I just mounted my LCD Samsung on my wall, but the cables down to the cable box are really unsightly. I was thinking of drilling two openings into the dry wall and running the cables inside the wall -- has anyone done this or have experience with the tools required? I'd rather not use an external pipe.. I was going to use a power drill, dry wall saw and then replaster it after I'm done. I did a quick Google search and it seems to be pretty complicated (getting an electrician to install a recessed plug, etc.). -- not a home improvement guy.
yes, just get a 1/2 inch drill bit. one hole behind the tv and one behind the unit. snake the wires top to bottom.
Exactly, not hard at all......electricians don't like you to run the electrical through the wall for some strange reason, but I have it on 2 walls and no issues at all. DD
Strange reason being the fact that they want you to pay them to install a new plug specific for a plasma.
goto home depot and tell them what you're doing. they'll show you exactly what you need and how to do it.
cool - thanks guys! i'll think i'll try drilling two holes (um... no innuendo there) and run a coat hanger through to see if there are any wires behind it. one concern i have is running through the TV's power cord. lots of websites say that's a no-no, but i figured my cord is new and i'm in cooler weather, so burn-outs isn't that big of a problem. do you have issues with running the power cord behind the wall? thanks again.
If I remember correctly, one of the bright new inventions of an electronics show from a year ago was a TV power cable that was ultra thing. You could stick it to the wall and paint over it. I don't have a link, though. (and I don't know how much it costs).
I mounted a cable run on the outside of my wall, primarily because I didn't want to run a power cable through the wall since I'd read so many sites that advised against it. It actually doesn't look bad at all. We painted it the same color as the walls and it blends in really well.
You'd have to take off the LCD, make ONE hole, then run the cables down. You'll probably have to rewire it, but it's worth it http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/ca/learningcenter/home/PDFs/FlatpanelTV.pdf More guides here: http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/S-kUdFSGqgMsJ/reviews/installationguide/ from CrutchField.
Yep, unless you run into a firewall(plank of wood going horizontally between the studs) you should have no problem with a hole behind the TV and another behind the electronics. If it gets too tricky, you can always get you a wallplate and some sheetrock screws to cover an even larger hole. With minimal force being exerted on the cables not having an in-wall bracket to screw the wall plate into won't matter.
Monoprice.com for everything you need - cables, etc. I bought: 50ft HDMI 50ft VGA 50ft Component 50ft Composite component switch box all for around $130 shipped. I ran cables in my wall, down to the baseboard. Because of the way my baseboard is, I could run it behind the baseboard, and there was still a little room for me to run it along behind the baseboard and still reattach the baseboard without drilling any holes. Mileage may vary. I'd say your biggest stumbling block will be a fire block. New construction codes require them in all walls at around 4 feet from the floor (I may be wrong on the distance). Drill a hole and get a piece of twine. Tie a weight (fishing weight) to the end. Drop it down the hole until you meet resistance. Mark the twine where it ends and pull it up. If it goes all the way to the floor, you're in business. If it only goes down a few feet, you probably have a fire block. You can drill into the wall at the point of the fireblock and drill a hole into it to pass the cables through, then use some drywall mud to patch it up later. I also ran a heavy-duty extension cord up through the hole. You can get fancy and scab onto an existing outlet and put an outlet behind your TV, but since no one is going to see, I just ran a cord for power.
What's so great about hanging it on the wall if you have to have a bulky stand thing to put your cable box and stuff on?
50ft HDMI - that's the HD cable that you get on most newer stuff. Looks kind of like a USB or Firewire plug. 50ft VGA - That's old-school computer monitor wiring. My Plasma only has VGA. You can get DVI, which is the newer format (and the exact same wavelength as HDMI). The only drawback with DVI is that there are different formats, but they all have converters for VGA. The VGA cable was cheap so I decided to throw it in. 50ft Component- This is HD cabling split into three different colors. Lots of older HD equipment has this instead of HDMI, and even some new consoles like the Wii and 360. It still looks great, but not as compact as HDMI. The cabling I bought also had stereo cables, so there were five ends for the cable in all. 50ft Composite- This is really old school. Has one video cable and two stereo cables. I got this because of all of my old consoles have this output. Component switch box- got this for all of my component inputs, like my Wii and Xbox. Comes with a remote or you can just cycle through the inputs using a button on the front. I also bought a cheap Composite switch box on ebay, although I've also just used splitters in the past. This video isn't great to begin with. Composite splitter:
Because done right it's awesome. <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/treymcglaun/House06/photo#5168107050760894722"><img src="http://lh3.google.com/treymcglaun/R7jN-xnLeQI/AAAAAAAAMB8/4P5GNyU4n6s/s800/House%202008-02%20042.jpg" /></a>
