Our First "Industry Insider" Guest Blogger: Chief Manufacturing's Laurie Englert

As part of 1080eyes' continuing effort to make sure you receive the best consumer information out there on HDTV and related products, we've enlisted the services of several "Industry Insider" guest bloggers who will contribute content from time to time. The first of these is Laurie Englert, who is the Director of Marketing for Chief Manufacturing where she is responsible for marketing Flat Panel and Projector Mounting Solutions for both commercial and consumer market segments. "We put the cool in mounts! "

Why the Mount Matters
By Laurie Englert, Chief Manufacturing

It wasn’t that long ago that simply mounting a 42” flat panel TV tight to the wall was a big deal. It saved space and actually became a key design component in the layout of a room.

If that wasn’t cool enough, consumers and businesses alike realized they could do more with the flat panel TV by adding a swing arm to the back so it could be viewed from multiple angles and even from different rooms.

So, very quickly, what the back of a flat panel looked like started to matter. No one wanted to see cords hanging down or large pieces of metal coming out the back of the TV. This made it essential to make the design and look of mounts much more pleasing to see. Smooth, rounded arms replaced very rough, hard-angled arms, integrated cord management and even simple changes like more open, clean back plates became essential.

In fact, not only do consumers want the swing arms for flexibility but they also still want the TV to hug up against the wall. That’s why Chief also came up with In-wall Boxes to hold the arms and electrical in the box so the flat panel TV could still be low profile when not in use.