You've seen the ads showing flat panel displays mounted to a nice clean wall or even the ceiling. It seems great: no more TV stand and the TV will fit on any wall.

It's a great thing, in theory. However, the most important consideration is how you get video into it. The TV's in the commercials never seem to have any cables or video devices hooked up to them. If you're willing to run cables in the walls behind the TV, you can have that clean look with a wall mount. Of course, if your TV service includes a set top box, you'll need to place it somewhere that your remote control and TV cables can reach it. Add in a surround sound system and you'll need to hide speake wires as well as find a place to put the audio receiver. This means you may need some sort of equipment cabinent to store your gear, including a DVD player, DVR or VCR, if you have them.

One issue most people don't consider when mounting a TV to their wall is weight. Even a flat panel display can be too heavy for most residential walls to support. You may need to add bracing in order to keep that very expensive TV from falling onto the floor, along with part of the wall.