In our '07 DSDP, we had the standard 27" Sony Bravia LCD TV mounted over the dash. After some careful considerations and gentle prodding from my wife
, we decided it was time for an upgrade. The scariest part was taking the old TV down. Once it was down we realized what a mess it was in that cabinet.
In other posts that we read people have placed fans between the TV and AV cabinet to provide better air movement for the components. I decided to use three 3" computer fans. I was able to tap into the 12volt line for the drivers side map light to supply a constant on for the fans. The fans move air from the AV cabinet to the larger TV cabinet, and both are open in the rear of the cabinet. Really good air movement now, and the fans are quieter than expected!
The TV that we chose was a Samsung 40" Slim Line LED Smart TV, Model: UN40ES6100. I figured if I was going to buy a new TV then I was going to buy the biggest TV that would fit the space. This TV is also only 1.25" thick and that is because of the speakers on the bottom. It is also less than half the weight of the old LCD!
I had also decided we were going to utilize HDMI as much as possible. The original surround sound system works just fine so we have kept that and I had to keep the Smart Source box to be able to have SAT in the bedroom.
We used Rocketfish's Low-Profile Tilting Wall Mount model RV-TVMLPT02 due in part to the locking mechanism to keep it from bouncing around on rough roads. To mount the TV I used a piece of 3/4" plywood mounted vertically and then mounted the new TV mount to the plywood. The hardest part about mounting the TV was getting as close to the ceiling as possible and straight across at the same time.
The connecting of components then came next. I connected my XBox 360 game console, which is doubling as my DVD player, thru an HDMI cable. I also connected my WD Live TV Hub thru HDMI cable, this is my virtual DVD player because it stores up to 200 movies on its hard drive. My biggest challenge was being able to have any and all sound come through the surround sound system. I was able to accomplish this via the digital audio out on the TV. I had to by a digital to analog audio converter (Radio Shack) that converted that signal back to the 2 wire RCA jacks that my original surround sound system can handle. Now, no matter if we are watching local TV via antenna or an HD movie we always have 5.1 surround sound.
Enjoy the pics below