Hanging a TV on the wall frees up the furniture, but often leaves the screen fixed facing the sofa. This mount leaves room for adjustment: its single metal arm extends the panel up to 26 cm from the wall, swivels it to the left or right and tilts it slightly. It accommodates screens from 40 to 65 inches and attaches to a solid wall, with the wall plugs and spirit level supplied in the box.
The FR-400 FLAT belongs to Meliconi’s Flatstyle range, the Italian manufacturer’s most affordable family of mounts, with deliberately minimalist lines. Its construction consists of three elements: a plate screwed to the wall, an articulated arm and a mounting plate attached to the mounting holes on the back of the TV. The assembly combines metal and ABS plastic and weighs approximately 1.8 kg.
Folded against the wall, the arm leaves 53 mm between the wall and the back of the TV. The screen does not sit flush against the wall as it would with a fixed mount, but the gap remains small and the mechanism disappears behind the panel once the screen is returned to its straight-ahead position.
Extended, the arm brings the TV up to 262 mm away from the wall, and this clearance makes swivelling possible. The screen swivels 35° to either side, enough to turn it towards a dining table, a kitchen area open to the living room or an armchair positioned at an angle. The tilt range, from -5° to +10°, helps correct glare from a window or lamp, or compensate for mounting slightly above eye level.
With a large screen, the panel’s width limits this range. When the TV swivels, the edge nearest the wall moves back towards it, and the wider the screen, the sooner it touches the wall. The smaller screen sizes in the range can approach 35°, while a 55- or 65-inch screen swivels more modestly, which is usually enough to face a second seating area.
The stated range is 40 to 65 inches, or a diagonal of 102 to 165 cm, with a maximum weight of 35 kg. Compatibility is checked on the back of the TV, using the spacing between the four threaded holes provided for wall mounting, according to the VESA standard. The mount accepts hole spacings of 200, 300 and 400 mm, from 200 × 200 to 400 × 400, including rectangular patterns. A TV with a VESA 100 or 600 mounting pattern is not compatible, even if its diagonal falls within the range. For weight, the figure to compare is the TV’s weight without its stand, listed in its specifications.
The supplied mounting hardware includes Fischer wall plugs intended for solid walls (concrete, solid brick or solid concrete blocks) and a spirit level to align the wall plate before drilling. The joint is secured by a self-locking nut, which prevents accidental loosening once firmly tightened with the appropriate tools.
A plasterboard or hollow-brick partition falls outside the intended scope: the supplied wall plugs are not suitable, and the TV’s weight, carried at the end of the arm when extended, exerts a much greater leverage force on the fixing than a flat mount does.
No, it is designed for solid walls, and the supplied wall plugs are only suitable for this type of wall. For a partition wall, the Flatstyle range includes brackets approved for plasterboard, supplied with suitable universal wall plugs.
Simply measure the horizontal distance between two adjacent mounting holes in millimetres, then the vertical distance. A television rated 300 × 200 measures 300 mm horizontally and 200 mm vertically. For this mount, each of the two values must be 200, 300 or 400 mm. The hole spacing is also listed in the television’s manual.
Compatibility is limited to 65 inches, and meeting the weight limit is not enough to go beyond this range. A wider panel would also reduce the available swivel range before touching the wall.
The FB version features the Fastblock system: two mounting rails screw onto the back of the TV, then the assembly clips onto the mounting plate, with a click from each rail confirming that it is locked in place. Its tilt ranges from -5° to +17° and its distance from the wall from approximately 7 to 27 cm. Swivel, VESA compatibility, screen size range and load capacity are identical.
A self-locking nut offers resistance from the very first turns by design. This feeling of locking does not mean the assembly is tight: you must continue turning firmly with a wrench so that the joint remains secure without play over time.
The usual guideline places the centre of the screen roughly at eye level for a seated person, around one metre from the floor for a standard sofa. The mounting plate is then positioned according to the location of the VESA holes on the television, which are rarely at the exact centre of the panel. A higher installation is still possible, with tilting helping to angle the image towards the viewer.
Patrick
The product is unsuitable, my screen does not stay perpendicular. You have to cobble together a system to make it hold. This product is not suitable for large screens.
Comment from 26 April 2022 — Experience from 15 April 2022
