A practical guide to mounting a TV on your wall

Mounting your TV to your wall can really help you declutter your room and help your viewing experience. Here's a practical guide to mounting a TV on your wall.

• Painter's tape
• Tape measure
• Spirit level
• Drill
• Spade bit (if required)
• Tie wire or spare length of cable
• Electrical tape

• Unless your TV is small and light, you will need to screw your brackets into studs – not into the drywall alone.

• Determine the position of the TV, considering the viewing angle and power and antenna outlets.
• Use painter's tape to make a silhouette of your TV's outer casing on the wall,
• Also marking cut-outs for the cables to go through the wall behind the TV and exit at the base.

• Fit your mounting brackets to the TV monitor, measure from the top of the monitor to the brackets and use this distance from the top mark on the wall to position the wall bracket,
• Use your spirit level to make sure your brackets are flat and level.
• Remove your brackets from the monitor and use a drill to secure them with the supplied screws.

• Cut a hole behind where the TV will go and another low on the floor.
• Feed tie wire or a spare length of cable through the top hole and out the bottom one, attach it to your TV's cables with electrical tape and draw the guide cable out through the top to pull the cables through.

• Cut the cables free of the guide cable.
• Connect them to your TV to tune and test the set-up.
• When your TV is tuned, lift it onto the wall bracket, inserting the locking devices in the wall bracket.

• Splitters let you view multiple TVs through a single receiver.
• Splitters are customized so take care to choose the right one.
• You can ask your cable or satellite provider about this.
• Alternatively, your local electronics store may also be of help.
• If the reception is weak, the number of TVs served by a single splitter will be affected: only split a signal between two, maybe three at the most.
• When you're installing your TV, minimize the cabling because extensive cabling diminishes the picture.

Follow this practical guide when you're mounting your TV on a wall, and you'll likely have a much easier time with the job.