The right mount is a match, not a favourite
A wall mount only has to do three things: fit your TV, out-hold its weight with room to spare, and put the picture where you actually sit. Get those right and the “fixed vs tilt vs full-motion” question mostly answers itself. Here is the order we work through before a single hole gets drilled.
Match the VESA pattern first
Flip the TV or check the manual for its VESA size — the spacing of the four bolt holes in millimetres, like 200×200 or 400×300. The mount has to match that pattern (or ship with an adapter plate). This is step one because everything else is moot if the arms do not line up with the holes.
Check the weight rating — with headroom
Every mount lists a maximum TV weight and size. Pick one rated comfortably above your TV’s real weight, not right at the edge. A mount running near its limit sags and works the anchors loose over the years — and a full-motion arm multiplies that load as it extends.
Pick the style for how you sit
Fixed sits slim and flush — perfect when the seating is straight-on at eye level. Tilting angles the screen down, which rescues higher spots (over a fireplace) and cuts glare. Full-motion pulls out, swivels and tilts for the kitchen or an off-angle couch — the most flexible, and the most demanding on the wall.
Match the anchor to the wall
Drywall means into the studs, usually 16 inches apart — anchors alone will not hold a TV. Solid brick or concrete takes masonry anchors set into the brick face, not the mortar. A stone veneer over framing gets probed first so the bolts reach real wood. This is the step that keeps the TV on the wall.
The cheapest mount is usually the right one — until it isn’t
For most living rooms, a fixed or tilting mount is genuinely the better buy: slimmer, nothing to sag, less to go wrong, and half the price. The time a full-motion arm earns its keep is a specific one — an open-plan room where you want to see the screen from the kitchen, a corner install, a bedroom where you watch lying down, or a bright wall where angling the TV away from a window is the only way to beat the glare. Those arms are worth it there, but they lean hard on the wall, so they need solid backing and honest weight math — a heavy TV on a fully extended arm is a lot of leverage on a few lag bolts. That is the one place we most often talk people out of the cheapest option and into doing it once, properly. Send us the TV model and a photo of the wall and where you sit, and we will tell you which of the three actually fits — and we will say so when the plain fixed mount is all you need.
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We bring the right mount — and the right anchors
We match the mount to your TV and wall, land it on solid backing, level it, and hide the wires. Tell us the TV and the wall and we will quote it flat — no surprises, no sag.
More guides: How high to mount a TV · TV on brick or stone · Hide the wires
Quick answers
What is a VESA pattern?
The spacing in millimetres of the four bolt holes on the back of your TV, like 400×300. The mount must match it or include an adapter — it is the first thing to check.
Fixed, tilting or full-motion?
Fixed for straight-on eye-level seating, tilting for higher spots and glare, full-motion for off-angle or kitchen viewing. Full-motion needs solid backing and costs the most.
How much weight should the mount hold?
Well above your TV’s real weight, not right at the limit. Extra headroom keeps it from sagging and stops the anchors working loose over time.
Can I mount without hitting studs?
On drywall, no — it has to catch the studs (usually 16 inches apart). On solid brick or concrete we use masonry anchors in the brick face instead.