AT&T Uverse - RF Remotes

[cdnbum88]

I am looking to change from Charter to AT&T Uverse and I have one plasma TV over my fireplace that only has a cable card.

I have no room for a reciever, well maybe a small one I can jam in the mounting bracket, but then how will the remote work thinking it is a line of site one???

I know there are RF remotes out there, but don't understand what or how it connects to the TV? I know the box can be anywhere with RF, so that is good for me to put in an unfinished area and life will be good.

Also, side question around the Uverse, will they have to drill to put a phone connection where my cable connection is in order for this to work? Or can they tie back to the coax and not have to add another connection?

Thanks for any insight.

 

[EvilYoda]

An RF remote works by sending the signal via RF (duh ) to a receiver which then translates that to IR and that's sent to the components via IR emitters.

 

[cdnbum88]

Well I get that

I just want to know if I order up Uverse will I need to get some above and beyond RF hardware to be able to operate my TV over the fireplace without having the space for a digital box?

 

[sivart]

you need to get video from the box to the TV, do you already have that wired? (I.e. HDMI run from box location to TV). What about sound? (If not using HDMI you will need to run this, too)

 

[cdnbum88]

I don't have anything yet.

Trying to do my homework ahead of time knowing that I will need some sort of solution with my plasma over the TV before I pull the trigger.

Don't want to get it about to be installed and then am told that 'we' don't have that and you will have to go out and spend $$ more to get that solution option.

 

[sivart]

Some other things to think about.

What type of fireplace do you have and how often do you use it? Heat up the flew combined with the heat of the plasma, can't be good for it.

Is your mantle higher than about 4 feet off the ground? If so you will want a tilt wall mount and even then it may be uncomfortable to watch. (Kind of like sitting in the front row of a theater)

Is your fireplace rock/brick all the way to the ceiling? If so, how do you hide your cable?

If it is sheetrock to the ceiling have you had the appropriate power outlet installed where the TV is going to hang?

Based on the type of TV that you are buying have you check the position of the power cord?

Does it plug in from the bottom up or straight into the back of the unit? You may need a recessed power outlet above the fireplace.

I'm assuming that the TV isn't going to be cheap. Have you thought about surge protection on that outlet? Will it stick out too far? Do you need to buy an expensive outlet with surge protection built in?

Do you have a surround sound system? If so, is there a place to mount / place center speaker directly above or below the TV?

Just a few of the questions that I went through before I decided not to mount my TV above the fireplace.

 

[cdnbum88]

Thanks for all the insight.

I did consider most of those things when we built.

I have not had any issues so far.

I don't have any stereo upstairs, the plasma downstairs has all that stuff. The one upstairs is for just regular viewing.

So with not having any space for much, that is my concern about getting a uverse box and then having to jerririg behind the TV and then figure out the remote issue.

Want to get soe sort of confirmation that I have some solution options before I call Uverse to get installed and don't really want to fork out more dough to get some sort of IR hardware to make this work.