VESA Mounts

VESA Mounts
A monitor mount is a supportive bracket or arm designed to hold up a display. It is created to an industry standard so that if you purchase a monitor, you just need to purchase a VESA mount that is compatible with the monitor. This makes the process of mounting a monitor to a wall, arm or stand a lot easier.

Colloquially it is referred to as a VESA mount. However, the technical name is Flat Display Mounting Interface or VESA Mounting Interface Standard. With names like those, you can see why they just call it a VESA mount.

The vast majority of monitors and TVs on the market will have a VESA mount. In order to mount your screen, you just need to purchase a stand, adapter or arm with the VESA mount for the screen. Let’s have a look at how to do this.

Specifications
To attach a VESA mount, you will find that at the rear of the monitor are four screw holes. These screw holes are what attach to the arm, stand or adapter you are using with the monitor. In order to find one that is compatible, they are made so they are a particular width and height.

The width and height is measured in millimeters. This measurement forms the specification for which VESA mount you should be purchasing. For example, if the screw holes were both 100 millimeters away from each other the VESA mount would be 100×100.

In some cases, the screw holes may be hidden. In order to locate them, the monitor stand may need to be removed. In some cases, the stand may be removed using a quick release clip, and at other times it will need to be unscrewed.

In most cases, you will want to remove the monitor stand as it will get in the way if left on. If it does have any screws in it, one trick to avoid losing them is to put them in the screw holes of the stand and use some tape to prevent them falling out. This way, you don’t lose the screws and if you need to use the stand again you know where the screws are.

Let’s have a look at how to attach an arm to a monitor using a VESA mount.

Demonstration
In this demonstration, I will attach a monitor to one of the connectors of this dual monitor arm. This arm has a clamp that attaches it to the table. Using this arm, it allows the monitor to be easily swiveled around and also rotated between portrait and landscape.

To start with, I will lay the monitor flat and remove the four screws that are holding the monitor’s stand in place. Once the screws are removed, I can pull the monitor stand away from the monitor. Be careful when doing this, so as not to drop the monitor and risk damaging it.

The next step is to attach the arm; you will notice that there are two sets of screw holes. One set is for 75×75 and the other one for 100×100. It is just a matter of screwing in the four screws to attach the arm to the monitor.

With a monitor like this, it has a clamp that is attached to a table. This brings us to the next important considerations to think about before you purchase.

Considerations
The first thing to consider before purchasing is the weight or size limit of the arm or other device you are purchasing. Even if the connector has the correct sized VESA mount, if the screen is too heavy or too large, you risk damaging the screen.

You can see, in this example, the arm is not able to hold the monitor and the monitor fell onto the floor. This can damage the monitor. You don’t want to have this happen to your expensive monitor.

The next point to consider is how the clamp on the monitor will be attached. In the case where our monitor fell onto the floor, you can see how the clamp was connected under the table. The table in this case has a thick edge which only goes a short distance, but under the table it is quite thin by comparison. For this reason, the clamp connection is uneven and thus a poor connection, resulting in the monitor falling onto the floor.

This is something that needs to be considered. If you have a flat table, the clamp will be able to get a better connection to the table. If you find you’re still having trouble, you can put some wood between the clamp and the table. This helps spread the weight out. If you’re still having trouble, look at attaching extra clamps to the wood or even screwing the clamp down to the extra wood to make it more stable. If you are purchasing a new table, before purchasing, consider if you want to attach a device like a monitor arm to it later on. This will affect the decision of which table you buy.

As we have already seen, some connectors support multiple sizes. An important point to remember is that not all VESA mounts will have the same width and height. Generally, they do. However, if you get a mount, for example 400×200, make sure the connector will support it. The connector may support 400×400 and 200×200 but not 400×200. This is because some connectors have pre-drilled holes and other connectors will have sliders that can be moved to any position. VESA mounts with sliders will support more combinations of width and height than others with fixed holes.

If you have a small screen, the weight will be less than that of a bigger screen. If you are not sure, you can always spend a little more and get an arm or other device that is rated at a higher weight limit. If you are not sure of the weight of the monitor, the manufacturer of the monitor will be able to tell you the weight.

Connection to a Wall
If you wish to mount your screen to a wall, there are a number of wall mounts available. These, like the arm I looked at, will be designed for certain VESA mounts, weights and sizes of monitor. Make sure you check before you purchase.

With wall mounts you need to ensure that when they are mounted to a wall, it is done correctly. Use a device like a stud finder to find where to drill. If you are not sure how to do it, get a professional to mount it for you. Walls contain pipes and electrical cables, and if you drill in the wrong place this can be dangerous, particularly if you drill into an electrical cable. ITFreeTraining can’t take any responsibility if you drill into an electrical cable.

It is important to note that, if you mount a large screen, you do it correctly, as these large screens weigh a lot and if it were to come loose, it will most likely take some of the wall with it. Also, if the screen hits the ground, it may be damaged. So, if you do decide to use one, mount it correctly or get a professional to do it for you. Installation cost may seem like a lot, but generally it is a lot cheaper than buying a new screen if it falls from the wall and gets broken.

This concludes this video on VESA mounts. I hope you have found this video useful. If you decide to purchase a monitor arm or similar device, best of luck. There are some good ones on the market. Until the next video, I would like to thank you for watching.

References
“CompTIA A+ Certification exam guide. Tenth edition” Pages 758-759
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Display_Mounting_Interface
“Monitor mount” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor_mount
“Picture: Gaming desktop” https://unsplash.com/photos/r4YWfVVwTQ8

Credits
Trainer: Austin Mason http://ITFreeTraining.com
Voice Talent: HP Lewis http://hplewis.com
Quality Assurance: Brett Batson http://www.pbb-proofreading.uk