Wall mounting plazmas

If you have an AV receiver you can use that for switching the video and have one set of leads to the screen.
I'm using a freeview box with an RGB to component converter, and then switching everything using my receiver with one set of component leads to my Panasonic Plasma screen. Therefore I have no ariel connection going to the screen. Only Mains and a set of component leads.

greeny
BLT is correct that you can do this via your receiver, but receivers have quite limited options most of the time.

A tuner is the best and simplest option. You can buy a plasma with a dedicated tuner which reduces the cabling to one. I'm surprised you say you're limited to one plasma - there are loads of plasmas that can be bought with dedicated tuners, NEC, Pioneer and Panasonic all offering this option. You can also buy a 3rd party tuner which would reduce the number of wires and works with any plasma.

BLT - I do have an AV reveiver, but unfortunately it does not provide video switching. Additionally I only tend to use it for films so would not want to be forced to use it because of the switching.

Frank - I must have missed these other plazmas. When I scan around I tend to see the Pioneer with a separate box, with pretty much everthing else having a built in tuner. (e.g. all the latest Panasonic 'viera' screens seem to have built in tuners)

However I also see options with 'display only' etc. In these cases is it a 3rd party tuner box I need?.

Any suggestions on decent quality 3rd Party Tuners.

It seems the Pioneer (435 XDE) can be had for a bit under £3000 so any options providing as good quality with a separate tuner box, at or below this price I am keen to check out.

If picture quality is important to you then I would recommend the Panasonic TH42PV500 to you at the moment. The Pioneer 435 is good, especially with DVD, but not as good as the new Panasonic is with DVD and the Panasonic is loads better than the Pioneer with Sky & Freeview. Pioneer should have their new screen out by the autumn though and Panasonic should also have the screen only version of the TH42PV500 too. If it was my money and you had to spend it today, I'd go for the Panny hands down no question. In most cases you can, as mentioned, use your amp as the video switching box, or if you do not want to go that route then maybe your dvd player can do the job. Feed Sky/Freeview into the DVD's scart and then feed the Plasma via Component/HDMI/DVI from the DVD. The TH42PV500 is HD Ready and can be found as low as £2000 and includes stand/bracket and built in speakers (although you'll find it hard to see them!). For that price you could afford to spend £850 on a scaler (eg iScan HD+, which will do the video and audio switching plus much more better than any media box could ever do) and really have a very special picture! The Pioneer is more exspensive than that and speakers are extra and in my opinion, not quite as good a picture with HD or DVD and much worse with SD - Sky, Freeview or aerial etc. My advice is have a descent audition of the picture quality yourself as that is the most important thing. At the end of the day, if you have to chase into the wall 2, 3 or 4 cables it's not the end of the world.

If you have Sky, Freeview or a Video then you do not need a 3rd party tuner as any of these will give you TV channels.

I am planning to sink into the wall a large conduit or channel so that future wires can be fed through that.
I've got to get power to the plasma anyway, so adding cable provision shouldn't be a big issue.

The other thought is depending on your exact set-up, could you get a nice piece of stainless steel tubing - make it look like a hi-tech support (a bit like a modern stainless cooker hood if that makes any sense).
A low profile, curved affair might actually look rather stylish....... All cables could run thorugh that.

It certainly would be a great shame (and something I've seen a few times) to have the smart looking TV, on the wall, power socket hidden behind the screen, TV aerial hidden behind the screen, to then have a big fat black SCART lead running from another box to the screen...
However, it's going to take some careful planning in order to keep it future proof.....

Also when wall mounting a plasma, don't mount it too high. Many people do that and wonder why they've got neck ache.

Andrew

I mounted my plasma immediately above the fireplace. To hide the wires, rather than chasing out a section of plaster, I removed the wooden fireplace surround, ran the leads around & down the outer edge of the fireplace, & replaced the wooden surround. Quick & easy, no visible leads. Just check that where you run the leads isn't getting too hot from the fire.
And no, it doesn't seem too high for our viewing position.
matt

Yes, you could, this is pretty much what I do, except that I use a component signal for the video. My AV amp upconverts any S-Video or composite signal to component (YUV) anyway.

If one was to use a sperate tuner/reciever, can all equipment be plugeed into that i.e. DVD player, VCR, Sky digibox, then one cable run to the Plasma complete with sound?

I don't always want to turn on the surround system purely to watch 10 minutes of news.

Also, do the "disply only" plasmas come with built in speakers?

Not wishing to hi-jack the post - sorry!

I've come up with a solution for my own installation: The new Plasma will hang where there is currently a door, so I propose to have the door bricked up but will leave a 6" wide gap that will be "studded" (covered in plasterboard) so, I will be able to have a large opening behind the TV and one nearer the floor so that all cables and future cables can be run through this large "duct".

I have yet to speak to my builder about this but reckon it should be able to be done quite easily.

Blythe. I have a hitachi plasma, with a separate tuner box. All the other stuff, video,dvd,etc is plugged into the tuner.There are 3 leads that go from tuner to screen. I only use the dvd surround set up for dvd's, & generally prefer the sound from the screen mounted spkrs for general use.

I will have to speak to a few more dealers and see what's available - the main problem being I really need to buy now so that I know exactly how it can be hooked up and mounted etc. I need to get all the cabling in and be sure the bracket will not impede on the wires etc.

All way too complicated!

Yeah,I agree blythe. All this fuss & money for the missus to watch east-bloody-enders in wide screen /surround-moan! For me, other than watching dvd's, the best thing about a wall mounted screen is that it frees up a fair bit of floor space in the living room.I still think a separate tuner box is the best way to go,as far as running cables goes.Check out other forums/mags dedicated to A/V stuff, as well as specialist hi-fi/A/V dealers to ask. It'll all be worth it in the end.
matt.

Thanks Matt - I ned to do some serious reading!

All takes a lot of time of which I don't seem to have much just at the moment, but as you say, it'll be worth it :-)

Ok, So I bought a Panny TH42PE50 and mounted this above the fireplace.

These are the leads I ran to the Plazma.

Power
Analogue Ariel
1 Scart from DVD /Sky+ box
1 set of component leads from DVD
Speaker wire from AV reveiver to central speaker.

Now if I was using a video recorder, Games console etc I would have more, so despite going down this route (due to cost and choice) I still feel the separate tuner box would have been a neater solution.

What DVD do you have. Some DVD players/recorders can take in a SKY SCART feed and send it out via their component connection, which would reduce a lead. I have a DVD DMR85 DVD/HDD recorder and that can take in a SKY RGB signal via SCART, convert it from interlaced to progressive scan and output it via it's component connection. This reduces the connections needed and also improves the SKY picture.