happens.

h0b0 said:

Does your AV amp have HDMI out? If so I would put 3 cat 5/6 cables and power

What do you guys use all these Cat 5/6 cables for? I have one for Smart TV. There's no where to plug any more into!

[h0b0]

Jarcy said:

h0b0 said:

Does your AV amp have HDMI out? If so I would put 3 cat 5/6 cables and power

What do you guys use all these Cat 5/6 cables for? I have one for Smart TV. There's no where to plug any more into!

The first 2 are for HDMI over CAT5 and the 3rd is for smart TV functions. It's just easier to run cat 5 than mess with expensive HDMI cables. Especially if you are going around corners or through walls. It may not be necessary to run the 3rd one if your TV has adequate WiFi but it is preferably

eta...

This is for those that want to relocate their AV boxes to somewhere not near the TV. I was an AV installer for 10 years and hated seeing boxes on show even in the days of CRT. The company I worked for jumped on plasma technology when there was only one supplier so we focused on hiding the boxes. Back int he old days the Plasm came with a big box that was the tuner because the display was effectively a computer display. We had to run fat ass cables through walls and it was a pain. Being able to switch to anything that did not have a fixed plug was a god send.

I am not in the business anymore but still keep up with the technology.

Edited by h0b0 on Thursday 27th August 18:29

[VEX]

Today's HDBT technology allows you to run hdmi, ir, rs232, networking and even power down a single cat5/6 cable!

Now it is the only thing we will use on installations l, very quick to install and set up, extremely robust. Not the cheapest solution though.

V.