While I love my audio gear and don’t mind large speakers I do mind a large TV. They’re just a big black slab.
Also acoustics are not favorable since sound reflects it seems.
So I would like to hide it in a piece of furniture and ideally also have something that has good acoustic properties. There is the TV lift option but large screens of 55" will elevate too high to clear the furniture.
I would like something like this where the tv rises AND the furniture lowers. But I cannot find a pre-built version of something similar. I don’t think my DIY skills are good enough to make this.
Have you considered a projector and motorised screen? Ours enables serious size (12ft wide screen is also blackout blind on a big window). You can then have a small (by today’s standards TV for other watching like News etc.
During daylight hours when lowered our screen is totally lightproof in front of the large window, and totally lightproof blinds on one window each side. (Not strictly blackout as they are not sealed around their peripheries.) Fully glazed doors further back each side have curtains, but not totally lightproof. We chose a grey screen on the basis that it is said to be more tolerant of stray light, and it certainly is usable for immersive movie watching during daylight hours. We view from about the same distance away as the width of the screen, which would be unachievable in practice with a TV screen. Watching a film that way is very much like being at a proper (not small-screen) cinema, and we love it. For plain TV, we used to use a 32" telly, but having a 50" made redundant by the projector we now use that, but we have the luxury of two lounges, the big one being music room + cinema, and the smaller sunroom also being TV room.
We’ve also ended up getting a laser projector that can be easily hidden in a cupboard, instead of a large TV that looks awful when not on, and would dominate the space.
Our lounge is quite bright, but we mostly only watch films and series late in the day and night. It’s still usable during the day, if we close the shutters.
I’ve looked at many options and was also thinking of hiding a TV inside furniture. But this was not a simple solution. If you have the wall space, a project is a simple and cost effective way to go.
I went with a laser projector, so don’t need to worry about lamp life and replacement. It’s also quiet in operation and small enough to put it away when not in use. But gives a very immersive cinema experience when watching films on weekends. If you’re after a watch everyday telly, it might not be the best option. As it take a few mins to set-up and run cables to the hi-fi for best audio experience.
Samsung’s the Frame was also on my short list, as it displays artwork when not in use. But I didn’t like the fact that it uses electricity the whole time
Yes - I should have said motorised, so I will edit for clarity. Ours is fixed to the top of the wall. When I mounted it I put a foam strip between case and wall to prevent stray light going up to reflect off the white ceiling immediately above. The brand we have is Platinum - and from memory it cost just under £200 in about 2015 - a fifth the cost of a manual lightproof blind (not screen) quoted for supply and fitting by the local blind & curtain business! To be critical it seems slightly unflat in places, veru slightly distorting the image but I have only noticed on still images, not while watching a film.
As well as those, you can get under-bed TV mounts that can take pretty large screen, it slides out and swings up. The mechanism could be fitted into a long & wide but quite low chest.
Or of course thd TV could be set up as an illuminated art panel with long-period slideshow of any pictures desired - even put a frame around and display images if old masters!
Now that flat screens are getting much larger and thinner, there is more an issue with delamination - separation of layers. This is from some flatscreens having some flex.
I had an issue with my flatscreen that was mounted on a swivelling armature on the wall. We often used to swivel the screen depending on who was more interested in watching and where they were sitting.
The swivel mount is a robust job in use since first supporting a very heavy plasma, so is quit stiff to manoeuvre. I believe holding the edge of my flatscreen to swivel must have flexed it and caused this delaminations.
This resulted in colour deformations similar to screen burn. Bubbles and patches that were darker.
Luckily the screen was still under warranty.
This should be something to consider if there is likely movement in hiding a large flatscreen.
