If you’re fortunate enough to own a flat panel LCD or Plasma television you might have considered mounting it to the wall, providing the perfect viewing experience, and removing your precious appliance from harm’s way. The majority of LCD wall brackets today are compliant with what’s known as the VESA standard. VESA stands for Video Electronics Standards Association; they’re a group of clever individuals who decided the world would be a far simpler place if all wall mounts and TVs adhered to a certain standard when it comes to wall mounting.
The vast majority of flat panel televisions and LCD wall brackets today are compatible with one of the VESA standards. There’s a simple method to discover if your TV is counted amongst these and how to discover the specific standard suitable for your particular model of television. Keep reading for a step to step guide to measure the VESA standard for your LCD or Plasma TV.
Step 1 – Gather the appropriate tools
All that you will need to measure your television set to discover the appropriate standard is the TV itself, and a tape measure. Just to make you aware at this point that if you are buying a new TV, or still have the box or manual from a recent purchase, it’s possible that the information about it will inform you as to whether the television is VESA compliant and to what standard. If this is the case you can jump straight to step 5.
Step 2 – Lay your TV down
The easiest way to measure your TV for VESA compliance is by laying it down on the floor or another low and flat surface, for example a coffee table. If your television set is heavy make sure you have help to lift it, and be careful not to knock any surfaces. If you are worried about scratches simply put a large towel or piece of material such as a bed sheet down first. Please note that Plasma screens in particular aren’t fond of being laid down, so keep the measuring time to a minimum.
Step 3 – Measure the horizontal distance
On the back of your LCD or Plasma TV you should see four threaded holes in a square or rectangle. If there are no threaded holes at all your TV cannot be wall mounted. Take your tape measure and measure the distance between the hole at the top left of the rectangle to the hole at the top right in millimetres. This will give you the first half of your VESA standard, for example 400mm.
Step 4 – Measure the vertical distance
Repeat step 3, but this time measure from the top right hand hole to the bottom right hand hole to give the vertical distance of the rectangle, again in millimetres. This, combined with the horizontal distance, will provide your completed VESA standard. For example, if your horizontal measurement was 400mm and your vertical measurement was 200mm, your standard would be 400×200.
Step 5 – Go shopping for the perfect LCD wall bracket
Now that you know your VESA standard you can find an LCD wall bracket that will fit your television set perfectly. All wall mounts will list the suitable VESA standards that they are compatible with, so simply check to see if your particular standard is present. This will ensure the perfect fit when affixing your prized TV to your new bracket.