There is a spec for the flat screen and the part of the mount that connects to it, known as VESA. This Wikipedia article gives a decent overview:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Display_Mounting_Interface The part of the mount that connects to the wall is left to the manufacturer. The original mount patterns were all square, but rectangular spacings were added as displays got larger. I don't think M5 is part of the spec however. --- On Tue, 9/6/11, James Frysinger <[email protected]> wrote: From: James Frysinger <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:51085] TV mounting bracket To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2011, 3:54 PM We have just purchased a TV wall-mounting bracket at Costco for a flat-screen TV that we also purchased there. The bracket is made by Simplicity. This presents a mixture of metric and non-metric hardware dimensions and directions. Apparently, all the fasteners that mount the TV to the mounting bracket are metric and provision is made for four diameters (M4, M5, M6, and M8 -- i.e., diameters given in millimeters) with lengths ranging from 12 mm to 45 mm (not all lengths available in all four diameters). The lag screws that mount the bracket to the wall are non-metric: 5/16 by 2.75 in. Of course, the hole spacing on the backs of these flat screen TVs are all metric (e.g., 100 mm, 200 mm, 400 mm, 450 mm), but here the directions give rough non-metric equivalents (4 in, 8 in, 16 in, 18 in). The spacers (to allow protrusion on the backs of the TVs) are 14 mm and 24 mm in depth; one selects the needed length or none, per the TV's design. Necessary bit sizes are given as 5.5 mm (7/32 in) and 10 mm (3/8 in). I suspect that many cheap drill bit sets do not include a 7/32 in bit. I also suspect that most Americans don't realize that size falls between the 3/16 and 1/4 sizes they possess. That's the size needed for mounting to studs, so there might be some dangerous errors committed in their homes by using a terribly wrong pilot hole size. (The 10 mm bit is for pilot holes in concrete which are then lined with plastic inserts.) Directions for hole depths, swing room allowances, etc. are given in both metric and non-metric dimensions: 75 mm, 3 in; 3.72 in, 94.5 mm in the figures; in the text, the non-metric dimensions for holes and bit sizes are in parentheses, but for the swing allowance the metric is in parentheses. Directions follow the English directions in French and Spanish, but referring back to the pictures in the English section. For the most part the dual dimensioning practices mentioned above are still followed -- e.g., 3 po (for pouces) and 3 pulgadas. Language differences will persist for millenia, perhaps, but in the meantime we could simplify our lives if everyone would use only metric units of measure. Jim -- James R. Frysinger 632 Stony Point Mountain Road Doyle, TN 38559-3030 (C) 931.212.0267 (H) 931.657.3107 (F) 931.657.3108
