Desk mounts are commonly used with monitors and laptops to improve ergonomics in
work and home office situations. In recent years their use has been extended to
TV's; providing a convenient solution for mounting small to medium sized LED
and LCD screens in kitchens, breakfast and study areas. Many of the latest
generation TV's offer IP and PC connectivity so their function can double up
Desk mounts come in a number of styles:
• Freestanding desk mounts or ‘stands’: Most monitors and flat screen TV's come with a stand. 3rd
party mounts come in various configurations and can be a useful addition if you
need to lift your display higher off the desk or mount multiple displays
together. Multi-screen mounts can take a little work to set up so Quick Release mounting
heads are a handy feature to look out for as is integrated cable management to
minimise all the cable clutter. Freestanding mounts often require a lot of
space so the best products (e.g. VFS-DV from Atdec) tend to feature small
but heavy bases to minimise the impact on your work area.
• Attached desk mounts: These mounts are physically attached to the desk via bolt-through
or clamp systems. They tend to provide
more positional adjustment than a fixed stand and may also assist with
security. There are pole styles such as Atdecs' Visidec Display Series with
limited adjustment for POS, touch-screen and classroom applications. There are
models with articulated arms like the Visidec Focus range for retail and office applications. There are also versions with
full 6 axis adjustment and Dynamic Lift Assistance (spring or gas-assisted
height adjustment) like the Levitate range.
Considerations for choosing desk
mounts
When choosing a desk mount, you need to evaluate your options
carefully:
•
Do you need to mount one screen,
multiple screens, or a screen plus laptop combination?
•
What degree of adjustment do your
require; vertical, horizontal, forward/back, tilt, pan, &/or landscape to
portrait orientation rotation?
•
Do you have space issues which
require the freedom of movement to be constrained during installation? Do you
need to constrain the pan adjustment so others can't see what is on the screen?
•
Are there any issues with the
mounting surface? Are you using rented furniture, a glass or antique desk?
•
Do you work with a touch screen or POS product? Do you require
adjustable tension control so you can adjust the position / orientation then
fix the mount in place for screen operation.
Selecting the right mount…
The main criteria for selecting a mount are:
Load capacity: You need a mount which can accept the size and weight of
your TV. Some versions (particularly those with spring or gas-lift operation)
have a minimum as well as a maximum load capacity.
Mounting pattern: The “mounting
pattern” is the screw hole layout on the back of the screen which is used to
attach the TV to the mount. Most use an International VESA standard which is a
metric measurement based on the height and width between the holes.
Wall offset: If mounting on a wall
do you want something that is low profile or ultra-low profile for a sleek and
flush finish. Alternatively, do you need a mount which allows a lot of screen
position &/or tilt adjustment?
Screen size: The ideal wall mount is all but invisible. Its dimensions
should be less than those of the TV.
Quality: Please, please, please do
not buy “No name” mounts. Your TV is too expensive to risk an accident and
the ideal solution is both flexible and durable. The best industry standard
mounts are easy to install, easy to use and much better quality.