Plasma or flat panel cabinet question

[wallace chapman]

Has anyone built or seen any good flat panel TV cabinets, stands or wall mounting from wood?

I might be acquiring a 40" plasma and would like to see if you guys have done any interesting things with these yet?

Wallace

[Mario Lucchesi]

I have not seen any, but from my experience with the plasma units I have at work is to make sure that you have vents on the top as they put out a lot of heat. and you will need to disapate it to prolong the life of the unit.

[Barry Beech]

Hooker furniture has some good looking units that don't look to be too hard to build. Working on one myself.:D

[Jim Becker]

The trend is away from putting these new flat screens "in" a cabinet. (and the ventilation comment is right on) Rather they go on the wall and lower cabinet generally takes care of storage needs and auxillary equipment. The units can also sit on their stand on that same lower cabinet if you prefer. Getting rid of the "really big" piece of furniture also makes the room feel so much bigger. 'Just something to consider... ;)

[Jason Tuinstra]

Here are a couple that I like from a place called The Joinery.

[Mike Deschler]

I second the coment on plasma displays running hot. I would avoid enclosing one of these units unless you can provide some positive ventilation through out the cabinet. Plasma displays degrade rapidly over time at elevated ambient temperatures. I'm personally waiting for LCD prices to come down further and then going that route because of the differences screen temperatures. Otherwise, if you need a room heater, plasma may be the way to go.

[Jim Becker]

Jason, those are very nice...but what's wrong with that second picture??? :)

[Jason Tuinstra]

Jason, those are very nice...but what's wrong with that second picture??? :)

I give up. :confused:

[Jim Becker]

You'll need a good chiropractor if you watch that nice flat screen from that chair!! ;) Furniture advertising is such an art...

[Jason Tuinstra]

You'll need a good chiropractor if you watch that nice flat screen from that chair!! ;) Furniture advertising is such an art...

Ahhhh.... I with ya' now. I figured it had something to do with the chair, but my guess what that it had to do with the chair not facing the TV.

[Jamie Buxton]

An odd thing about the flat TVs is that they are much thinner than the associated components that people want to include with them -- cable boxes, DVD players, amplifiers, and the like. With the older TVs, the display and the electronics all were the same depth, and fit nicely in one cabinet. Now you need a different solution. One approach is to hang the TV on a wall, like Jim says, and to put the electronics in a separate cabinet. Remember the stereo racks, which used to be popular a while back? They'd be 20Wx 18D x whatever tall. They'd stack electronics, and sometimes they'd include drawers for media storage. This approach now works well near flat screen TVs. You can put the TV on the wall where you can see it easily, and stack the electronics boxes in a corner.

[Harish C. Mathur]

I agree with some of the previous posts on the plasma TV's giving off alot of heat. I have a 50" Panasonic that gets pretty toastly after a short period of use. BTW, they are also heavy. Your HT components have the same issue and need good ventilation... I don't have anything fancy, but my Denon receiver was getting pretty hot in my old enclosed cabinent.

For myself,

I plan to build something like this.

http://www.dynamichometheater.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=STUT_ULT_22T&Category_Code=

I really like their use of ventilated panels. With my stereo components and the MythTV PC I am building, I want lots of ventilation. BTW, there is a PDF on the page with dimensions.

I mounted the TV on the wall and ran the cables behind the drywall. I like the clean look. The best deal on a mount, that I found at the time, was at costco.com. They had a nice tilting mount for less that $100. I would recommend going with a tilting mount.

If you have not purchased yet, I would recommend looking at the LCDs. They are lighter, produce less heat and IMO have a much better picture.

good luck, , Harish

[Dave Avery]

Jamie is right-on. Unless you hide the auxillary HT components over in a corner, the flat screen that plasma provides is not that useful from a space point of view. We have a Mits DLP TV that provides 99% of the picture quality in HD that plasma does at 1/2 the price. It weighs less than 100# for a 52" screen and is about 15" deep. Something to consider - particularly after seeing the pictures posted by Jason - the flat TV sitting way inside the cabinetry just looks "odd" to me. Dave.

[Sam Blasco]

Here's some interesting options. http://www.auton.com/content/gallery/plasma.html

[wallace chapman]

I agree with you guys, the depth on a normal enclosure would definetely take away from the point of getting a flat screen.

Sam, I really like the cabinet on the link you provided, very thin and functional. I may go with something of that style.

Would have gone the DLP way myself but got a super deal on the plasma, so I'm Stuck (relatively speaking).

The mounts seem so plain, especially given the artistry of the furniture I see posted on this Forum.

Seems like an unexploited market??

Wallace

[Tom Bickley]

Here are some pics of what I did for my 42" plasma. This is an old dresser that we had in the house that was donated by my inlaws. We did not like the drawer/door fronts so I removed them and made new (as shown) out of red oak. I removed two drawers to make room for the stereo/cable/dvd components and make false drawer fronts that flip down to hide the components. The rest of the dresser has loads of room for storage.

[wallace chapman]

Hey Tom, great use of an older piece of furniture.

Can't see the overall picture of the Plasma, so can't get a clear idea of how it all falls together.

I've always wondered if there was some unique uses for older furniture or new life for them.


Wallace

[Tom Bickley]

Does this picture help? This was taken from the couch about 12 feet in front of the tv.

[wallace chapman]

Does this picture help? This was taken from the couch about 12 feet in front of the tv.

Yes, that's great. Good accent to the Plasma.

Wallace

[Bob Winkler]

Hey Tom, that's a creative use for an old piece. I often wonder why more old, discarded furniture is not used as a basis for new, functional pieces. With the cost of lumber, and the quality of old furniture construction that is often free or cheap, it makes sense to me.

Great work!

Bob

[Hal Flynt]

I have a DLP and built a base Similar the one in Harish's post.

His Reference http://www.dynamichometheater.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=STUT_ULT_22T&Category_Code

I built 3 cubes with open ends, 18" inside. Face Frames, 3 Shelves per cube on brass shelf pins into shelf holes. Traditional base and the top overhangs about an inch in front and sides and flush with the back. This holds my A/V gear and some media. I don't have doors as of yeat and haven't decided whether or not to add them.

This year I plan to build a suround for the set as an upper Chest on Chest type. Frame and panel sides, mostly open back (Pluwood panel the comes in about 3" all around to block any back light but allow air circulation) one fixed shelf above TV for center channel and whatever will fit to the sides of the speaker. Maybe a crown around the top.

Due to the dimensions of the thin sets, doors are difficult to fit that will still look good. My set is 48 inches wide and 15 inches deep. I may design a bi-fold (or even a tri-fold) set of doors that will tuck to the sides when open. So far the wife acceptance factor has not requested doors.

Forget about "golden proportions", but scale models help you visualize and adjust to a pleasing proportion.

[Keith Weber]

Wallace,

I don't know if this qualifies as a "good" one, but it was a cheap and easy one. My goal was to make it for under $100 and I did do that. It was made out of a single sheet of 3/4" Birch Ply (plus a 1/4" backer board). It is (big surprise) 48" wide. It is actually suspended 1/32" off the floor with casters, which surprises most people when I roll it out to get at the wires. Finish is Cherry stain and Polyurethane. The pic doesn't really show it, but the Birch has a very curly figure which really looks nice. I couldn't stomach spending $300 on the ugly plastic one to match the TV. My TV is a 50" LCD Projection, but something like this should work for a Plasma as well.

Keith

[Harish C. Mathur]

Hal,

If possible, can you post pictures of what you built? I'd like to use them as reference as I design my set-up. In my case, with three 2 1/2 old kids running around, I don't have a choice but to put doors (prefer them to lock) on. I liked the use of metal mesh door panels because it provides protection and ventilation.

[Tom Bickley]

Hal,

If possible, can you post pictures of what you built? I'd like to use them as reference as I design my set-up. In my case, with three 2 1/2 old kids running around, I don't have a choice but to put doors (prefer them to lock) on. I liked the use of metal mesh door panels because it provides protection and ventilation.
Harish, Just an idea for ventilation (this is what I did in my "dresser" entertainment center): If there is about an 1/8" gap around the door that hides components, then a computer type mushroom fan mounted on the back of the entertainment center is enough to draw air through the compartment. I put a fan on each component compartment. Each fan exhausts something like 15 or 20 cfm and has a 120 V power pack transformer. If you plug the transformer into the switched outlet on the back of the component, it will come on when the component is turned on. It has worked great for me.

[Jim Becker]

You can see a picture of the one I build for our 30" LCD flat screen below. This is not as involved as others, but fit the bill for our needs.

The original threads are:

1) http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=7396&highlight=stand

2) http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=8250&highlight=stand

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Here's one mounted on a fireplace facade (the FP is never used) and the TV is an LCD. The facade is solid Oak as are the bookcases that flank it. As Jim mentioned, not many cabinets are built for these, just backdrops....

http://www.hannawoodworks.com/OakETCTR.html

[Harish C. Mathur]

Tom, That's a good idea. Do the fans produce much noise and the difference with and without the fans on noticeable?

[Hal Flynt]

Hal,

If possible, can you post pictures of what you built? I'd like to use them as reference as I design my set-up. In my case, with three 2 1/2 old kids running around, I don't have a choice but to put doors (prefer them to lock) on. I liked the use of metal mesh door panels because it provides protection and ventilation.

I really need to get a digital camera. I keep buyong tools and not the camera.
Sorry.

[Harish C. Mathur]

Hal, no worries... Tools are a lot more fun!!!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

PM John Miliunas and ask for pics of his living room tv. It is a really neat set up :). It is a smaller tv than you have, but it is a great idea!

[Hal Flynt]

Hal,

If possible, can you post pictures of what you built? I'd like to use them as reference as I design my set-up. In my case, with three 2 1/2 old kids running around, I don't have a choice but to put doors (prefer them to lock) on. I liked the use of metal mesh door panels because it provides protection and ventilation.

Here's a drawing of the base:

[Harish C. Mathur]

Hal, wow, thanks! I hope you did not draw this up just for me!

[Tom Bickley]

Tom, That's a good idea. Do the fans produce much noise and the difference with and without the fans on noticeable?
Harish, I can hardly hear the fans and they made a big difference in the heat, even with just a small amount of exhaust air.

[Harish C. Mathur]

Tom, Great, thanks. I'll consider that as an option on my cabinent.

[wallace chapman]

This is a great addition to any flat screen install. Flat wire that can be painted over, hidden under carpet and remain virtually invisible.

Says it will be coming out Fall 2005

http://www.decorp.com/images/products/video/cpv.jpg

www.decorp.com (http://www.decorp.com)

I really like the designs and creativity you guys are using for your flat panels. I would have to say my favorite has to be the Costco Plasma (stand??). Looks more like a complete unit to me, but I like how it ties everything together plus no holes in the walls.

http://www.costco.com/Images/Content/Product/762526L.jpg


Wallace