Many people think that the idea of mounting their new flat screen TV onto the wall is difficult and unnecessary, but it doesn’t have to be the case. By mounting your TV screen you will be amazed at how much floor space you will free up, and can also improve the viewing position of the screen. It can also add to the aesthetic appearance of the room and give it a whole new sense of style!

First of all you need to choose the best place to mount your new TV. Think about this carefully and don’t be ruled by tradition, you can rearrange your whole room around the TV positioning, it doesn’t  have to be close to where the old one stood on the floor stand! (That was probably in a corner anyway).

There is lots of information available online or in the electronics store about the different mounts which are available. Some hold the TV screen flat against the wall, like a picture or a mirror, some allow the TV screen to be tilted (to avoid glare, for example, from a nearby window), some allow the screen to be tilted and also slide horizontally, and some are extending arms which can virtually face the TV screen in any direction where you happen to be sitting, and fold away neatly against the wall when not in use. Think about how many times you adjusted the position of your floor standing TV; you might be amazed at how much flexibility you need from time to time.

Most people ought to be able to manage to mount their TV themselves without the help of a professional, but do take care, you don’t want to take the risk of your pride and joy falling off the wall now do you? You’ll possibly need an extra pair of hands to be around, to help out. The flat mounts are certainly the easiest to fix, but check and double check that you have found the perfect position before you start, you don’t want your TV to be in such a place that you strain your neck just trying to watch your favourite programs do you?

Most of the wall mounts will generally include fitting instructions and you should only need basic tools for the job, drill, spirit level, screwdriver, spanner, tape measure etc. Very often the mount will be in two parts, with one section to be fixed to the wall and the other attached to the back of the TV. Read all of the instructions carefully before you start! Maybe I should say that again a bit louder, READ ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU START.

If carefully fitted in a well chosen position, your wall mounted TV will add to the overall appearance of your room, improve your viewing position and also free up valuable floor space. It could certainly be a couple of hours well spent which will enhance your viewing experience for many years to come. Choose the mount and the position carefully, fit securely and you won’t go far wrong!

One advantage about using the old analogue type of video equipment is that it is possible to span extremely long distances. Two hundred feet of these types of video cable could be run without any need for signal boosters or extenders. When the revolutionary new HDMI cable was first introduced, many consumers found that they had difficulty trying to get the signal over a distance of more than around only 15 feet, which caused problems for many. Although constant new developments continue to greatly improve the situation, HDMI cables are still not capable of carrying the signal over anywhere the near distance which was possible with analogue video.

When developed, HDMI specifications were designed specifically to ensure that an HDMI compliant cable will work, but this does not mean that a non-compliant cable will not work. The majority of source and display devices are above the minimum necessary specifications, so most cables will actually work fine with most devices. These can be sometimes used as a device to enable the signal to travel further without losing clarity. You must also bear in mind that the efficient performance of any cable is directly proportionate to the bit rate which is passing through it.  The signal in HDMI is not compressed, so with higher resolutions more information is being transmitted. Some lengths of cable may perform adequately at 480p, but need to be considerably shorter to perform to the same extent at resolutions of more than around 720p.

So, in real terms, what distances can you expect from your HDMI cable? Up to around 50 feet maximum, even the cheaper quality cables can work efficiently up to 720p, 1080i and, to some extent although maybe with slightly reduced quality, 1080p. Almost any HDMI cable will deliver good quality results over a short run, but for runs longer than 50 feet, although they may be able to cope with the resolutions transferred at the moment, increases in the future may coincide with a loss in picture and audio quality.

If you need a cable which is longer than 50 feet you really need to invest in high quality cable and also some extra signal boosting device. Unfortunately, the only way to find out whether your device and cable is sufficient to perform consistently well is to try it out. It may be the case that a cheaper HDMI cable will work sufficiently well for now meaning that you don’t need to pay out for an expensive cable, but as your needs change will possibly not be able to cope with the increase. The answer is not black and white as to which HDMI cable you should buy, so much depends on your existing home theatre equipment, your present and your future requirements.

One extremely important thing to remember, is that if you are installing your system by running cables beneath the floor or behind a wall, then install the best quality cable you can afford, as replacement will be tricky in the future, however, if not, you may find that a more economical cable will work just as well and last for many years to come.

Home entertainment systems are becoming increasingly advanced, and many consumers find it difficult keeping up with all of the new technology which is becoming available on the market. Walk into any electronics stores or search a website, and you will be inundated with acronyms, HDMI, DVI, to name but a couple, but what exactly are HDMI cables and why might you need them?

HDMI cables can be used for various pieces of new home entertainment systems, for example televisions or DVD players. Although relatively new technology, the popularity of this system has shown an incredible increase in recent years and is now the international global standard which is recognised for most newly manufactured equipment. For around the last 2 years, all new hardware which has been manufactured has been fitted with a HDMI port.

One of the main reasons for the increase in popularity of the HDMI cables is that they can carry both the digital video and the audio signals, thus only one cable is needed for the connection of two devices, resulting in a much easier installation process and also reducing the numbers of wires and cables which are hidden behind your television and DVD player. For many houses this was a virtual ‘spaghetti junction’ of unsightly wires, and if one of them became accidentally unplugged it was a major problem trying to sort out and untangle the cables.

As stated earlier, this is relatively new technology and is therefore still being developed with improvements being made. There are now slightly different versions of cables available as new developments are made, and this goes to increase the quality of performance. The ease of use and improvement in performance are the main reasons that HDMI cables are becoming the standard method of connecting home entertainment systems. The improved picture and digital audio quality are another reason why HDMI cables are proving to be first connection choice when buying any new home entertainment systems.

HDMI cables are particularly useful for home entertainment systems but do not function as well if used over long distances. For the maximum performance quality you really need to have a cable run of not more than around 15 feet, and if the run extends to around 40 or 50 feet you will see a real reduction in sound and picture quality. This is one of the drawbacks of this otherwise innovative method of connecting your home entertainment system, but, as is stated above, they are being developed and improved constantly so this should be become less of a problem as future developments are made. More expensive cables generally use higher quality materials which will perform better over long distances, but this area is still being constantly developed.

So there you are a brief explanation of HDMI cables and their uses. Of course, if your present home entertainment systems is up and running adequately then there is no need to worry about changing (unless you want to lose a few cables!) but if you are in the market to buy a completely new system then you will surely be advised to connect your systems using HDMI cables. If the sales person offers them to you, at least you should now know a little more of what they are talking about!