HomeTech Solutions :: How do I pre-wire for a plasma or flat screen TV?

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There are two types of TV's. TV's that have a proprietary (System Cable) that may look a lot like an HDMI cable. This type of TV usually comes with a Daughter box that has all possible inputs, S-Vid/Component/DVI/HDMI/digital/analog audio & video signals. The system cable then runs from this daughter box to the display. The only way to pre-wire for this type of TV is to pre-purchase the TV and run the system cable included through the wall. Although many of these system cables are long, 3 to 5 meters usually, this may not long enough. Many manufactures sell longer cables but at very high prices, $199 to $499 depending on length. You could put an 1 1/2" conduit in the wall as long as there are not to many bends as this system cable usually has a larger head on it. If you are not purchasing the TV for a while and are wanting to pre-wire then we recommend you steer clear of this type of TV.

All other TV's have the associated inputs directly on the back of the set. We feel that by running 5 RG6 cables & 2 Cat5's between the equipment & the display would give you all possibilities. 3 of the coax could be used for red/green/blue or component, just terminate the coax with an "F" connector & put F to RCA adaptors on the ends. The other coax could be used for S-Video (2 coax cables), digital audio (one coax cable) or analog audio (2 coax cables). The Cat5 cables could be used for infrared control or just about any other signal you can think of by using our baluns. The 2 Cat5's & and 5 RG6"s would cover all analog video signals but not DVI or HDMI.

Many people run an HDMI cable in the wall and leave it there for a future install. In a new installation people run a 1.5" flexible conduit to add this digital cable later. All of these solutions make the assumption that you want to mount the flatscreen on the wall while hiding the wires in the wall. If you do not want to go in the wall and still want a cool way of hiding the wires, you may want to look at our Wire Solutions products.

As far as trimming out this installation, HomeTech offers 3 & 4 gang new construction mudrings that offer conduit openings that would be a perfect solution at the cabinet or theater location. At the flatscreen location you could use a double gang version of the mudrings and install the double gang "Nose" wallplate to let the cables just spill out of the wall directly to the TV. Or terminate using an HDMI or component wallplate.

Hometech sells an 8 gang low voltage wall plate that many HT customers fill with there component, HDMI, svideo, whole house audio and structured wire wall plates. Many new high end AV recievers are offering HDMI switching & upconverting that may minimize some of the cable runs we reccomend, however better safe that sorry.

Another thing thats popular is to provide surge protection and/or common grounding from the home theater loaction or rack were the equipment is. Theres a company out there that provides this link and surge protection units however they tend to be expensive. Hometech has figured out a few ways of providing this surge protection for alot less. Our solution includes a few leviton inlet/outlets

Update: HomeTech now offers several methods to power flat-screen TVs remotely.

Visitor Comments

Comment #1 (Posted by Chris )
Why can I not find that "Plasma Box" on your site? Could you link to it somewhere?
Comment #2 (Posted by John Jones )
This article would be a LOT easier to read if the text was wrapped at a "normal" screen width.
Comment #3 (Posted by Ned )
Salut! Informative, good design, well done!. Ned.
Comment #4 (Posted by HomeTech )
John: You're right. I reformatted the article. Chris: Just search for '47617'. It's called a Recessed Entertainment Box.

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