OTHER TECH

•Photo Gallery

Mounts & Lifts For years, if you wanted a big-screen TV, you had to give up a sizable chunk of your home's square-footage - and deal with a décor-killing cabinet. But now, even the largest plasma and LCD screens can be hung on a wall to save valuable floor space. Plus, they just look cool.

But there's much more to mounting a flat-panel TV than simply hanging it on the wall. To begin with, you have to decide where you want the set, and then you have to decide what type of mount will best suit the location and your viewing habits. And there's always the question of what to do with all those wires, since cables dangling from a wall-hanging TV can be a real eyesore.

Do-it-yourself installation isn't out of the question when using a simple mount with a small TV. (For more on doing it yourself, check out S&V installation guru John Sciacca's How to Mount a Flat-Panel TV.) But for large flat-panel sets hung with more elaborate mounts, it's probably best to leave the installation to a pro.

Prime Location First, determine the best place to mount your set. You probably already have a spot in mind, but there are a few things to consider before drilling any holes. Of course, you need to make sure the location is out of direct sunlight. Before you buy the TV, you might want to take a piece of poster board or a picture that's roughly the same size as the set and hang it for a while to see how it looks in the space. As for how high to mount the TV, while the viewing angle isn't as critical with recent LCDs as it was with older models, you don't want to strain your neck by having to look up throughout a 2-hour movie. A good rule of thumb is to place the center of the screen 5 feet from the floor.