 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
67.171.143.157
Talk about neckaches, it's the worse place after the ceiling for placing a TV. But I guess the "feminine" interior designer that some wife or couple paid to "decorate" their home must've been so thrilled about the color scheme that they never thought they'd have to crank their necks at a 40 degrees angle! It's amazing how many people and ad agencies fall for this terrible arrangement just because there's an empty space over the fireplace. Just needed to vent.
Follow Ups:
My take on this is that fireplaces dominate family/living rooms, and there often isn't a "center" location for a video display.Placing a plasma above the fireplace mantle remedies this problem, by centering the video display so that stereo speakers can flank it at appropriately spaced distances.
Also, it seems that the traditional TV cabinet in all but the more recently built homes is too narrow to fit a 42" plasma? My home was built in 1992, and I don't think the TV cabinet is wide enough to handle a 42" plasma.
Based on my viewing experience it is usually the male designer who tend to place the TV above the fireplace, female designer usually eliminate the TV if given the choice. BTW I heard plasmas are temperature sensitive, so would it be unwise to place it near a heat source ?
I used to work in the health and safety area with one of my main areas of concern being computer workstation setup which included things like screen height. The standard recommendation for that tends to be having the top of the screen level with the eyebrows, placing the centre of the screen below eye height.That kind of thinking would support your view but there are some essential differences. First, viewing distance is much greater for a large screen TV than it is for a computer monitor. The extremely close viewing distance for a computer monitor means the head will be tilted up severely if the centre of the screen is much above eye height. Computer users also refer frequently to written material on the desk surface and lower screen placement not only reduces the need to tilt the head up, but it also reduces the angle of movement required when one looks down at the written material. Finally, computer users ideally sit in a relatively upright posture.
TV viewing is quite different. The viewing distance is much greater so the angle of tilt required to view a higher placed screen is much less. There is no need to keep looking down regularly, and the seating position is usually slightly reclined, meaning the head is actually facing up a bit anyway, and a lot more relaxed than a working posture.
I would think that at the viewing distances involved when a large screen is placed above a fireplace, the angle of tilt of the head is much less than the 40 degrees you suggest (that angle would probably place the screen at or above ceiling height at such distances), and that it is probably reduced even further due to the fact that there is some angle of recline in the more relaxed postures usually associated with TV viewing anyway. While I'd prefer in general to see screens placed lower rather than higher, I don't think this sort of placement is necessarily as bad as you think.
Of course, my biggest problem as an expert here is that I live in a sub-tropical climate where houses don't have fireplaces and mantles to mount the screen above. Mine sits on top of an AV rack at a height of a bit over 24". I'm not speaking from experience of above mantle placement.
David Aiken
on the wall in our breakfast nook and on top of that, it is tilted downward. Therefore, we really do not have any stiff neck issues. I wanted to put it on our fireplace mantle but the wife says no! Looking back at it now I guess I would call it a blessing in disguised.
This is probably just an area of personal preference. Maybe folks who use a recliner for viewing would find it comfortable. Personally I like our plasma at eye and ear level....just like the speakers. I wouldn't consider anything else for the main system.I built a cabinet in the bedroom, and our tv and speakers sit on top of it. The screen is about as high as it would be over a mantle. My wife likes it like this, but it gives me a terrible neck ache sometimes.
Rod
There are always concessions one must make in the installation. Currently, the bottom of my plasma screen sits 4" below eye level when I'm seated, and the center sits directly below that. Still, I seem to get seemless surround sound
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
I use 2 channel, so the center is "Phantom". Good point though about the difficulties of getting three front speakers and the screen at eye level.Rod
True but I would compromise on the visual angle for two reasons. When I watch (and listen), I am usually reclined a bit so my gaze is directed a bit upward. OTOH, although my ears are also tilted upwards, they are less sensitive to vertical error than my neck is. As a result, the bottom edge of my PDP is about 45" off the floor and 3 floorstanders are arrayed across the front with the middle one just clearing the PDP.
I was sitting far enough from the screen, the fireplace wasn't too high, and it worked out pretty well. There really wasn't another good option for screen placement.
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
The plasma in my livingroom is above the fireplace. I have never had any "neck" complaints from guests about the placement nor have I had any "neckaches" myself. At about 15' from the screen, the angle poses no problems -- and that's even after a 2hr movie last night.The only annoying parts of the presentation were the comments from numerous guests every half-hour or so about the beautiful picture we were watching.
:-)
you put the center channel speaker in the fireplace, right? ;-)Kal
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
Of course, I didn't have a real mantle place and rarely used the fireplace...when I did, it wasn't too much of a pain to lift the NHTM-1 and the shelf out of there.
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
........a real pain in the neck!!I just put the tape on the screens here and the bottom of the picture on my screens is 40” & 54” off the floor respectively. I have never got a sore neck watching DVD's or a music video etc.
I have 30” & 34” widescreen CRT’s for the kids and they are both 24” off the floor. If they were for my use I’d need to raise them for ideal preference.
Smile
Sox
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
