ScreenDeck TV Shelf Review

When I was a kid, TVs were big boxes that sat on the floor.  The tops had plenty of room to decorate with lamps or whatnots.  Today’s flatscreen TVs have pictures that put the old TVs to shame, and they fit on a table smaller than those old TVs.  What they don’t have is room on the top to set anything, often not even one of those thin little Wii receivers.  ScreenDeck has addressed that problem with their shelves that attach to the back of flatscreen TVs.  I was selected to give a ScreenDeck shelf a closer look.

Some pictures can be clicked for a larger version.

ScreenDeck shelves attach to the VESA mounting holes that can be used to hang the flatscreen to the wall.  Because they use the mounting holes, ScreenDeck shelves are only for use with stand-mounted TVs.

They come in three sizes:  30”-37” televisions, 37”-47” televisions, and TVs 50” and up.  I first asked for the 30”-37” size to use with my 32” television in the bedroom.  The ScreenDeck for smaller TVs consists of two L-shaped mounting bars that screw directly into the VESA mounting holes.  My TV is a Vizio, and it apparently has non-standard mounting holes that were too close together to work with the ScreenDeck.

I contacted the folks at ScreenDeck, and they agreed to send me a shelf for the 50” and up TVs.  The TV in my living room is a 65” Sharp Aquos, so I had my fingers crossed that it would work with the ScreenDeck.

The shelf for the largest TVs has an extra piece, a crossbar that screws into the VESA attachment points on the TV.  The crossbar has 4 fixed posts where you attach the L-shaped bars.  You center the crosspiece on the back of the TV so the shelf will be centered over the top of the TV.  The installation kit includes screws of various sizes so you can match your VESA mounting screw holes.

Before you attach the L-shaped bars, you slide plastic cord clips onto the long end of the legs.  You screw the short ends of the legs to the shelf, then you attach the shelf to the mounting posts on the crosspiece.  You use the plastic clips to corral the cables for the devices on the shelf.

The shelf is made of matte black plastic.  It’s 17.6” long X 5” deep, so you can see it’s much shorter than the length of my TV.  The shelf is designed to hold small items.  The total weight should be five pounds or less, and the arrangement of the items should be balanced.   Because the attachment points are relatively far away from the shelf, the bars tend to flex a bit and the shelf can sway a bit front-to-back.

When you have a TV with standard VESA mountings, the ScreenDeck shelf is easy to install.  It makes a very convenient place to put things like videogame receivers, small middle-channel speakers, or small multimedia boxes like the Apple TV.