Clearly AV

So you got that shiny new LCD or plasma flat panel HDTV that you’ve always wanted. The next step in actually enjoying your new pride and joy is to have it mounted on the wall in the perfect location. One of the most important things to remember when doing so, especially if you’re mounting the TV yourself, is to pay attention to the maximum allowable weight with the specific wall mounting bracket that you’ll be using. At this point, there would be no bigger tragedy than coming home from work and finding your 50-inch LCD TV smashed into pieces on the floor, all because you didn’t use the proper TV wall mounting bracket and the TV fell off the wall to its demise.

Each wall mounting bracket has a maximum weight capacity listed in the manual that should be followed closely by the installer. It’s not a good idea to go with a mounting arm that is rated for 50 kg if your TV weighs 50 kg. To be safe, always choose a mounting solution which is rated for a maximum weight capacity of at least 50% more than the TV weighs. In the example above, you’d look for a mounting arm which has a maximum weight capacity of about 75 kg.

Also extremely important when determining weight capacities is to realize that the manufacturer’s listed weight capacity is determined based upon the understanding that the mounting arm will be installed correctly i.e., installed into a stud in the wall and not into the drywall or wall paneling itself.

There are a variety of different types of TV mounting brackets. The most common types of wall mounts include: articulating wall arm mounts, pivoting wall arm mounts, flat wall mounts, and tilt wall mounts. Each type of wall mount will feature a different weight capacity, and thus would be better utilized in certain situations. Here’s a quick rundown of each type:

Fully Articulating Wall Mount

Typical weight capacity (kg): 15-75
When you want the most versatile bracket that provides the most choice of viewing angles, you need to look at fully articulated brackets. They can provide vertical tilting of the screen +/- 15º, horizontal swivel of upto 180º around the axis, movement both forwards and backwards allowing you to extend your LCD or Plasma upto 20″ from the wall, some even offer rotation of 360º around the vertical axis allowing you to watch your TV upside down!

Pivoting Double Arm Mount

Typical weight capacity (kg): 15 - 50
This type of wall mounting solution features a 3-hinge design which allows for both a greater viewing angle, as well as the ability to extend the TV up to 20 inches from the wall in some cases.

Pivoting Wall Arm Mount

Typical weight Capacity (kg): 10 - 80
A pivoting wall arm mount consists of a dual-hinged bracket which allows for side to side movement as well as adjustment of the TV’s viewing angle. This type of mounting arm doesn’t provide quite as much range of motion as the articulating mounting arms, but they are typically less expensive.

Flat Wall Mounts

Typical weight capacity (kg): 35 - 100
You can typically mount the biggest and heaviest flat-screens with a flat wall mount. The range of motion is very limited, if at all, and the screen is mounted very close to the wall. The world’s thinnest wallmount is the Peerless Slimline range of brackets at only 8mm deep!

Tilt Wall Mount

Typical weight capacity (kg): 35 - 75
Tilt wall mounts are very similar to flat wall mounts, except for they offer the ability to slightly tilt the screen to achieve an optimum viewing angle. These mounts are perfect for very heavy screens which will be mounted above eye level.

Hopefully these tips will help you to answer the question of how much weight a TV wall bracket will hold. The answer to this question varies depending upon the circumstances, but the information here should help you make that determination for your specific situation.

Once you’ve determined the ideal TV mounting solution, now it’s time to actually mount the bracket onto the wall. Here’s a short video which does a good job of explaining the basic steps that you should follow when mounting your amazing new flat screen. Good luck!