TV Stands: An Introduction

When you are looking for a new home to house that brand new LCD TV you are faced with a multitude of possible choices, in the early days the majority of AV Furniture comprised of the Glass TV Stand and these tended to be basic and rectangular, not very exciting at all, but they served their purpose.

Of course today the TV Stand or TV Cabinet is almost as important a buying consideration as the actual TV itself. The TV Furniture you choose is these days an integral part of the home and adds to the viewing pleasure of today’s modern home theatre systems as well as the décor and overall feeling of the room in which it is housed.

Bearing this in mind, let us discuss the different types of TV Stand and TV Cabinet available to you in today’s market and some of the strengths, merits and weaknesses of each of the different types. Before that, and before you make your decision on which TV Stand to purchase there are a number of factors that we recommend giving some consideration and although they are related to most of the styles and designs you will consider there are some that may actually influence the type of TV Stand you choose.

• Will the TV Stand fit in the location you are planning and does it match the décor of the room
• Is the TV Stand you are considering, wide enough to take your TV and is it capable of supporting the weight of your TV, all of this information is readily available to you.
• Allow enough shelf space for all the equipment you are going to be housing especially if you have sub woofers or large centre speakers.
• Try to avoid having to stack devices and ensure that they are going to get enough ventilation.
• Consider the amount of cabling that will be trailing behind the TV stand, does it allow for some sort of cable management system.

So, lets take a look at some of the types available.

Glass TV Stands

Glass TV Stands are available in a range of different styles but usually combine several of the following common elements clear glass, black glass shelving with either chrome, silver or black coloured supports an accents. Currently the most popular of these is the Black Glass TV Stand, usually this is because the black glass finish is most similar to that of the modern LCD and Plasma TV’s and this has become even more so with the new LED TV’s where the designs tend to more glass front and less bezel.

When looking at Glass TV Stands always ensure that the top glass is at least 8mm in thickness and that it is manufactured from toughened safety glass (all the glass stands at TV Stands UK meet this minimum criteria). As a rule the thicker the glass the stronger it will be and consequently this will be a decider in the weight factor of the TV Stand as well.

In general Glass TV Stands will have some sort of cable management on them but its always worth checking, this is an essential on a Clear Glass TV Stand, without cable management the aesthetics of your new TV Unit will be irrelevant as all the trailing wires will just spoil the look.

In general Glass TV Stands are a very good solution for most consumers, providing excellent value for money as well as being practical and stylish.

Corner TV Stands

Available in a wide range of styles the main advantage of the corner TV stands or TV cabinet is that they are designed in such a way as to enable them to be pushed right into the corner of the room and as such can be a great way of saving space and utilising an area of the room that is often wasted.

It is most important due to the nature of these designs to ensure that all of your equipment will fit as Corner TV Stands tend to be considerably narrower at the back than they are at the front. They are generally for the smaller size TV’s although there are some designs now such as the Iconic TX7000 Lindi series and Iconic 1050 Manzini series TV Cabinet which can take TV’s up to 50”.

That said a great many manufacturers are now designing their normal stands with cut off corners at the rear allowing them to be placed in a corner or on a flat wall, these obviously will not go as far back into the corner as a true corner TV Stand but they will generally accept more equipment.

Wooden TV Stands

Like their glass counterparts, wooden TV stands share a lot of design similarities when it comes to practicality and functionality. However if your room already has a lot of wooden furniture or you just prefer the more traditional look then the wooden TV stand is more desirable.

When looking at wooden TV stands the quality of the finish is very important, very few wooden TV Stands are made from solid wood, this is due to the heat generated from all of the equipment being housed, this doesn’t mean they aren’t available as some high end wooden TV stands are made this way and they tend to have a metal frame to prevent warping. Generally the better quality wood TV stands have a real wood veneer which ensures that they look the part without the risk of warping as they are laid on to stronger materials.

Wood TV Stands are generally a very stylish and elegant piece of AV Furniture and make a very nice focal point for your room and TV.

TV Cabinet

What’s the difference I hear you ask between a TV Stand and a TV Cabinet, well the simple answer is the latter is a kind of television furniture that features an enclosed design, they also have a tendency to be the most expensive for the very same reason.

However, they are an excellent choice if you have a lot of expensive AV equipment or you just want to keep it away from tiny hands and prying fingers.

With a TV Cabinet it is absolutely essential to ensure that there is enough room inside for all of your equipment also bear in mind that you need to allow more room for the air to circulate better. Most TV Cabinets allow for adjustable shelves internally but these can sometimes be fixed, it is worth noting that they can sometimes be narrower than the main unit.

Cantliever TV Stands

The cantilever TV stand is very much the new kid on the block and provides the practicality of a glass TV stand with the pleasing aesthetics of a wall mounted television.

In general cantilever TV stands are a column mounted onto a base, which could be similar to many glass TV Stands or it could just be a nicely designed base, at the higher end of the column is a mounted bracket not dissimilar to the bracket you would use to mount the TV to the wall and it has the effect of the TV floating above the stand.

Because of the nature of their design it is most critical to ensure that the cantilever TV Stand is designed for the weight of your television, you will also need to ensure that the VESA fitting of your TV is supported by the bracket of the cantilever TV Stand, VESA refers to the distance between the mounting holes on the rear of your television.

The cantilever TV stand is a great option if you were considering wall mounting your TV and it has a few significant advantages over wall mounting, the main one being you can still move it around the room and is not a fixed and final decision as with wall mounting, generally the TV can be adjusted up and down the column (its worth checking, as not all cantilever TV stands offer this function). They also tend to have superior cable management to other TV stands and in some of the more expensive versions the cables can actually be run down the spine of the column.

One final important aspect if you are considering a cantilever TV stand is the location, these types of stand can still be placed in the corner of the room but due to the TV been mounted at the back of the stand; the width of the TV will dictate how deep into the corner it will go.

Finally...

By now you should have a little understanding of the different types and styles of TV stand available to you, and hopefully this will help you decide which of these different designs is best suited to your needs. However, if you are still not sure then remember our friendly and knowledgeable staff are available to assist.